free blog |
SETTING UP A TYPEPAD ACCOUNT |
TypePad is capable of three types of custom page design. At the most basic level, Plus and Pro users can choose from a selection of preset color themes and design templates. Changing from one to another is simple, and the entire blog is transformed after the change. At a higher level, Pro users can rewrite the HTML and CSS code that underlies the blog pages. This feature is for advanced page builders only; for them, it is perhaps essential. Scheduled posts: Plus and Pro customers can back-date and forward date their entries. This might seem trivial, but forward-dating, in particular, enables the blogger to store up entries in advance during free time, and then let them fall into the blog in a measured fashion. Domain mapping: This technique enables users to blog at TypePad using a purchased domain (www.yourdomain.com).
TypePad provides a sample e-mail for inquiring at your registrar about this service.Using Plus, you can map three domains to three blogs; Pro users can map an unlimited number of domains to an equal number of blogs.Search and replace: This feature enables Pro users to search through the entire blog for specified words or phrases, and automatically replace them with other text. Not, perhaps, the most essential feature. But if you misspelled your wife’s name throughout your blog, you’d want to replace each instance with the correct spelling before checking the classifieds for bachelor apartments. Text ads: TypePad offers a packaged service of Google text ads, turning the blog into an AdSense publisher and perhaps making a few bucks.
After completing the sign-up process, you have a TypePad account, and for the remainder of the chapter I’m going to blithely assume it’s a Plus account, and that you plan to operate two or three blogs. Immediately after signing up
and starting your trial, TypePad shows you an overview of your blog’s control panel. This is the last time you’ll see this particular page; from this point onward, you’ll be working with a system of control pages within tabs.
The basic method of posting to a TypePad blog is through the TypePad site. (You can also use a bookmarklet, as described later in this chapter.) If you are surfing the Web and blogging at the same time, it’s a good idea to keep one browser window or tab anchored at your TypePad control panel. That way, your administrative tools are always available to you, and you don’t have to repeatedly visit the TypePad site to post entries. Before posting any entries, tempting though it is to blast your way into the blogosphere, you should take the time to configure your blog. The settings described in this section can be revisited at any time, but these basic configurations are meant to be selected sooner rather than later.