Back in 2005, I used to argue with people that Typepad was the best way to go. I had an issue with people who were caught up in WordPress and some of the other platforms. What I saw, overwhelmingly often, was that people went down a rat-hole of theme tweaking and massage instead of creating content. I figured that since I was preaching that, I should live it… so I plugged away at Typepad.
In 2009, my friends John and Heather of Grange Sonoma asked if I could help them out with their website. Based on their needs, I knew WordPress was going to be the best fit. I dove into implementing a customized theme for them and in the process realized how powerful WP and its community are. Since then I’ve done about fifteen WordPress-based websites. It’s good stuff!
Wordpress. It's what's for dinner. Photo by Niall Kennedy.
Weds morning I was chatting with Don Huffman about all sorts of interesting things. As I left, I handed him one of my Moo cards. He glanced at it and was like, “Dude, you need an URL,” I’ve got a page or two of them at Go Daddy, but I could never get Typepad to properly handle my http://seriousaboutcamo.com domain. Therein lies Typepad’s weakness.
In making it super easy for people to create content, Typepad made simple things like domain mapping a horrible pain in the arse! And sites like Tumblr and Posterous totally smoke Typepad in the ease-of-creation arena.
So, at this point, what does Typepad have to offer someone like me? It costs $150 a year to have a pro account, but what it gives me is … basically additional authors. Hmmm. WordPress has unlimited authors. For free. Beyond that, the WordPress community has created a staggering number of templates that allow for instantly customized presentation.
Net net, WordPress has everything for me. I exported my old Stricken.org content and my old Typepad content, imported here, added Typekit and made some small tweaks and, booyah! new site. I recently re-upped my Typepad so that I can continue to maintain the few clients I have on the platform, but that just gives me another year to transition them to a WordPress install.
Why I stopped using Typepad
Typepad has been good to me.
Typepad is kinda oldskool. Photo by sarah sosiak.
Back in 2005, I used to argue with people that Typepad was the best way to go. I had an issue with people who were caught up in WordPress and some of the other platforms. What I saw, overwhelmingly often, was that people went down a rat-hole of theme tweaking and massage instead of creating content. I figured that since I was preaching that, I should live it… so I plugged away at Typepad.
In 2009, my friends John and Heather of Grange Sonoma asked if I could help them out with their website. Based on their needs, I knew WordPress was going to be the best fit. I dove into implementing a customized theme for them and in the process realized how powerful WP and its community are. Since then I’ve done about fifteen WordPress-based websites. It’s good stuff!
And yet, my business cards still pointed to http://seriousaboutcamo.typepad.com. Until Wednesday.
Wordpress. It's what's for dinner. Photo by Niall Kennedy.
Weds morning I was chatting with Don Huffman about all sorts of interesting things. As I left, I handed him one of my Moo cards. He glanced at it and was like, “Dude, you need an URL,” I’ve got a page or two of them at Go Daddy, but I could never get Typepad to properly handle my http://seriousaboutcamo.com domain. Therein lies Typepad’s weakness.
In making it super easy for people to create content, Typepad made simple things like domain mapping a horrible pain in the arse! And sites like Tumblr and Posterous totally smoke Typepad in the ease-of-creation arena.
So, at this point, what does Typepad have to offer someone like me? It costs $150 a year to have a pro account, but what it gives me is … basically additional authors. Hmmm. WordPress has unlimited authors. For free. Beyond that, the WordPress community has created a staggering number of templates that allow for instantly customized presentation.
Net net, WordPress has everything for me. I exported my old Stricken.org content and my old Typepad content, imported here, added Typekit and made some small tweaks and, booyah! new site. I recently re-upped my Typepad so that I can continue to maintain the few clients I have on the platform, but that just gives me another year to transition them to a WordPress install.