Everything Typepad

Add A Welcome Message To Your Blog

Adding a welcome message to your blog is a great way to let new readers know the purpose of your site or just a little about you. With Typepad you can easily add and edit a welcome message on your blog by featuring a post, designating a front page, or adding a sidebar module.

Feature A Post

For a short welcome message, a post can be designated as featured on your blog. The featured post will "stick" to the top of the main content column with the other recent posts appearing below it. Featuring post is optimal for adding a short welcome message or to highlight an important post.

To feature a post, check the Feature This Post box when composing your post. Only published posts can be featured. You can unfeature a post by marking a new post as featured to replace it or unchecking the Feature This Post box. (more info)

Create A Page

A Page is a great way to welcome visitors to your blog with a longer message. You can also utilize pages to give your blog static web pages in addition to adding new content with posts.

First, you can create a page by opening the Compose button drop-down menu and selecting New Page. A page is created and published similar to a post. (more info)

After you publish the page, you can designate it as the front page of your blog. Go to Settings > Posts, select Display a "page" as the front page, choose a published page from the drop-down menu, and click Save Changes. (more info)

The Page will now be the first thing people see when visiting your site. The recent posts will be available in the blog index. The exact URL for the blog index will appear at Settings > Posts once a front page is set. To make sure your readers can still view your recent posts, add a link to the blog index - i.e. http://example.typepad.com/blog/blog_index.html - in the Navigation Bar or add the Recent Posts module to the sidebar at Design > Content.

Add Sidebar Module

The Embed Your Own HTML module can be used to add text and HTML to the sidebar. For a short welcome message that doesn't replace the recent posts, a sidebar module is a good option.

At Design > Content, select the Embed Your Own HTML module, click the Add This Module button, enter your text or HTML in the box, click OK, and click Save Changes.

You may want to add a bit of HTML to the text in order to apply the same formatting as other sidebar modules. For example:

<h2 class="module-header">Welcome!</h2>
<p>Thanks for visiting my blog. Please <a href="mailto:[email protected]">email me</a> any questions.</p>

To include an option to contact you in your welcome message, see the articles on linking to an email address and adding a contact form.

You and the New and Improved Dashboard!

You might recall that we began releasing a new and improved dashboard to Typepad users a few months ago. We're happy to say that as of today, this has been released to each and every Typepad subscriber!

You can read more about the new and improved Dashboard in the Knowledge Base.

We hope you enjoy using its new features!

Featured Blog: Food on the Food

NAME: Tammy Donroe
BLOG: Food on the Food
TYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2006
WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT: Tammy Donroe is a Boston-based freelance writer and mother of two with a few tricks up her sleeve when it comes to dinner (or breakfast, or lunch). Her blog, a chronicle of her adventures in feeding her family the tastiest and healthiest (within reason) food she can find, has garnered a lot of praise, and for good reason - it is full of great recipes and slices of daily life. Never one to skip the sweet stuff, her first book, a collection of seasonal winter desserts, is due out Fall 2013.

FOLLOW: Twitter | Typepad

Featured Blog: This Full House

NAME: Liz Thompson
BLOG: This Full House
TYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2003
WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT: Liz Thompson has been blogging for almost ten years - an impressive fact in a world that values all things temporary. Her blog chronicles the very busy lives of six people living in a seven room house, and offers plenty of fun and chaos to boot. Entertaining anecdotes and a fantastic writing style shaped by her long experience in the blogosphere make This Full House a must read for everyone.

FOLLOW: Typepad | Twitter

Recommended Links Soon Available for All Subscribers!

Recommended Links is now available to all Typepad bloggers!

Last month, we integrated Zemanta's recommended links feature into Typepad Compose.  A majority of Typepad subscribers now see this feature when blogging and, starting tomorrow, it will be available in all Typepad accounts!

We hope that you find the recommended links feature incredibly useful!  Be sure to check the Knowledge Base if you have any questions on how it works.

