SharondaWoodfin.net

Making Reblog Better - The TypePad Beta Blog

Hey Edward, just wanted to add that users who enable their free TypePad Micro blog also have the ability to connect and notify their Facebook and Twitter accounts when they reblog a post. Thus, users who reblog a post can also 'share' that reblogged post to Facebook and Twitter, allowing readers to share beyond their TypePad blog.

via beta.typepad.com

Sure, it sounds confusing, but this is why TypePad's relatively-new social-sharing stuff is awesome!

Jim Ramsey Explains it All: Above-fold Ads in Chroma

I'm still a bit miffed about Chroma losing a bit of functionality way back when TypePad Micro was set free. But Chroma's so awesome that I'm still using it, anyway.

In Customizing Chroma: Putting an ad above the fold, Jim Ramsey explains how to do just that.

I'm saving this link for later, and sharing it with you -- ! -- since I'm not especially thrilled with any bookmarking services, just now, either.

Zazzlers on TypePad

Growing up "different" (read that however you want; for myself, several readings apply) in a small town, one will inevitable find oneself on a quest for community. Get to middle age, take to the internet, and somehow that global pond still leaves one looking for similar fish, even if the hunt may have different motivations. In this case, I simply want to see how other Zazzlers are using TypePad.

TypePad has recently re-launched what serves as a directory of sorts of TypePad blogs, which is a good thing, but it only includes a small sample of what's actually blogged via TypePad; and, frankly, directories aren't generally specific enough to help me find exactly what I'm looking for.

So I'm making my own mini-directory. Consider it a perpetually-incomplete list of Zazzlers who are blogging on TypePad, updated at my convenience, and built through the power of Google Blog Search.

If I've missed your blog, don't be offended. There could be several reasons for the omission; from white screens of death, to my browser grinding enough that I just closed the tab, to the fact that I simply haven't found it, yet. Feel free, though, to help me find you by leaving a link in the comments.

Blogs Added 20 November 2009

• bethsblog
• Dreams & Ghosts
• Floating Lemons: Bit by Bit Blog
• HodgePodge by Amanda
• Naked Pixels
• PaperSparrow
• Pee Yoo!
• Provence Gifts Blog
• Squidazzle
• tortagialla the blog
• vol.25

Blogs Added 21 November 2009

• Only a Game
• Saying Yes

Utilizing TypePad Profiles

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.

My Brand New Microblog!

Because the excitement of today made it just too hard to resist! Sam's Shorts

Welcome to TypePad Micro! For Free!

That's right! TypePad! For free!

TypePad has made a lot of changes over the past year, but the one that's coming next will be the biggest of them all! SixApart is rolling out a whole new, free-of-charge level of TypePad service: TypePad Micro!

One of the coolest things that Micro users who are new to TypePad will discover is Chroma.  Chroma is a theme that was released for Beta members in late October, and it will be included with TypePad Micro. Wondering why you shouldn't just stick to Blogger or the free vesion of WordPress? Well, Chroma is one good reason why:

This is the default Chroma banner screen. Chroma allows for super-simple banner switching, but it does a lot more than that. Note that the recommended size for the banner image is listed, right there in the upload panel. Note also that the image is small (300 x 225). This allows for greater flexibility in selecting an image to use -- it's easier to reduce an image than to enlarge one, and still keep the image's quality -- but to take the convenience just a little bit further, these dimensions exactly match the default dimension of images from my digital camera. This makes life much easier for bloggers who know photography better than they know image editing programs.

But wait! There's more!

When you upload a new banner image for your Chroma theme, three color schemes are automagically selected for you! This takes any and all guesswork out of working with CSS and hexadecimal codes, but, if you're so inclined, you can still tweak the CSS to your heart's desire!

If you've actually looked at this blog, and looked at the image above, then compared the two, you can see that the color scheme I'm using isn't among the options presented for my banner image. CSS, of course, blows color-scheme options wide open, but there's actually a way for the less technically-inclined to get the colors they want:

When you upload a banner image that includes the colors you want in your scheme, click the scheme that you want, then click save. Then upload the image that you actually want to use on your blog, and your previously-chosen scheme, the "existing color scheme", will be presented as an option, along with the three newly-generated schemes.

Easy-peasy, no?

And if Chroma doesn't convince you to give TypePad Micro a try, here are a few more reasons:

1. Reblog. A brand new feature for TypePad. This allows other bloggers to quickly grab your content and re-post it on their blogs, with links back to your original posts.
2. In addition to posting via the dashboard, you can post via e-mail, text messaging, or the Blog It bookmarklet.
3. TypePad is socially-integrated, with optional automatic cross-posting to both Facebook and Twitter, and it's own in-house system that allows members to follow one another via the TypePad dashboard.
4. A favoriting system that allows you to share posts with people who are following you on TypePad, or to have your posts shared by others.
5. Unlike Twitter, TypePad Micro won't limit you to 140 characters, or to just text.
6. Best of all, TypePad has one helluva support team who are passionate about the application, who are open to interaction with TypePad users, and who are reachable via the built-in help system, via Twitter, and via Get Satisfaction.

