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PAD stands for Portable Application Description, and a PAD file is a clear and easy
way for software authors to provide online sources with information about their
products. The advantage of using a PAD file is that it enables you to store all
the descriptions and specifications in one single place - system requirements, price,
contact info, file names, download URL's and more.
Another great thing about PAD files is that they're so easy to create - and that
it doesn't cost you anything! The Association of Shareware Professionals have put
together a range of totally free tools that allow you to create and modify your
PAD files (http://www.padgen.org).
If you compile a PAD file yourself, please, keep in mind the following guidelines:
- Avoid apostrophes in company name, product name, product description
- Product description should not contain any special characters such as (&,",<,>)
- Product description should not contain any line breaks
- All download links should point to an actual file (not to the script)
- Avoid spaces or %20 symbols in download links and URLs
- Do not use free emails as your contact emails in the PAD file
- Use Online PAD Validation
tool to check your PAD file
Find out more about PAD files in "How to create a PAD
file" article.
Once you have created your PAD file, you should put it on your own website, and OutYard system can detect it and get fluent updates
automatically from you.
When you have a necessity to edit information about your product (version, new features,
size, contacts, etc), you should only update the product PAD file and overwrite
it on your website. Many download archives check the registered PAD files for updates
every week. So, your information will be updated on many download websites automatically!
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Quick introduction to PAD files
If you're a software author, you're probably familiar with those never ending requests
and the need of updating the info on your programs, over and over again. The Association
of Shareware Professionals (ASP) also thought of this and decided to do something
about it. That's how the Portable Application Description (PAD) came about.
This standard was created to simplify the information synchronization between developers
and their promoters. PAD files allow for all the software information to be updated
from a single location on the developer's website.
Here are some details about the PAD standard:
- PAD contains the most important and frequently requested information on a software
program, all in one place. Many download sites demand and support it
- PAD uses the XML web technology, which means data can be easily extracted by any
XML toolkit
- As a webmaster, you get all the needed information, just by using an XML extractor,
without having to contact the author
- Now, if you want to add some extra information in the PAD, you simply insert additional
fields, by creating HTML forms
The PAD file needs to go in two places:
- Inside a ZIP file, from where anyone distributing your software can extract it and
retrieve the information. You can include the PAD files inside the ZIP as PAD_FILE.XML.
- On your website. Don't use a version number in the link, as it's important to use
an address that won't change, because some sites like OutYard.Com, are automatically checking PAD
files for changes, updating their lists. Remember that many download sites ask for
the URL of your PAD file as they import all the information contained in it.
Other facts:
- To generate a PAD file you may use some of PAD file generators;
- When you generate a PAD file, fill in all the fields. Failing to do so will generate
incomplete information that will be displayed as such by vendors. PAD files are
used to increase your shareware sales, so you should fill out everything;
- You need to provide a URL in the PAD file that points back to the file, because
they're used for automatically updating the information.
- To make sure your PAD files are working properly, you have to validate them. Visit
this website to validate your PAD files:
http://www.padspec.org/validate.php.
8 steps to create your PAD file
To promote your software and submit it to download sites, you need to create a PAD
file. First install a PAD generator, next follow these steps:
- Complete all the fields regarding your company and the contact person. This makes
it easier to be contacted and it also increases your website credibility. It's very
important to have the company URL and e-mail address, as most likely, vendors will
contact you this way.
- Fill in all the details regarding the program you want to sell: its name, version,
release date and type, select the languages and also the operating systems that
it supports. Additionally, by selecting the Configure tab, you can select alternative
languages then fill in all the description fields in the selected language.
- Fill in all the description fields. Some websites may have a certain maximum number
of characters they display, so better fill in all of them, respecting the number
of characters suggested. Also, avoid using characters like: " ; ", " / " "," ",
" * " etc. because some software sites may not display them correctly.
- Complete all the fields regarding the URLs where clients or vendors can download
the program. Point out the URL where more information can be found about the program
and where the program's icon is displayed. Your icon should have the standard 32X32
size, and be in GIF, JPG or PNG format, as browsers don't know how to display ICO
files.
- Include the distribution agreement or at least contact details for this and the
end-user license agreement.
- Complete the affiliates PAD extensions, if your payment processor accepts affiliated
programs.
- Let people know if you're a member of ASP.
- Generate a PAD file
When you're storing the PAD file on your website you can give whatever name you
desire, just remember not to use version numbers in the URL and leave the name unchanged
until you update your product.
Put your PAD files in the same folder, so that they can be easily identified, and
give distinct names for each product.
