Introducing TypeSpace
Monday, August 2, 2004 at 10:26 pm | 
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I recently asked for your help in choosing a name for my blogging software. Today, I'm proud to introduce it to you as "TypeSpace". There is a fair amount of work that needs to be done before the public beta goes live. Looking at what needs to be done and my schedule, I'm going to throw 4 to 6 weeks out as the ETA. I'm hoping to eventually write up a roadmap to what needs to be done, which will be added to the TypeSpace website when completed.
Obviously, I'll eventually add a place on the TypeSpace website where people can sign up to be notified when the TypeSpace beta goes live. I may also allow people to sign up as beta testers, but I doubt I'll have to limit the number of beta testers. I'd also like to allow users to submit feature requests, though I suppose a detailed list of it's current features would be in order before that becomes too relevant.
To all those who have expressed interest in this project, I thank you for your patience. Significant improvement have been made to the software that are not currently reflected in the version being run on this site. Things such as comment editing, categories, multiple author support and more. Much more has not yet been implemented but soon will be.
Today, I am simply happy it has a name.
Comments
I preferred monoLog, but hey, I'm biased :D Good luck with everything!
Hey, awesome name, Ryan. I like it a lot. I can't wait to see how things go. I'm curious as to whether or not it is free, since "xBlog Pro" wasn't (from what I had understood). Good luck with everything!
I sure hope it's free! I just hope it uses the simplicity that I loved from xBlog Lite ;)
Yeh sounds good.
"I'm curious as to whether or not it is free..."
Yes, it'll be free.
Hey, ryan! Thats awsome! Even the freaking logo looks great! Can't wait to see it finsihed!
Awesome that it's free, I feel like I'm getting a gift. In fact, I almost feel disappointed that it is free, because you had originally planned to make xBlog a purchasable product, and now I almost feel like I'm stealing from you. But still, I'll be more than happy to beta test it. ;)
Jona:
I didn't steal nothin! *cough*
Ryan...eventually you should do what Movable Type did and lose 1/4 of your customer base by going from free to 60 dollars, then not caring!
Doesn't 'that' sound like a good idea :p
Yes Ryan, I would love to be a beta tester =)
*wink wink*
"...and now I almost feel like I'm stealing from you."
If it will make you feel better, once the full version is available, people will be able to donate to the project. ;)
To those who have offered to beta test, I'll definitely be keeping your names in mind. Thanks.
I would absolutely love to beta test, as I really need something to manage my blog with. I currently have to add the entries through phpMyAdmin :o
Ryan,
I've been thinking about starting a proper site of my own in the upcoming holidays; I've already investigated some CMS/blog options, so your TypeSpace couldn't have come at a better time.
I'd love to give it a "test drive" on my upcoming site; if you want, you can add me to te beta tester list.
Best regards,
Ronald.
I never knew that Dan! :o. Ryan I would love to test TypeSpace as I use xBlog lite on my own site and love it. I was going to start working on making wordpress work with my layout but now I am going to have to go with TypeSpace. I hope you consider me for a Beta tester.
Ah, but will it have a funky XML-Processor error message like Tommy Olsson's hand-rolled Cuckoo Blog: http://www.autisticcuckoo.net/ for the groovy error message you must attempt to enter malformed XHTML.
In the perfect world, no, users won't be able to create an XML error by using malformed XHTML in the comments. Currently, however, the blog owner can use whatever XHTML he pleases, including depreciated elements and malformed XHTML. Perhaps I'll look into parsing the entries and at least showing a warning should they attempt to do so.
I have a question ryan, will importing my xblog entries be possible? I hope it is =D
"I have a question ryan, will importing my xblog entries be possible?"
Good question, Scott. For the beta release, I highly doubt I'll have the time to write a script to import xBlog entries. Once all the bugs have been worked out that are bound to show up during beta testing, and the 1.0 version has been released, I may look into writing a script to import xBlog entries into TypeSpace. Currently xBlog isn't widely used at all, and there will not be any future development on it (except, perhaps, blatant bugs being fixed), so I fully expect that use of it will die of nearly completely.
That being said, if anyone else should decide to write one that works well, I would be more than happy to link it. :)
I love xBlog but TypeSpace is essentially the same thing. I don't think I would be capable of making the import script as I am not that great with PHP. It would be great to learn though. I am getting to know how xBlog lite works like the back of my hand now though =D.
Maybe it's just me, but I'm seeing it as a very BAD idea to name your software so close to <a href="http://www.typepad.com/">TypePad</a>? Not to mention the logo and color use. Think long and hard about it, Ryan.
Sorry, that is TypePad -- http://www.typepad.com/
When you think about it, most of the blogging platforms are named similarly. I don't see name similarity as a big issue, since it is certainly different enough to qualify as a unique entity.
Some popular blogging softwares that come to mind are Greymatter, WordPress, Textpattern, and Movable Type. The only similarity I see is more in the naming structure and not in the usage of words.
I think you should at least opt to change the logo. They have very similar colors and since both use a one-word naming structure, I can see where it *might* be a bit confusing down the road.
"I think you should at least opt to change the logo."
The logo was (is) temporary, until I have time to design a better one. Obviously I'm not trying to emulate TypePad, so I appreciate your pointing out that it could be a problem.
I couldn't help but sort of find your new name interesting.
I'm the author of Squarespace (http://www.squarespace.com), which is a larger, current competitor to TypePad.
Your name mixes our names, which is just interesting indeed :) Did you notice the Squarespace ad pop up on the pages mentioning TypeSpace/this topic? :)
Not taking offense, and I'm sure you didn't notice the site previously. Just bringing it to your attention.
Hah--wow.
I like that name.
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August 3rd, 2004
2:19 AM | #
Wow, great choice Ryan and I can't wait to fiddle with it!