What happens when you play with matches
Today, I learned first hand what the disadvantage is to having everything on a server other than your home computer.
My ISP seems to be having problems and I cannot get a connection. Fortunately, I can still type and get things written before they disappear into the ether.
I wonder when it will be back up, It’s 11am (DST) now.
FYI, it came back up around 11:30am.
I’ve been trying to get my blogging software on my home machine to work. It was because it went on the blink, that I started looking around for alternatives and happened upon TypePad.
In reconstucting it (my home blog), I have come to appreciate even more, the way TypePad is put together. I’m starting to sound like a commercial for them. The fact is that both have their advantages and disadvantages. Having the blog on your home machine means that your blog is totally under your control. What you write is not in a server someplace else. That doesn’t seem to mean much nowadays, but there is an added sense of security to that.
The disadvantage, of course, is that you have to be home to make entries.
The more I use this service, the more I like it. I just did a blogger entry and it was fine, but didn’t have the pizazz. I think blogger makes a good backup.
I hoping to be able to go through the TypePad manual more thoroughly this weekend. I already find myself writing more (numerous drafts and beginnings).
I also want to send a note to OmniWeb to see if there’s anything they can do about making their product more compatible with TypePad… it’s worth a shot.
Two years ago, my parents died about two months apart. It was and remains one of the more profound things to happen in my life. I still am not sure how to fill the gap of their absence.
On occasion, I can hear the voice of my mother or father as words spill from my lips unthinkingly. Things I’ve heard them say and the ways in which they said them. I tied my shoe, and the thought of my father teaching me how to tie my shoes passes slips through my thoughts. I close my eyes and i can feel my mother kissing me on the forehead and calling me by a name only she used.
The nice thing about TypePad, which I have said already, is that you can post from anywhere. I know this seems to be no different from Blogger, but it is. It is just so much easier to use.
The interface is clean and the colors are not as distracting.
Right now, I’m definitely interested in keeping the account after the 30 day trial membership, and the only question is whether I want to upgrade or not. Posting photos would be a plus, but I have that on my Verizon account now. It’s only 10 megs, but it’s free.
This Post is coming from my desktop news client NetNewsWire. Let’s see if everything works.
This is bold
This is italic
This is a link
It works!!! I’m a happy camper!
The only thing I have to alter from the Typepad screen, is the category. I’ll have to check NNW and Typepad manuals for that, but it’s minor.
another test. Looks like the category thing does work.
I received the answer to my question about the buttons. I’m not sure what the problem is caused by, but was given a number of suggestions. One of them involves using the posting feature of NetNewsWire. Since I am a registered user of the program, this is a satifactory solution. Also, a couple of browsers that do work were given. Brenna (the person who responded) said:
You could use Mozilla 1.3 or higher, Netscape and Firebird
(Firefox) and you’ll have the buttons.
Very fast response to my “problem” … I like that.
I have to admit, TypePad makes it easy to get up and running very quickly and with style. I’m still disappointed with the text formatting however. It seems as as though they are using MS Java, which is notorious for only working well with windows machines.
What I like, is the ability to publish from anywhere. Just wish it was easier to add links.
Back At Work
As I said, one of the cool things is being able to post from anywhere. I have to go someplace soon, so I think I’ll test out the setting posting time and see if that works. Let’s try 11:30am, shall we? Hmmm, that doesn’t seem to work. I see, this is a Pro feature. The little clock on the posting page is simply for setting the time of the post.
Well, it’s the end of the day and I’m heading home now. I just checked the help area to see if there has been a response yet to my question about using the buttons on the posting page. No response yet. However, I have noticed that I can use a desktop client like NetNewsWire and that does allow me to use those features very easily.
The first post is always the hardest because in an attempt to find out how things work, I lose track of what it is that I want to say.
Okay, the first post will be a sacrifice. I’ll post something, but it won’t be of importance to me. It will simply be to see how things look and how things work. I expect that I won’t be writing anything… really… for a week or so. Then, by the end of the 30 day trial period, I’ll know if I want to stay with TypePad or not.
Let’s begin…
What about bolding and italicizing (sp?)?
Can they be done without HTML or is that necessary?
What about editing, once a post is done? I can already see that there is no draft mode in the basic implementation. Ooops, my mistake. Yes you can work in draft mode. I think I’ll do that now, and take a peek at the manual.
Well, according to the manual,
“If your browser supports it, you will see the formatting buttons above your post text area on the Compose a New Post/Edit Post page, otherwise theyre hidden from view. One of these is for creating a link.”
I had to do that italicizing by embedding the HTML code, because the browser I’m using at present (Internet Explorer 5.1 for OS 9) doesn’t show any formatting buttons. I’ll have to try with another browser later.
Home Now
What’s interesting is that the buttons show up in OmniWeb, but don’t behave properly. If I highlight a word and then click on the ‘B’ button, it places the HTML code for “strong” after the word and then pastes all the text from the beginning of my entry to the end. The buttons do not show up in Safari or Internet Explorer. I get the same results no matter what button I use, including the ‘link’ button. This is a major drawback. I’ll have to check the site and/or contact tech support to see if this issue has been handled.