I haven't fixed up my About Me page much. And there are many other features I'm figuring you found easily, so I'm not including everything. The best way to find new stuff is to look at other blogs, though, of course, some of them pay for unlimited control.
I like certain things here very much, like "Feature This Post," and having a little more control over how link and images appear. And being able to preview and draft again.
So far, there are only a couple of things I don't enjoy about TypePad. I don't think that nearly every new link should open a new window or tab, though that's sometimes just right. And I would like to have a little more control over what appears on the Dashboard. One person I follow posts very often, so I have to scroll through many post summaries to see if others have said anything as well. I do like seeing the updates there, but would like them more condensed or something.
Here are some good things to work with here, in case you haven't done much of that yet. These good things apply to anyone who signed up for TypePad through the closing Vox page. Otherwise, mileage will vary.
Toolbar toggle at top of page
You can click on an icon in the top left corner of your blog to be able to check your blog stats, edit a post (if you're on a specific post page,) go to the dashboard, or, if you're at another person's blog, click to follow them. And you can click again on that icon to hide the bar from view. If it's not activated on your page, go to your Account information and uncheck the box called Blogside Toolbar near the bottom. It's not really a pain, since you can toggle it to appear or disappear by clicking on the little button.
Also, in Settings->Basics-> if the box is checked to Show the TypePad toolbar on this blog, people can easily click to follow you or favorite the post, etc.
Nesting replies
This is slightly buggy, but works if you're a teensy bit patient. You just sometimes have to click twice in the correct field; I think this happens if you click in the field before it's done loading! Go to Settings->Comments (in the blue bar) and scroll down to near the bottom to turn on TypePad Connect. You can select threaded comments there, how far in you want them to go, and if you want verification turned on. I don't have it on; if someday I get a spam comment, I'll delete it, which is easy to do from the comments tab.
Setting log-in parameters for replies
If you don't choose to use the special reply feature, you can set your blog up so that other TypePad users will not have to re-log-in to reply to you. They will have to type in a verification code to submit their comment, instead.
Developing a second blog, just because you can
That's normally a paid feature, only we can have just two, whereas a monthly fee allows you to have three or more. You can manage them both from the same dashboard, though it's a little tricky to get used to. I was going to do a private one just for password holders, but since very few of my old neighborhood visit me here, I'm not going to bother, and just put artsy photos there, instead. Anyway, just click on Blogs at the top of your Dashboard window, and start one up.
Library: Typepad lists, photo albums, and the file manager.
I have two TypePad lists, for books and music, but I didn't feel like adding them back in to this page at the moment. They are in the Library, and you are walked through creating them when you go there. They work like the book and music lists at Vox, but won't be seen with every template style, so you have to keep that in mind.
You can make a photo album and include it on your blog sidebar, and you can choose the layout for your pictures, kind of like flickr; either a sort of thumbnail gallery where you click to see a picture in its own window, or a page with a large image that appears next to the thumbnails when you click on one.
The file manager shows your blog pages broken down by year and month. It won't show a folder of photos you've put in your blogs, but you can see both blog folders in one place, plus, you can upload files there before putting them in a post, or just to archive for later.
Playing with templates
It's good to play with different templates because they don't all offer the same features and styles. You can preview them before saving changes, of course. Some of them let you add widgets, or custom html, like I use for Today's Love, but not all. Same with the TypePad lists. You can toggle everything on and off in the content section of the Design page. One thing that will change if you change the template is the post footer detail; you have to go in and select items that aren't part of the default choices. Like, I choose to have a Twitter button at the bottom of a post, so when I change the template, I have to select that again. I haven't settled on the perfect one yet, though I do like Vector Drips a lot.
The style for your About Me page can be changed; whichever designs you've previously selected are available for you to choose for it.
Following the Dashboard
So far, I've found a few new blogs to read by being able to see who my other mates choose to follow, in the Dashboard. Also, in your profile, you can choose whether to show your followers/followees there, and in the Settings, you can choose whether to have those appear on your blog.
For Robbie:
