Don't Back Down

Perhaps this is in reverse order, since I first mentioned what would make TypePad really rock, but hey - those are the things that I run into every time I use TypePad, so they were foremost on my mind. This next batch of items are things that are high on my list, because I get them a lot, but I don't necessarily see them every time I log in. They are just little nitpicky items that I'd like to see go away.

In all honesty, it would probably be better to address these first, because like most things, it's the little things that will get you. In life, you can often deal with the largest of problems, yet you're only too happy to let the small stuff build up and build up until you just can't take it any more. This list is all about the small stuff. The items that you only see from time to time, but that - if fixed - would make using the service just that much better.

Enhance the File Manager

First up has to be the file manager. Don't get me wrong - the fact that TypePad has a file manager at all is cool. It was a really long time before I even realized that it was there (Control Panel -> Files). Being able to take a look at the account's file system and whack files and even directories that you want to get rid of is a huge step to replacing your own hosted solution with something like TypePad. The problem is that if you decide that you want to get rid of something it can be really tedious. Yes, you can mark several items and delete them at once, which is nice.

But what if you want to remove an entire directory? You can't. I get it - it's supposed to be idiot-proof. But add another three levels of confirmation or something and make it a possibility, because there are just times when it would be nice. Or how about giving me the option to rename a file or folder. That would be cool. A batch uploader would be nice too, because when I have to add a bunch of files, this one-at-a-time process stinks.

Speaking of which, there isn't a way to go in the other direction. In other words, you can't back up your TypePad content. Sure, you can export your entries. But what about your templates or your TypeLists? It's not happening. Of course, those are usually fairly simple for most people - especially if you use basic templates and don't use TypeLists. But what about Photo Albums? Don't even get me started.

Flesh Out the Photo Albums

What I really want is a way to get my photos out of TypePad. Sure, I understand this provides them a certain lock-in, and I get that. But come on. You have to provide me a way to manage the photos. Or back them up en masse. Or synchronize with a desktop. Or integrate with a service like flickr or SmugMug (so that TypePad isn't hosting them in the first place) or something. Getting these people to upload their content and then giving them no way to have access to it ever again? That's just insane.

While we're talking about the Photo Albums, how about some advanced templates there? I can't count how many times people have asked me for some options for the templates. Sure, it's nice for sharing their photos, but what if you want to include an ad or a little bit more information around the photo? Sorry, out of luck. That would be cool.

Template Tags, Where Art Thou?

Speaking of tags, it has got to be easier to find the content of them. Most of the tags you can find by searching. On Google. I can't tell you where to find it on TypePad, because I gave up looking long ago. It needs to be easier to find out what the tags mean. Some of the new tags - like those used for pagination or the sticky tags - aren't documented at all that I can find. Using a model like the new Movable Type setup where you get context-tags in the editor would be nice, even being able to get to the data somewhere would be better than nothing. But being able to take full advantage of what tags are there would be a huge leap forward.

Make Management Easier

Okay, those are for your regular users. This one is for your power-users and large companies. Make it easier to manage multi-blog accounts. You can use the MTWeblogIncludeModule tag - which oddly enough, includes content from outside the weblog - to include "system" content, provided by TypePad. You can use the MTInclude module to include content from another template in the blog. But there is no MTAccountIncludeModule, which would allow me to pull content from an account-wide template. Doing that would allow me to create an account-level blog "template" and pull content from there to the other blogs, alleviating the need to create it again (and again and again and again).

And one more: Every once in a while, I have the need to do some work with the archives, and TypePad doesn't give me that ability. For instance, maybe I'd like to change the archive name (instead of using the shortened basename), or create an alternate category archive (for instance, to provide category feeds). I can understand why not - it's simpler to not allow that. But it would provide so much more power. Maybe just allowing it on Business Class accounts or something. Heck, maybe you even have to sign a waiver. I don't know. But being able to do it would just be awesome.