diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7bda4869..608d713f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -17,4 +17,5 @@ docs
 xportr.Rcheck/
 xportr*.tar.gz
 xportr*.tgz
-docs/*
\ No newline at end of file
+docs/*
+local
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 9b83ed5f..cc9e76ff 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ importFrom(dplyr,distinct)
 importFrom(dplyr,everything)
 importFrom(dplyr,filter)
 importFrom(dplyr,group_by)
+importFrom(dplyr,if_else)
 importFrom(dplyr,left_join)
 importFrom(dplyr,mutate)
 importFrom(dplyr,n)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index f4fed78a..d1f5f894 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 # xportr 0.3.0
-* Fixed an issue where xportr_type would overwrite column labels, widths, and "sas.formats"
+
+* Fixed an issue where `xportr_type` would overwrite column labels, widths, and "sas.formats"
+* Fixed messaging of `xportr_order`to give better visability of the number of variables being reordered.
+* Add new argument to `xportr_write` to allow users to specify how xpt validation checks are handled.
+* Fixed bug where character_types were case sensitive. They are now case insensitive.
+* Updated `xportr_type` to make type coercion more explicit. 
 
 # xportr 0.2.0
 * Added a new validation test that errors when users pass invalid formats (#60 #64). Thanks to @zdz2101!
diff --git a/R/messages.R b/R/messages.R
index b7b4d376..c2fe3309 100644
--- a/R/messages.R
+++ b/R/messages.R
@@ -134,19 +134,30 @@ label_log <- function(miss_vars, verbose) {
 
 #' Utility for Ordering
 #'
-#' @param moved_vars Variables moved in the dataset
+#' @param reordered_vars Number of variables reordered
+#' @param moved_vars Number of variables moved in the dataset
 #' @param verbose Provides additional messaging for user
 #'
 #' @return Output to Console
 #' @export
-var_ord_msg <- function(moved_vars, verbose) {
+var_ord_msg <- function(reordered_vars, moved_vars, verbose) {
   if (length(moved_vars) > 0) {
     cli_h2("{ length(moved_vars) } variables not in spec and moved to end")
     message <- glue(
-      "Variable reordered in `.df`: { encode_vars(moved_vars) }"
+      "Variable moved to end in `.df`: { encode_vars(moved_vars) }"
     )
     xportr_logger(message, verbose)
   } else {
     cli_h2("All variables in specification file are in dataset")
   }
+
+  if (length(reordered_vars) > 0) {
+    cli_h2("{ length(reordered_vars) } reordered in dataset")
+    message <- glue(
+      "Variable reordered in `.df`: { encode_vars(reordered_vars) }"
+    )
+    xportr_logger(message, verbose)
+  } else {
+    cli_h2("All variables in dataset are ordered")
+  }
 }
diff --git a/R/order.R b/R/order.R
index 19303028..38d50734 100644
--- a/R/order.R
+++ b/R/order.R
@@ -63,14 +63,13 @@ xportr_order <- function(.df, metacore, domain = NULL, verbose = getOption("xpor
   drop_vars <- .df %>%
     select(!any_of(vars_in_spec_ds))
 
-  # Used in warning message for how many vars have been moved
-  moved_vars <- ncol(drop_vars)
-  ordered_vars <- ncol(ord_vars)
-
   df_re_ord <- bind_cols(ord_vars, drop_vars)
 
+  # Used in warning message for how many vars have been moved
+  reorder_vars <- names(df_re_ord)[names(df_re_ord) != names(.df)]
+
   # Function is located in messages.R
-  var_ord_msg(moved_vars, verbose)
+  var_ord_msg(reorder_vars, names(drop_vars), verbose)
 
   df_re_ord
 }
diff --git a/R/type.R b/R/type.R
index f680700b..137166a7 100644
--- a/R/type.R
+++ b/R/type.R
@@ -37,12 +37,14 @@ xportr_type <- function(.df, metacore, domain = NULL,
   domain_name <- getOption("xportr.domain_name")
   variable_name <- getOption("xportr.variable_name")
   type_name <- getOption("xportr.type_name")
-  characterTypes <- getOption("xportr.character_types")
+  characterTypes <- c(getOption("xportr.character_types"), "_character")
+  numericTypes <- c(getOption("xportr.numeric_types"), "_numeric")
 
