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Old 17-02-2009, 09:34 AM   #1
Dave
Mandolin & Spaghetti Soldier
 
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Emilia, Italy
Posts: 8,518
Default Submitting Content to Abandonia: Here's How

Have something to offer?
Do you want to offer games, boxshots, screenshots, extra documents, YouTube videos? Here is the place to do that!

Open a topic named with your nickname and post into it your offer, it's important not to post direct links, wait for an approval from our Admins/Updaters and we will give you FTP access.

If you want to see your game on site as soon as possible remember to share with us all the material you can: the basic package that we can insert on site includes a review, some screenshots and the game.

Remember to check these topics:We won't accept offers for Oldwarez.
Thanks for the collaboration!

FTP Instructions
After you received the FTP Access and the staff's approval to upload the offered files, you can proceed in doing so. You can find some basic instructions in the same Private Message that included the FTP Access, but here you can read a more detailed explanation of what you have to do, in order to avoid common problems.

Creating the folders. Before everything, you must choose your work environment, an FTP manager. Our staff recommends using Filezilla, which is free, but you can also work in Internet Explorer or in your own preffered FTP manager. When opening the ftp link in IE8, for example, you need to go to the View button on the Menu Bar and select "Open FTP Site in Windows Explorer". There you can create folders and copy-paste files the same way you usually manage yours in Windows Explorer. It's even easier in FileZilla, where you drag-and-drop folders and files to the FTP.

When, logging on the FTP for the first time, you'll see a lot of folders. Every contributor has his own folder, where he uploads and stores his offers. Thus you need to create your own, named exactly as your username on the site. Always remember that you can't rename, delete or move stuff with your permissions, so either prepare the folders beforehand on your PC and then copy (IE)/ drag-and-drop (Filezilla) them right on the Main FTP directory, or take care to do all the necessary steps in the right order, so you won't be forced to do one of those actions. But in case you screw up (creating one extra folder for example), don't panic, just notify one of the active updaters and we'll clean up after you.

Uploading the files. Your folder is organized almost the same way as the site's FTP directory. Every game has its own folder. There you can upload the stuff you offered. Never add games in their raw form (like the folder), always put them in a ZIP archive, use RAR archives only if you don't have another option. Contributions with multiple files like boxshots and screenshots need to be archived also, for the ease of use, while 1-file contributions like the manual, a map or a reference card can be added in their original form, without zipping them.

If we were to reduce this entire phylosophy to a simple sketch/plan, you'll have the example you received in your FTP Access PM:

David86 (main directory, your username)
Game (directory of the game, game's title)
- gamename.zip/rar
- screenshot.zip/rar
- review.doc/txt
- manual.pdf/doc/txt
- boxshots.zip/rar

This is just an example, though. It doesn't mean you have to upload the boxshots or the manual - only what you offered. I need also to add that when creating the game's archive, place all the files in a folder, give the folder a 8-character title (related to the original game name; this is referred mostly to DOS/PC Booter games.) and only then archive it in .zip, which as you can see in the example must have the full original game name.

Size limit. Due to server cost restrictions we need to limit the size of the game archives that go on site. Currently it is 270 MB. Game archives with a size below 270MB should be uploaded on FTP, games bigger than that go to ISO Cellar.
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