Movable Type Pro: Now With Comments!
We've always tried to keep a sense of humor about ourselves at Six Apart, and not take our work or ourselves too seriously. Last week, when we released the widely-acclaimed Movable Type Pro, we included a short video that explained some of the exciting ideas behind MT Pro. We weren't exactly trying to show the full list of the new features in the video, but we definitely set ourselves up on this one — these things always tend to focus more on telling a story than on getting into technical details.
We focus on the story for a simple reason: It's not about features, it's about the future. Honestly, we assume that that everyone else on the web will respond by copying great ideas, as they usually do. Hell, we want them to, so that more people can benefit from open communities on the web.
Movable Type's had really great social networking features for more than a year, and MT Pro puts them in everyone's hands. So we're glad to see our friends at Automattic follow our lead by planning to provide some of these abilities for WordPress in a collection of plugins that you should be able to assemble around Christmastime or so. Until then, they've created a parody of our video.
We think that's a pretty funny way to respond, too! So we thought we'd share their parody of our video:
Of course, the joke in the video is that MT Pro's big feature is comments. LOL! So true, so true, we totally have comments! And lots more. You can view our original video, but one great thing the parody does is promote an MT Pro feature that we'd omitted — you can definitely get full social networking features on your own site, without having your site look like another Facebook or MySpace clone. (We'll even help you design it.)
Because maybe it's a little idealistic, but we think communities on
the web can be freed from having to live within the constraints of
someone else's social network where they have no control. It's just like how blogging freed people from having to use complicated publishing systems that they couldn't control. Or freed all of us from only consuming media that was produced by giant corporations, instead of by the friends, family or peers we know and respect. Blogs are good at breaking down barriers.
We think it's time for blogging to evolve and assume that successful communities will consist of dozens or even thousands of blogs, forums, and individuals, all connecting together in an open way. And we don't just talk about it: We invent what needs to be created, release it to as many people as possible, and try to do the best job we can of telling people the story of how the web is going to look in the future.
MT is great at all kinds of other unique abilities, of course, like managing an unlimited number of blogs and aggregating content across them. Or managing forums. Letting your members and commenters create their own profiles and follow each other. Rating and recommending content. Providing free and open source TypePad AntiSpam for blocking junk comments, instead of a proprietary centralized service from Automattic. Support for cutting-edge tech like OpenID 2.0 and OAuth. Exclusive new themes like Mid-Century. Our long-held reputation for publishing highly scalable, "Digg-proof" pages. And comments! Don't forget comments.
[Note: To be fair, it is possible to remedy some of the missing features in WordPress if you have enough free time to find the appropriate plugins. However, prominent independent security researchers do warn, "[T]he abysmal security practices of WordPress plugin developers places the entire Internet at risk". That's on top of WordPress being one of top ten least secure applications around, and the Department of Homeland Security's data showing WordPress having twelve times as many reported security vulnerabilities as Movable Type. Quick, time for more parody videos!]
But all of the features in Movable Type Pro are in service of something bigger. The great technology rests on top of world-class support, an incredibly talented professional services group, and a media services team that will help your site and your community succeed. Our vision at Six Apart is really about finding ways to help you achieve your goals while making the whole web better. The great part is, our community is innovative enough that they can take our ideas and use them as inspiration to build many of the most amazing and innovative sites on the web.
So thanks again to the team at Automattic for the laugh, and most of all for spending your time on making videos. In all seriousness, we think it is a fantastic way to compare your work to Movable Type Pro and to what we're trying to accomplish at Six Apart.
28 Comments
> Providing free and open source TypePad AntiSpam for
> blocking junk comments, instead of a proprietary centralized
> service from Automattic.
I call B.S. on that. TypePad AntiSpam (the service) isn't open source. Its framework is open source. That's really cool, but the framework isn't what is ultimately valuable. The framework isn't the essence of the service. It's the rules that are valuable. And your rules are, like Akismet's, proprietary.
That's not really a bad thing. Spam-blocking isn't like security. It's a game. And if you know the rules and the bad guys don't, you'll win a whole lot more than if they know the rules. It's just highly suspect to call Akismet out as proprietary when the effective portion of TypePad AntiSpam is also proprietary.
And while we're on it, "aa" above me is headed into spam territory, though he may not realize it!
Thanks for your feedback, Mark, your points are well-taken. The key thing here is that not only is TypePad AntiSpam's engine open-source, it doesn't cost anything to use. With Akismet, if you suddenly get an influx of commenters, you are either shut off or have to pay up. That's probably the most important distinction.
I have to say that I love Wordpress as blogging software. Big fan. However, when I see some of the reactions to you all I am really disappointed. I am all for competitive bias ... don't get me started about how great switching to an iMac has been.
I am just disappointed about the competitive flippancy and it does not compare to professional competition. I am glad you enjoyed the humor at your expense but as a Wordpress user ... I didn't.
Good luck with your efforts.
I have mixed feelings about this post. I think it reflects real badly on the attitude of the people over at Wordpress. Doing a parody and using that kind of tone in a video isn't very professional, that's for sure. But i'm not sure how I feel about some of what is said in this post. It seems like you are playing on a bad move the competition made. Seems a bit like what happens on politic campaigns. I'm not trying to bash anyone here. I'm just pointing out something I noticed and that I don't know how to take.
Anil, this statement is wrong:
"With Akismet, if you suddenly get an influx of commenters, you are either shut off or have to pay up."
Akismet is free for personal use and it stays free even if you get tons of comments. Akismet pricing is not based on how many comments you get, it's based on whether you use Akismet to protect a personal blog (free) or a commercial blog (paid).
Thanks for the clarification, Toni. The commerical use page for Akismet says a benefit of paying is "No traffic limits or throttles." so I'd assumed the disadvantage of a free Akismet key was that it does have traffic limits or throttles.
