Every time you make a change, e.g. a new version, you must do five things to make the change take:
About the only thing missing is a clear place to describe prices for multiple purchases, site licenses, source licences etc. or even to mention such things exist. I suppose you could tuck that away in the long description.
The original PADs were invented in the days of DOS, when they were called DIZ files. That is why they sometimes use 8.3 filenames.
When you change the version number there are seven places you must update it on both the Program Info and Web Info sections: Filename_Versioned, Filename_Previous, Filename_Long, Primary_Download_URL, Secondary_Download_URL, Additional_Download_URL_1 and Additional_Download_URL_2,
| Tricky PAD Fields | |
|---|---|
| Field | Notes |
| Keywords | Separate with commas with no trailing comma or period. |
| Program_Cost_Dollars | In US dollars |
| Filename_Versioned | Name of download file for current version. PADs insist on old short DOS 8.3 names. |
| Filename_Previous | Name of download for the previous version. name of download file for current version. PADs insist on old short DOS 8.3 names. |
| Filename_Generic | Name of the download with the version number removed. |
| Filename_Long | Long filename. Usually same as Filename_Versioned. Having two different names only made sense in DOS. |
| File_Size_Bytes | Size of the entire distributable zip in bytes. Bare number. |
| File_Size_K | Size of the entire distributable zip in K, i.e. bytes/1024. Bare number. |
| File_Size_MB | Size of the entire distributable zip in MB, i.e. bytes/(1024*1024). Accurate to two decimal places. Bare number. |
| Program_Specific_Category | Despite its name, this is the broad category for the program. The definitive list is posted as part of the PAD Specifications. Here is the list in a somewhat more readable form that it appears in the XML-based PAD specification. |
| Program_Category_Class | The definitive list is posted as part of the PAD Specifications. However submission sites usually leave out some of the categories and add their own. Here is the list in a somewhat more readable form that it appears in the XML-based PAD specification. |
| Char_Desc_450 | PADGen insists this field contain no newline characters, (embedded, leading
or trailing). Unfortunately you can’t see them in the PADGen editor. To
get rid of them, I often resort to editing the *.pml
file with SlickEdit. PADGen is just being futzy
trying to protect you from counting on alignment. XML permits newlines whereever
you would have a space. If PADGen wants unusually tidy files, it should
automatically convert newlines to spaces then trim lead and trailing spaces. I
wrote the author to get this corrected. He said he has little time, since PADGen
is a volunteer effort. It is such a frustration since all it would take is :
// convert newlines to blanks and trim lead/trail blanks desc450 = desc450.replace('\n',' ').trim(); |
| Char_Desc_2000 | This long description should be complete in itself. The end user will see only one of the descriptions. It is not a continuation of Char_Desc_250. There is no point is carefully aligning your description. This is XML. It may be reflowed. Avoid any high ASCII characters or entities. You can’t count on those displaying the file rendering it properly. Avoid any &, < or > even if they are not being used as HTML. |
| Application_Screenshot_URL | *.png, *.jpg or *.gif, not *.bmp. Should be 200x200 or larger. |
| Application_Icon_URL | *.png, *.jpg or *.gif, not *.ico. Should be 32x32. Some sites accept *.ico, but that is not kosher. |
| Permissions | Free form text to describe licensing, restrictions and purchase options. |
| PADRING | This is an extension that lets you insert a list of all your other pad URLs or a related set. You can also list other people’ URLs. This will help propagate knowledge of these PADs around the web. |
| 1. | AmazingDownloads | ||
| 2. | BestFreewareDownload | freeware only | |
| 3. | DownBroad | ||
| 4. | Download-o-maniac! | ||
| 5. | Download3K | ||
| 6. | DownloadReady | You may be surprised to find your PAD already listed. They go out hunting for them. | |
| 7. | Downloads2K | You may be surprised to find your PAD already listed. They go out hunting for them. They ask for a backlink. | |
| 8. | FileCluster | ||
| 9. | Filevolution | must scroll to bottom of a long page to enter the URL. | |
| 10. | IFreewareDownload | ||
| 11. | PadRing | ||
| 12. | ShareSoftware24 | ||
| 13. | Software-Dungeon | want a reciprocal link. | |
| 14. | SoftwareArea51 | ||
| 15. | Techpedia | ||
| 16. | Trial-Files | ||
| 17. | TwoBrothers | they bar you if you sudmit a PAD more than once, even if it has changed. | |
| 18. | WillingSoftware | their list of categories is out of date. |
The submission sites often hassle you in a variety of ways. They want back links from your site to theirs. They want you to retype parts of the XML file. They want you to read weirdly twisted letters and prove you can type them accurately. They want you to set up accounts. They want you to give them your life history. Just pass them by. There are plenty of other sites who won’t hassle you that way.
Regnow
You can deal with RegNow three different ways:
Here are some programs I have found to submit for you:
| 1. | AmazingDownloads | ||
| 2. | BestFreewareDownload | freeware only | |
| 3. | DownBroad | ||
| 4. | Download-o-maniac! | ||
| 5. | Download3K | ||
| 6. | DownloadReady | You may be surprised to find your PAD already listed. They go out hunting for them. | |
| 7. | Downloads2K | You may be surprised to find your PAD already listed. They go out hunting for them. They ask for a backlink. | |
| 8. | FileCluster | ||
| 9. | Filevolution | must scroll to bottom of a long page to enter the URL. | |
| 10. | IFreewareDownload | ||
| 11. | PadRing | ||
| 12. | ShareSoftware24 | ||
| 13. | Software-Dungeon | want a reciprocal link. | |
| 14. | SoftwareArea51 | ||
| 15. | Techpedia | ||
| 16. | Trial-Files | ||
| 17. | TwoBrothers | they bar you if you sudmit a PAD more than once, even if it has changed. | |
| 18. | WillingSoftware | their list of categories is out of date. |
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and suggestions to improve this page to Roedy Green : | ||
| Canadian Mind Products | |||
| mindprod.com IP:[65.110.21.43] | |||
| Your face IP:[38.103.63.16] | ![]() | ||
| You are visitor number 8,866. | |||
| You can get a fresh copy of this page from: | or possibly from your local J: drive (Java virtual drive/Mindprod website mirror) | ||
| http://mindprod.com/jgloss/pad.html | J:\mindprod\jgloss\pad.html | ||