Six Apart reckons that its revamped TypePad blogging platform now offers bloggers more flexibility of layout, design, and content than any other hosted blogging platform.
That’s an important distinction to make, because generally hosted blog services (such as Blogger, WordPress.com, and TypePad) offer less flexibility than own-server-based platforms (such as WordPress and Moveable Type).
New features introduced for TypePad bloggers include:
- Over 1000 professional designs
- Layout and banner customization
- Extensive TypePad Widget Gallery with unlimited widgets
- Monetization options, including AdSense
- Video and audio hosting at all account levels
- Complete customization of all CSS, HTML and scripts on a site
“We conducted in-depth research with our TypePad customers and other bloggers, and we heard a consistent message: bloggers want more flexibility and increased control over their designs,” said Michael Sippey, vice president of product, Six Apart. “We believe that bloggers should be free to express themselves not only in their blog posts, but in their blog designs as well. Bloggers on TypePad enjoy that freedom today, with the ability to customize their design, add advertising, audio, video, photos and even third-party widgets.”
The fanfare is all very well, but it’s worth noting that TypePad offers no free service at all, and that not all features are available at every level.
That’s not to dismiss TypePad’s feature set, but simply to note that it’s not fair to compare free hosted services with paid-for hosted services.
Additionally, if you are going to pay for a blog service, you then have to make the decision whether to use a service provider such as TypePad, or purchase space on a web server and host it yourself.