Typepad's New Look

Today we’re proud to show off a new look at typepad.com. As you can see here on our blog, we’ve updated our site design, brand and logo quite a bit. You’ll find all of the great support resources you’re used to here in the blog, Knowledge Base and Get Satisfaction forum but with a beautiful new feel. Please click around to see all that there is to see, but there’s one highlight we really want to bring to your attention: The Showcase:

The Showcase is where we’re highlighting some of Typepad’s best voices. Today we’re launching with 10 promoted Showcases (such as Crafters and Foodies) with more to come. Content from the Showcases is promoted on the homepage as well as on the relevant channel page. To see the current list of Showcases just click here. You’ll notice that we’ve organized our Showcases around people, not posts. We know our bloggers write about a diverse set of topics but tend to concentrate on one or two. So we’ve tried to create our first channels around the passions we see most frequently in the Typepad network. Not all posts in our Fashionistas Showcase will be about fashion and style, but we like it that way. Each one of you may have a specialty, but we know you have lots of interests and we think it’s just more fun to show off all of your work!

If you’d like to be considered for a Showcase, please just let us know on any Showcase channel page. The channels are editorially programmed by our Community & Support team and are growing every day. You will need to enable the Typepad toolbar and share your blogs on your Typepad profile to be able to participate. Learn more about profiles and the toolbar in the knowledge base.

And for those of you who have already been featured, if you think we’ve miscategorized you somehow, please reach out to the team with a ticket and we’ll set it straight.

Lastly... with the launch of today’s new look we’re giving away lovely new Typepad stickers featuring our new logo! Who doesn’t love a sticker? If you’d like to show off your Typepad pride please just send a SASE (you know, a self-addressed stamped envelope!) to:

Typepad
180 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

We strive everyday to help our bloggers share their passions and hope that promoting great content in the Showcase will help.

Featured Blog: Nicabella

NAME: Nicole
BLOG: Nicabella
TYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2011
WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT: Nicabella is a fabulously designed lifestyle blog, featuring gorgeous photos curated from blogger Nicole's personal collection as well as those selected from around the web. Showcasing a keen eye for design and color, expect to see everything from DIY tutorials to delicious recipes to daily inspiration, all wrapped up in a package that is just lovely.

FOLLOW: Typepad | Pinterest

Little Changes That Make A Big Difference

Left: Before the service. Right: After the service. Click for a larger view.

Little changes can make a big difference - that's the philosophy behind our new Design Consultation Service. Don't believe me? Check out the before and after views of All About Requirements, displayed above.

A few years ago, John did a Blog Tune-Up with us. We made a great banner for him, and set up many useful features on his blog. Recently, however, John wanted to optimize his design and he purchased a Design Consultation Service.

We used the banner as the foundation and we made changes to the fonts and colors, restyled the navigation bar, and widened the columns to give more space for his posts. Then we added a fancy touch with the ribbon for the date header. Now the whole design flows together. John was thrilled and told us, "For the first time ever, I feel I have a professional-looking site of my own!"

Looking to take your current blog design to the next level? Sign up for our Design Consultation Service and let our experts work a bit of magic on your blog. And don't forget to check out All About Requirements.

P.S. You can view this and many other great blogs in our portfolio.

Featured Blog: Sweet Paul

NAME: Paul
BLOG: Sweet Paul
TYPEPAD MEMBER SINCE: 2007
WHY WE THINK SWEET PAUL ROCKS: Paul is a food and prop stylist and crafter who moved from Oslo to New York to live and love. His blog is beautifully designed and lovingly crafted, featuring gorgeous food photography accompanying delicious recipes. The blog serves as a companion to his magazine, an absolute must read!

FOLLOW: TypePad | Twitter

Did You Know?: Embedding a Pinterest Pin in a Post

If you're like a goodly number of people on the Internet, you probably enjoy pinning items over at Pinterest. What if you have a Pin that you really want to share with your TypePad readers?  Luckily, it's easy to share a Pin on your blog!

First, go to your Pin on Pinterest. You should see a list of sharing options on the right including the option to Tweet it or Like it on Facebook.  If you click the Embed option, you'll see a pop-up like this:

If necessary, you can make any adjustments to the size of the window so that it fits your blog's content column.

Once you've copied the code, click the HTML tab on the Compose page and paste the code into the editor.  The image, linking back to the Pin on Pinterest, will now be in your post.

If you're on Pinterest, be sure to follow the TypePad Team's boards!

We hope you found this useful! Check back every other week for more "Did You Know?" tips to help make your blog even better!