I've already bitched about it. After realizing that there are TypePad users who don't use TypePad Profiles to their advantage, simply because they don't know about them, I thought that maybe it was time to explain it.
TypePad Profiles are a relatively new addition to the TypePad platform. Your TypePad profile is not the same thing as your About page. It's actually closer to what used to be known as TypeKey. The URL for your TypePad profile should be formed like this:
http://profile.typepad.com/yourusername
For example, the URL for my TypePad profile is:
http://profile.typepad.com/sharonda
Being able to find your TypePad Profile is all good and well, but I'm sure some of you are wondering what that profile is and how it can benefit you. This is a screen shot of my TypePad profile:
It posts excerpts from, and links to, my blog posts. It posts and links to the comments I make on other TypePad blogs. It also posts my latest Twitter status, as well as links to my profiles on other sites, and lets me keep track of both the people I'm following, and those who are following me.
Check those last two words: "following me". Now turn the "me" into "you". When another TypePad blogger follows your profile, your updates show up in the Recent Activity section of their TypePad Dashboard:
These updates just keep on updating as long as the main dashboard page is open. (Really, it's slick!) If you comment on or favorite another TypePad blogger's post, the people who are following you also see that in the dashboard, giving people who are interested in what you're blogging a chance to see the other blogs that interest you.
Now that you know what TypePad Profiles are, and how to find yours, the last step is putting it to use. In your blog's Design section, go to "Content". There, you'll see a list of modules that can be added to your blog. One of them is called "Follow Me". If you add it to your blog, it will look something like this:
If you prefer things a bit more visual, you can use the TypePad Profile module, instead:
If that weren't enough, there's yet a third method: the simple link. You can add your profile link to a TypeList, using the "Notes" option; or, if your theme is equipped with a navigation bar, you can add it there.
(Of course, if you're using TypePad's Chroma theme, you don't have to do anything. A profile widget is automagically included.)
In short, this is TypePad's built-in social network. It's an opportunity to expose and be exposed, within a community that already has one big thing in common: TypePad.
You should take advantage of it.
And maybe next time, I should explain first, and bitch later.
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