   ## Common section to detect domain from argument or pipes
 
   df_arg <- tryCatch(as_name(enexpr(.df)), error = function(err) NULL)
   domain <- get_domain(.df, df_arg, domain)
+
   if (!is.null(domain)) attr(.df, "_xportr.df_arg_") <- domain
 
   ## End of common section
@@ -65,7 +67,16 @@ xportr_type <- function(.df, metacore, domain = NULL,
     data.frame(variable = names(.df), type = unlist(table_cols_types)),
     metacore,
     by = "variable"
-  )
+  ) %>%
+    mutate(
+      # _character is used here as a mask of character, in case someone doesn't
+      # want 'character' coerced to character
+      type.x = if_else(type.x %in% characterTypes, "_character", type.x),
+      type.x = if_else(type.x %in% numericTypes, "_numeric", type.x),
+      type.y = tolower(type.y),
+      type.y = if_else(type.y %in% characterTypes, "_character", type.y),
+      type.y = if_else(type.y %in% numericTypes, "_numeric", type.y)
+    )
 
   # It is possible that a variable exists in the table that isn't in the metadata
   # it will be silently ignored here. This may happen depending on what a user
diff --git a/R/write.R b/R/write.R
index 369db5c4..ce16dfb5 100644
--- a/R/write.R
+++ b/R/write.R
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@
 #' @param .df A data frame to write.
 #' @param path Path where transport file will be written. File name sans will be
 #'   used as `xpt` name.
-#' @param label Dataset label. It must be<=40 characters.
+#' @param label Dataset label. It must be <=40 characters.
+#' @param strict_checks If TRUE, xpt validation will report errors and not
+#'  write out the dataset. If FALSE, xpt validation will report warnings and continue
+#'  with writing out the dataset. Defaults to FALSE
+#'
 #' @details
 #'   * Variable and dataset labels are stored in the "label" attribute.
 #'
@@ -19,7 +23,7 @@
 #'
 #' @return A data frame. `xportr_write()` returns the input data invisibly.
 #' @export
-xportr_write <- function(.df, path, label = NULL) {
+xportr_write <- function(.df, path, label = NULL, strict_checks = FALSE) {
   path <- normalizePath(path, mustWork = FALSE)
 
   name <- tools::file_path_sans_ext(basename(path))
@@ -47,7 +51,11 @@ xportr_write <- function(.df, path, label = NULL) {
   checks <- xpt_validate(.df)
 
   if (length(checks) > 0) {
-    abort(c("The following validation failed:", checks))
+    if (!strict_checks) {
+      warn(c("The following validation checks failed:", checks))
+    } else {
+      abort(c("The following validation checks failed:", checks))
+    }
   }
 
   data <- as.data.frame(.df)
diff --git a/R/xportr-package.R b/R/xportr-package.R
index 09e63f42..fa8a788d 100644
--- a/R/xportr-package.R
+++ b/R/xportr-package.R
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 globalVariables(c(
   "abbr_parsed", "abbr_stem", "adj_orig", "adj_parsed", "col_pos", "dict_varname",
   "lower_original_varname", "my_minlength", "num_st_ind", "original_varname",
-  "renamed_n", "renamed_var", "use_bundle", "viable_start"
+  "renamed_n", "renamed_var", "use_bundle", "viable_start", "type.x", "type.y"
 ))
 
