The power of an industry-leading weblog tool in the form of an easy-to-use service

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - April 23, 2003 - Six Apart Ltd., the makers of the highly acclaimed Movable Type weblog software, today announced the upcoming release of TypePad™, a hosted service providing powerful tools for creating full-featured weblogs. Built in response to the needs of webloggers, online diarists and writers, TypePad harnesses the power of Six Apart's popular Movable Type personal publishing system into a turnkey service, suitable for beginners and experts alike.

Weblogs, commonly referred to as "blogs" for short, are one of the fastest growing phenomena on the web, with millions of webloggers all over the world participating in the medium by publishing their thoughts on any topic in this simple, richly linked format. Six Apart, founded by the husband and wife team of Ben Trott and Mena G. Trott, has been a technological innovator in the weblog space since its launch of Movable Type in October 2001.

Building on the established features of Movable Type, TypePad provides weblog publishing with versatile archiving, integrated comments, and customizable designs from a library of attractive and standards-compliant templates.

TypePad expands weblog publishing to include integration of text, photos and other media content. The combination of simplicity and comprehensive features will make TypePad the first tool that will empower users, beginners and experts alike, to reach the full potential of the weblog medium.

Simple enough for beginners and powerful enough for experts

TypePad's three-tiered plan structure enables users of various experience levels, from novices to experts, to feel comfortable publishing their content online. Users will be able to choose a TypePad level that best suits their needs and abilities.

Developed especially for the service is the TypePad Template Builder, a guided, step-by-step process for designing content-rich weblogs. Available in all three tiers, the TypePad Template Builder allows users to customize their sites without any existing knowledge of HTML.

Howard Rheingold, founding Executive Editor of HotWired, founder of Electric Minds, and author of critically acclaimed books on society and technology, such as his recent Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, is enthusiastic about the upcoming launch of the service. "Movable Type is a marvelous tool for sophisticated users, and now TypePad will make the same power and community available to everyone as a weblog service that's easy enough for anyone to sign up for, but lets even the most basic users participate not just in writing on a weblog, but in being a member of a networked community, creating semantically-rich content, and accessing web services."

Service shaped by a desire to remove technical barriers to entry

Mena G. Trott, Six Apart's cofounder and CEO, is optimistic that TypePad will provide all webloggers with access to the tools that are shaping the personal publishing medium. "As weblogging and social software evolve, we want TypePad to remain ahead of the curve in adopting innovative technologies and making them seamlessly available for general use. For the majority of Web users—the people who are just now discovering weblogging—the power of personal publishing comes from the expression it allows. It's important that we remove the technical barriers to entry." Trott asserts that current Movable Type users will also benefit from the release of TypePad. "We're already planning a number of ways that current Movable Type users will be able to interface with the system, and we're deeply committed to both products."

Pricing and Availability

Pricing, a full feature list, and service tiers will be announced in May 2003, followed by a public beta period. To sign up to be notified about the beta launch and to receive more details about TypePad, visit the TypePad site (http://www.typepad.com).

Visit the Six Apart corporate weblog (http://www.sixapart.com) for more information about Six Apart, TypePad and Movable Type.

About Six Apart

Six Apart Ltd., based in San Francisco, CA, is the company behind the Movable Type personal publishing system, which was recently nominated for a "Best Practices" Webby Award, and the TypePad personal publishing service. Founded by husband and wife team Ben Trott and Mena G. Trott in 2002, Six Apart creates tools that enable tens of thousands of individuals, organizations, and corporations to participate in the web's full potential by publishing their ideas on the Internet with simple, yet powerful software and services. The Six Apart corporate weblog (http://www.sixapart.com) provides more information about Six Apart, TypePad and Movable Type.

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