This might be my own confusion, and honestly that's a big part of why we tried to make it simple for TypePad AntiSpam, where it's all just free.
Nope, no traffic limits or throttles on free accounts. If we did cut off free accounts for any reason, we'd document that clearly on the site.
I will have to install MT on a dev site and try again. Last time I used MT was on the 1.X or earlier 2.X, don't recall. I wonder if the speed of the comment submission has been fixed. I will soon find out, I guess :)
Hi Anil
For the record I am an MT user. However this post and the one on Matt's blog both leave an equally bad taste in the mouth.
The truth is you both have good products. They both have their disadvantages. Neither of you should be calling time on the other. And it is even more distasteful that it appears both sides are trying to call time on each other by saying that you're all "for the good of the blogging community".
By behaving in the way you are, you're making yourselves out to be totally *against* that as a principle.
So, climb down from those high horses for one hot minute and go focus on your users, will you?
Thanks
DJ
"The truth is you both have good products. They both have their disadvantages. Neither of you should be calling time on the other. And it is even more distasteful that it appears both sides are trying to call time on each other by saying that you're all "for the good of the blogging community".
Kind of reminds me of the Political Contest going on in the United States. ;)
Angela
MT is a great product in my opinion, it has a robust ability to work with large amounts of data, unlike some of the wordpress tools. On the topic of Akismet, I do not like the fact that they break it down into category's when it come to making cash. I understand the need to get compensated for your work, but I thought open source was exactly what that means "OPEN SOURCE". Don't get me wrong WP is a great product, but I think MT is looking at what's ahead and is a super product.
Regards,
Barbara
Ha! That was comical. Good thing you'all are good sports.
With so many jumping on the Social Web Pages (web 2.0)
bandwagaon, it's so hard to decide which one to focus on.
It's true what you say about how 'long' will the site last.
That is a major consideration. But usually the ones
with the most features (and less complicated) ones
will prevail.
It's also like a house too. You want the most square
footage, the best landscaping, in the best location
without the expenses of upkeep and utlities. You're
going to buy the house that fits your tastes and
budget (time) and where your family or good friends live.
Then hope the prices don't go down or find a lot of foreclosure
on your block (mass exodus) which means less traffic.
We buy houses Virginia Beach
-Davidgaln
The guy making that video parody was hilarious, he said "Movable Type Pro, BAM watch me slide back and forth, you want to be cool don't you !" , got a good laugh out of that video it was well done. You guys putting this video on your site just show you have a great sense of humor to go along with your world class support, what a awesome combination !
Kelly
New comments features looks very good. I'd like to have even more features. I want to create a community around my blog. That means that conmenters will post more comments and they need to be notified when somebody commenting their comments. That's what I have in Livejournal from early days (I'm lj user since April'2001) and don't have on TypePad. To be honest, this is the only feature that I currently need.
How can everybody who commenting me receive comments to his comments by email???
I have just about had it with the Wordpress security vulnerabilities. I guess you could say Wordpress is a greater security threat because it is more popular platform. Kind of like the argument that using Mac's are safer than Windows, because most of the hackers are targeting Windows! But still something is definitely up with the coding. I have been hacked on three different occasions. If MT is mroe secure like you say it is then I am sold!
Spyware Fix
Some company's would be uptight about posting this parody on there blog or website. It just goes to show how sixapart is very flexible and open minded with a sense on humor not many company's have this now a days. Thanks for the video I truly loved it and you guys are the best in my book !
Hummm cheese burger, I forgot what I was taking about ! that video was awesome. You guys are on the cutting edge and your right about leading the way, it is companies like sixapart that are the leaders and other follow, I am jealous !
Regards,
Brad
Very interesting to hear about the vulnerabilities of Wordpress. I pretty much love the platform. I have never been hacked before but I guess there is always a first time. As far as the comments are concerned, does anyone actually read all the comments. And for good conversations to get started you need to be notified that someone has replied to or is asking you a question. It would be nice if we could insert video in the commenting forms. That's kind of different. Someone probably already though of that.
I enjoyed the video. Especially since there a plethora of sites that do the exact same thing. Facebook and MySpace. How much time can we waste in a day on these sites
Regards,
Andrew
To be quite frank I have just had a nasty experience with using PHP wordpress and had to delete some free movie stuff which someone loaded into it? I guess I'm new to blog hosting. Reading the above comments I think its time to look at MTpro and go from there. COOL video nothing beats a US cheeseburger. We don't get them in the UK.
I'm holding off on updating WP as I'm just too scared to deal with the new version. I'm so used to the basic backend, and I don't want to deal with the new bells and whistles.
I am using wordpress at the moment.. do you to think MT pro is secure then WP?
I had lot of problems earlier so don;;t know which way to go.
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I haven't used Movable Type before. I generally stick to Wordpress for most of my blogs and i have never had any issues. Having now stumbled upon this i think i might just give it a try.
Paul
Wordpress is good, however i've recently started to use Movable Type and haven't looked back. Set up a demo to show my clients as well. Very professional piece of software. - Simon
I love wordpress, but i sort of would prefer is akiskmet didn't have the limits that it does.
I am using Movable Type PRO not so long but I have to say that it is the great and convenient service!
Felix
Moveable type pro is really interesting. I've never heard about it until now. I'm surprised other blog platforms don't better utilize it.
- MMO
Comments is a great addition! MT is great at all kinds of other unique abilities especially what i love about it is the managing an unlimited number of blogs and spreading content across them. Having your members and commenters create their own profiles and follow each other. The free and open source TypePad AntiSpam. And finally the exclusive new themes. We're planning to move our website about chemotherapy engine to MT.
Mobile type new features is really interesting..I will check that out..
thanks for sharing this post