I just read a partial but detailed feature list for the initial release of TypePad, the new, improved and easier-to-use blogging tool from the makers of Movable Type, a powerful but not so easy-to-use blogging tool. Unless I hear really bad feedback about the TypePad beta, I'm getting on the bandwagon as soon as it is out of beta. TypePad has several integrated features that I want and don't have:
- TypeLists: "Keep sidebar weblogs about what you're reading, listening to, visiting on the web... Share your TypeLists with others as importable and exportable files."
- FOAF (Friend of a Friend) technology is built-in.
- Keep track of daily visitors with "easy-to-read and unobtrusive referrers and statistics".
- About Page. Something I would like to add here but would need to do some research to find out how to do. It's not a built-in feature in Movable Type.
My only hesitation is that I like having my blog under my own domain name and that may not be possible - yet. TypePad is meant to have a community element to it that I expect to take advantage of, though. And using the TypePad domain may be the price you have to pay to partake. As an early adopter, I'll take that deal to see what's possible with some of these extra tools, especially the FOAF capability. I've been getting exposure to FOAF on the Ryze business network and really like what I've seen so far.