 # The following block is used by usethis to automatically manage
diff --git a/R/zzz.R b/R/zzz.R
index 4cb85dde..ef71ea87 100644
--- a/R/zzz.R
+++ b/R/zzz.R
@@ -14,7 +14,14 @@
     xportr.label_verbose = "none",
     xportr.length_verbose = "none",
     xportr.type_verbose = "none",
-    xportr.character_types = c("character", "char", "text", "date", "posixct", "posixt"),
+    xportr.character_types = c(
+      "character", "char", "text", "date", "posixct",
+      "posixt", "datetime", "time", "partialdate",
+      "partialtime", "partialdatetime",
+      "incompletedatetime", "durationdatetime",
+      "intervaldatetime"
+    ),
+    xportr.numeric_types = c("integer", "numeric", "num", "float"),
     xportr.order_name = "order"
   )
   toset <- !(names(op.devtools) %in% names(op))
diff --git a/man/var_ord_msg.Rd b/man/var_ord_msg.Rd
index 1b92ab4e..0bd5979e 100644
--- a/man/var_ord_msg.Rd
+++ b/man/var_ord_msg.Rd
@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@
 \alias{var_ord_msg}
 \title{Utility for Ordering}
 \usage{
-var_ord_msg(moved_vars, verbose)
+var_ord_msg(reordered_vars, moved_vars, verbose)
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{moved_vars}{Variables moved in the dataset}
+\item{reordered_vars}{Number of variables reordered}
+
+\item{moved_vars}{Number of ariables moved in the dataset}
 
 \item{verbose}{Provides additional messaging for user}
 }
diff --git a/man/xportr_write.Rd b/man/xportr_write.Rd
index ee82ac64..b22356f1 100644
--- a/man/xportr_write.Rd
+++ b/man/xportr_write.Rd
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 \alias{xportr_write}
 \title{Write xpt v5 transport file}
 \usage{
-xportr_write(.df, path, label = NULL)
+xportr_write(.df, path, label = NULL, strict_checks = FALSE)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{.df}{A data frame to write.}
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ xportr_write(.df, path, label = NULL)
 used as \code{xpt} name.}
 
 \item{label}{Dataset label. It must be<=40 characters.}
+
+\item{strict_checks}{If TRUE, xpt validation will report errors and not
+the dataset. If FALSE, xpt validation will report warnings and continue
+with writing. Defaults to FALSE}
 }
 \value{
 A data frame. \code{xportr_write()} returns the input data invisibly.
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-messages.R b/tests/testthat/test-messages.R
index 36c35b32..13e966af 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-messages.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-messages.R
@@ -44,23 +44,6 @@ test_that("length_log: Missing variables messages are shown", {
     expect_message("Problem with `var1`.*`var2`.*`var3`")
 })
 
-test_that("var_ord_msg: Reordered variables messages are shown", {
-  # Remove empty lines in cli theme
-  withr::local_options(list(cli.user_theme = cli_theme_tests))
-  app <- cli::start_app(output = "message", .auto_close = FALSE)
-  withr::defer(cli::stop_app(app))
-
-  moved_vars <- c("var1", "var2", "var3")
-  message_regexp <- "Variable reordered in.+`var1`.+`var2`.+`var3`$"
-
-  var_ord_msg(moved_vars, "message") %>%
-    expect_message("variables not in spec and moved to end") %>%
-    expect_message(message_regexp)
-
-  var_ord_msg(c(), "message") %>%
-    expect_message("All variables in specification file are in dataset")
-})
-
 test_that("var_names_log: Renamed variables messages are shown", {
   # Remove empty lines in cli theme
   withr::local_options(list(cli.user_theme = cli_theme_tests))
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-order.R b/tests/testthat/test-order.R
index 64a7d19b..0b988853 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-order.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-order.R
@@ -90,3 +90,41 @@ test_that("xportr_order: Expect error if domain is not a character", {
   expect_error(xportr_order(df, df_meta, domain = NA, verbose = "none"))
   expect_error(xportr_order(df, df_meta, domain = 1, verbose = "none"))
 })
+
+test_that("xportr_order: Variable ordering messaging is correct", {
+  output_file <- tempfile()
+
+  df <- data.frame(c = 1:5, a = "a", d = 5:1, b = LETTERS[1:5])
+  df2 <- data.frame(a = "a", z = "z")
+  df_meta <- data.frame(
+    dataset = "df",
+    variable = letters[1:4],
+    order = 1:4
+  )
+
+  capture.output(xportr_order(df, df_meta, verbose = "message"), file = output_file, type = "message")
+
+  expect_equal(
+    readLines(output_file),
+    c(
+      "-- All variables in specification file are in dataset --",
+      "",
+      "-- 4 reordered in dataset --",
+      "",
+      "Variable reordered in `.df`: `a`, `b`, `c`, and `d`"
+    )
+  )
+
+  capture.output(xportr_order(df2, df_meta, verbose = "message"), file = output_file, type = "message")
+
+  expect_equal(
+    readLines(output_file),
+    c(
+      "-- 2 variables not in spec and moved to end --",
+      "",
+      "Variable moved to end in `.df`: `a` and `z`",
+      "-- All variables in dataset are ordered --",
+      ""
+    )
+  )
+})
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-type.R b/tests/testthat/test-type.R
index f554f6bb..68a9babd 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-type.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-type.R
@@ -11,6 +11,39 @@ df <- data.frame(
   Param = c("param1", "param2", "param3")
 )
 
