Secrets of RSS

2017-07-07 02:10:07

TypePad (www.typepad.com) is another good place to host your blog (Figure 5.19). TypePad costs from $4.95 to $14.95 a month, depending on the option you selectand there's a 30-day free trial.

Figure 5.19. Here's the TypePad home page.

To create an account, click the Start Free Trial button. Signing up for a new account works much as it does with LiveJournal: Select and enter a member (user) name (again, rssmaniac in our example), password, your email address, and date of birth, then accept the Terms of Service (Figure 5.20).

Figure 5.20. Create an account by selecting your account name and password.

You can also select the URL of your blog (Figure 5.21).

Figure 5.21. Be careful when you select your domain nameyou can't change it later.

When you're all set, click the Continue button, and select the billing plan you want. Whatever plan you get, you'll have a 30-day free trial. The current plans are Basic, at $4.95 per month or $49.50 per year; Plus, at $8.95 per month or $89.50 per year (allows you to build photo albums and maintain up to three blogs); and Pro, at $14.95 per month or $149.50 per year (lets you have guest authors and unlimited Web logs). A credit card is necessary.

After entering all the necessary information, it's time to design your blog. First name your blog, then select your blog's layout and style from a bunch of templates (Figure 5.22).

Figure 5.22. TypePad has layouts for digital photos, audio, and video as well as class styles.

After you've finished your design, a confirmation page appears, followed by a Congratulations page, on your new account.

Posting with TypePad

To get started, use the Post link next to your new blog's name. Doing so brings up an editing page much like the one you use with Blogger or LiveJournal (Figure 5.23).

Figure 5.23. Create a new post by choosing the Post tab.

After you've saved your blog, click the View Weblog link at the top-right corner of the page to see your new blog (Figure 5.24).

Figure 5.24. Here's how your new blog looks in TypePad.

TypePad's RSS feed

You can subscribe to your new RSS 1.0 feed in the usual way; just let your RSS reader know about the feed's URL (Figure 5.25).