For more information on TypePad Micro, see Announcing TypePad Micro at Everything TypePad

TypePad Photo Albums and Zazzle Products

One of my favorite things about TypePad is the way that TypePad photo albums look and work. One of my favorite things about the internet is the way that Zazzle lets me make money without having to battle my much-improved -- but ever-present -- social anxiety disorder. Combine those two favorite things, and you get a little something like this:

That's the index page for my Design Catalogue photo album. The grid contains the automagically-generated thumbnails for the images that I've uploaded to the album. When you click on one of those thumbnails (Gemini Taiji, in this case), you're taken to a page like this:

The large image is the uploaded image. It's taken directly from Zazzle's super-handy linking screen, downloaded to my computer, then uploaded to the TypePad photo album. In addition to giving one plenty of room for text, TypePad photo albums also allow the use of HTML in the photo's caption area. The smaller product links are from Zazzle's "Copy and Paste HTML" option, and I've put them in a table, just to keep them neat.

At this point, a certain cranky fellow Zazzler would probably say something about automation and SEO, were he reading this. And my response would be "But it's pretty, damnit!"

You can check out the Design Catalogue for yourself by clicking here.

From the Archives: How to Simulate a TypePad Mixed Media Layout

This article was originally published on September 8th, 2007. It's being republished, now, because I found myself using the article's method again last night:

Yesterday's decision to switch this blog over to a "mixed media" layout lasted for less than five minutes. I'm not sure why TypePad would make mixed media layouts available, with no viable way to organize content, unless these layouts were designed exclusively for photo bloggers. (Which may be the case, as these layouts were the result of a partnership with Nokia. You can also see examples of mixed media layouts on this page.) For anyone with multiple TypeLists, and a concern for the layout of his or her blog's template, mixed media layouts are not a workable option. But a simple simulation is!

First, the basics: a mixed media layout puts thumbnails (and, sometimes, full-size images) of blogged photos into your blog's sidebar. There are several variations on this theme, including one that places thumbnails into a calendar based on the dates that images were posted, but for this simulation, we're going to keep it simple. This guide is best-suited to those who are HTML-challenged, TypeList-challenged, or both.

In addition to the ability to add images directly to blog posts, TypePad users can create photo albums. Users also have the ability to select from four different layouts (including one with no cover) for their TypePad photo album cover pages. When an album cover page layout uses thumbnails, those thumbnails are automatically generated whenever a photo is published to said album. This is very useful for simulating a mixed media layout!

Once your photo albums are set up, and your images are uploaded and published, look at your cover pages. Some of the thumbnails are going to look better than others, due to the centering and selection that TypePad uses to generate the thumbnails. In a separate browser tab, go to "TypeLists" within your TypePad admin. Create a new TypeList, and call it whatever you want to call it. On the photo album cover page, choose a thumbnail that you want to appear in your sidebar. Click on it to go to the page for the full-size image.  Copy the address in your address bar. Go back to the TypeList you are creating, and type this: <a href="COPIED ADRESS">

Now, go back to the thumbnail for the chosen image. Right-click the thumbnail, and select "View image". When the image loads, copy the address in the address bar, just like you did for the full-size image. Go back to your TypeList. Type this: <img src="COPIED ADDRESS"></a>

Repeat both steps for every image you want to include in your sidebar. After each </a>, except for the last one, type <br />

This will place each successive image below the one before it. If you want your images centered, simply type <center> at the beginning of your TypeList, and </center> at the end.

When you've finished adding images and formatting the list, click "Save". Then go to the TypeList's "Publish" tab. Select the pages where you want the TypeList to appear, and click "Save Changes". View those pages. If the TypeList isn't positioned the way that you want it, click on the design tab for the weblog you're working on. Click on "Order Content", and arrange things the way that you want them. Save those changes, then republish your weblog, because the changes won't show up until you do.

This method has both advantages and disadvantages to using TypePad's mixed media layouts. The disadvantage is lack of automation. Unlike using a mixed media layout, this simulation will not automatically update your sidebar thumbnails every time you publish a new image to your blog. But the advantage -- being able to control the positioning of your TypeLists -- is vastly more important for any blogger with lots of sidebar content.

TypePad's Got Room for That!

This screen shot is from TypePad's pricing page. Apparently, unlimited storage is now available from Plus accounts on up; but, unless I'm missing something, the Basic account seems to have disappeared.

Thanks, TypePad! Nice move for retaining bloggers! Especially those who make ample use of TypePad's photo albums...

You're Not Taking Advantage of What TypePad Has to Offer!

Damnit!

My Google Reader is on overload. I installed Brief, in hopes that it would simplify managing my feeds, but it weighed Firefox down, and its stay matched its name. So, I figure, since I'm using TypePad, I'd might as well take advantage of that neat feature where I can follow other TypePad bloggers, and have their activity show up in my dashboard. It would allow me to keep up with even more information while still culling my Google Reader subscriptions, right? Right?

Wrong. It works wonderfully in theory, but the fact of the matter is that most of the TypePad blogs I've looked at, this morning, don't have that neat little TypePad Profile module installed on their blogs. Maybe that's because they're still on the old TypePad. Maybe the old TypePad doesn't offer that module. I really don't know.

But most of these blogs aren't linking to their TypePad profiles, either, and I know that TypePad profiles are available to people still using the old platform. Or no platform, at all, as far as that goes.

I can understand folks with a burning hatred for TypePad (and those people do exist) not using the Profiles service. But if you're using TypePad, anyway, why not link to your profile? It only stands to help you gain readers. I know I'd be more likely to follow your activity in my dashboard than to add it to the morass that I've allowed Google Reader to become.

Surely, I'm not the only one...