+test_that("xportr_type: NAs are handled as expected", {
+  # Namely that "" isn't converted to NA or vice versa
+  # Numeric columns will become NA but that is the nature of as.numeric
+  df <- data.frame(
+    Subj = as.character(c(123, 456, 789, "", NA, NA_integer_)),
+    Different = c("a", "b", "c", "", NA, NA_character_),
+    Val = c("1", "2", "3", "", NA, NA_character_),
+    Param = c("param1", "param2", "param3", "", NA, NA_character_)
+  )
+  meta_example <- data.frame(
+    dataset = "df",
+    variable = c("Subj", "Param", "Val", "NotUsed"),
+    type = c("numeric", "character", "numeric", "character")
+  )
+
+  df2 <- xportr_type(df, meta_example)
+  expect_equal(
+    df2,
+    structure(
+      list(
+        Subj = c(123, 456, 789, NA, NA, NA),
+        Different = c("a", "b", "c", "", NA, NA),
+        Val = c(1, 2, 3, NA, NA, NA),
+        Param = c("param1", "param2", "param3", "", NA, NA)
+      ),
+      row.names = c(NA, -6L),
+      `_xportr.df_arg_` = "df",
+      class = "data.frame"
+    )
+  )
+})
+
+
 test_that("xportr_type: Variable types are coerced as expected and can raise messages", {
   expect_message(
     df2 <- xportr_type(df, meta_example),
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-write.R b/tests/testthat/test-write.R
index e9658b9a..915aae5c 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-write.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-write.R
@@ -65,12 +65,22 @@ test_that("xportr_write: expect error when label is over 40 characters", {
   expect_error(xportr_write(data_to_save, tmp, label = paste(rep("a", 41), collapse = "")))
 })
 
-test_that("xportr_write: expect error when an xpt validation fails", {
+test_that("xportr_write: expect error when an xpt validation fails with strict_checks set to TRUE", {
   tmpdir <- tempdir()
   tmp <- file.path(tmpdir, "xyz.xpt")
   attr(data_to_save$X, "format.sas") <- "foo"
 
   on.exit(unlink(tmpdir))
 
-  expect_error(xportr_write(data_to_save, tmp, label = "label"))
+  expect_error(xportr_write(data_to_save, tmp, label = "label", strict_checks = TRUE))
+})
+
+test_that("xportr_write: expect warning when an xpt validation fails with strict_checks set to FALSE", {
+  tmpdir <- tempdir()
+  tmp <- file.path(tmpdir, "xyz.xpt")
+  attr(data_to_save$X, "format.sas") <- "foo"
+
+  on.exit(unlink(tmpdir))
+
+  expect_warning(xportr_write(data_to_save, tmp, label = "label", strict_checks = FALSE))
 })