PAD files are easy to create and use. Because it's a standard way of sharing information
about your program, it makes it a lot easier for webmasters and program librarians
to generate program listings and basically saves everyone a lot of time.
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Q:Why do Authors need PAD?
A: Authors are constantly asked for information about their products, either
in online forms or by email. The PAD dataset contains all the most frequently requested
information and it is all in one spot! Many online download sites are already supporting this endeavor. More will follow in
their footsteps!
Q: What does a PAD file look like?
A: PAD uses established web technology, XML! With XML, data can be easily
extracted and parsed by any XML toolkit.
If you have IE you can see a sample by clicking here. If you are using other browsers, your browser
may ask you to save the file.
Q: The shareware industry can change in a snap; we've seen that with the
rapid growth of the Internet. Is this dataset extendable?
A: Yes. As the industry changes, additional fields will be added to the PAD
dataset by the ASP, providing updated platform information and any other categories
of information that become necessary as the industry grows.
Q: I need information about products that isn't in the PAD dataset. Can I
add fields?
A: Yes. By creating simple HTML forms, you can request additional product
and author information. See below for more information on creating PAD extensions.
Q: Well this PAD stuff sounds great, but it looks complicated to create.
Is there an easy way to generate the PAD file?
A: There are a lot of FREE tools that will allow you to create and
modify your PAD files.
Q: Where do I put this PAD file?
A: The PAD file should go in two places. The first is inside your ZIP file
so that anyone distributing your software can quickly extract the file and retrieve
any information that they need. Inside the ZIP, include the PAD files as PAD_FILE.XML.
The second location for PAD files is on your website. Many download sites, like OutYard, ask for
only the URL to your PAD file, and they do the rest, importing all your file descriptions,
sizes, and product information directly from your web site. It is important that
you use an address on your site that won't change, so don't use a version number
in the link. That's because some sites are automatically checking your PAD files
for changes on a regular schedule, and when they find a new version of the PAD file,
they update their lists immediately.
Q: Do I have to fill in all the fields?
A: Yes. PAD files are used to communicate information between your company
and inquiring vendors. If you leave a field blank, and a webmaster has chosen to
display that field online, your product entries will be incomplete on that webmaster's
site. To use PAD to sell your product you should fill out as much information as
possible.
Q: Why do I need to have a URL in the PAD file that points back to my PAD
file? (This is referring to the PAD XML URL field on the Web Info page in PADGen.)
A: PAD files are used for more than file descriptions; they are also used
for automatically updating web sites. If you do not include this field then sites
will not be able to automatically poll your PAD file to see if your product has
been updated. If you provide this URL in the PAD file, sites will be able to quickly
find your PAD file and update your product listings with no intervention on your
part! You should also be including your PAD file in the distribution file that you
are sending out. If your PAD file is extracted and this field is not defined, then
the vendor will not easily be able to find out the latest details about your product.
Q: What do I name my PAD file?
A: When you include your PAD file in your distribution file you should keep
the default filename of pad_file.xml. When you are storing the PAD file on your
site you can name it whatever you want, but be consistent, don't use version numbers
in the URL, and leave the name unchanged when you update your products. Be sure
to include the URL to the online version in your PAD file. (see above) When you
put your PAD files online you should put them all in a single directory so that
any vendor can easily identify them. Such as http://www.yourdomain.com/padfiles/.
Then each product would have a distinct name, like prog1pad.xml, prog2pad.xml.
Q: Can I just fill in the 45-character description field and leave the rest
blank?
A: Remember that the contents of your PAD file are acting as your salesperson;
fill in all of the description fields and use as many characters as allowed. Some
sites might set a default for using the 2000 character fields while others will
start at the 2000 and move downwards until they find content. Either way, if you
don't use these fields, your product won't have as detailed a description as other
products on the same sites.
Q: I have several screenshots. Why can't I point to an HTML page in the Screen
Shot URL?
A: Automation is key here. Some sites will display your screen shot directly
on their pages as part of your product listing, and some will send visitors to your
pages for details and screen shots. Providing a link to a graphic works for both
cases. Provide your best screen shot so that webmasters can show it to their visitors.
Q: Can I use the ICO file that I used in my application for my icon?
A: No, you should convert it to a GIF, JPG or PNG file. Browsers do not know
how to display ICO files.
Q: What should I use for my icon URL?
A: First, your icon should be the standard 32x32 size. If a site uses the
WIDTH and HEIGHT properties in their IMG tag then your image specified in your icon
URL could look very strange. Then, use a GIF, JPG or PNG format (see above).
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