davidagladish

@ Dark0ne Excellent advice to add to the list! Adding a release thread is not something I had thought of. Also, using the Articles system is something to check out. @ Everyone else Most people seem to be focused on "How Not to Advertise" rather than what we could be doing to make our mod pages more enticing and cater to our commenters, downloaders and followers. I suggest starting your own thread on what modding means to you, or what motivates you to mod if that's what you feel passionate about discussing. But that's not the purpose of this particular forum.

Endorsements aside, since that detail has been exhausted and is not really what this topic is about, what advice can you give a modder about setting up their page, making it visually interesting, and trying draw people in? Even a well made mod can crash and burn without good page elements, images, upkeep, and community links.

Fishing for endorsements is only really valid in the first week anyway, if that is the how and when of making the hot files section. Im more interested in just getting people to look at the page, and how to do that once a mod is already posted. The quality of the mod is ALWAYS important. Of course it would be nice to rely solely on the knowledge that your work is good and that you are doing it for the community. It would also be nice to get noticed by one of the video series' but that's like playing the lottery unless you can rely on nepotism. I love modding, and it thrills me just to tinker around in the CK, but I do strive to reach larger audiences each time. What is interesting, however, is that all of you advertisd your own mods in the signatures of your posts. Seeing as how this is a public forum about how to advertise, I'm curious why none of you mentioned it. That would be the perfect kind of suggestion to give other new modders in this forum. All art needs to be advertised to be seen, it can only be in the eye of the beholder once it has reached their field of view.

I started this thread because I want to know what else to do to advertise my Skyrim mods. After about the three week point, it's very difficult to get more people interested or reach a larger audience, even if you just released a big update. I'm curious what types of things other people do to get more page views, comments and downloads on their own mods. It feels like I've almost exhausted the options on the Skyrim Nexus, but perhaps there is more. One of the best ways I've seen to get page views and downloads is to be featured on the main page of the Skyrim Nexus. There are a few ways to do this. The first would be to get featured in the "Hot FIles" section. According to someone in the chat forum, the files that are chosen are taken from the top six recent files over the past two weeks. I'm not sure exactly how that is calculated, but it seems like upload timing would make a huge difference in the beginning. Mods with shock value or sex appeal definitely get more attention than other types of mods. That's why there's almost ALWAYS one sexy companion mod out of the six. Also, files with lots of replay value-like uniquely redesigned wearable items-tend to get a lot of attention. Any small independent modder working on something with little shock value or replay value is highly unlikely to make the "Hot Files." Environment design (like new dungeons, quests, and player houses) seem to be the least recognized. Not to mention it's almost impossible if your mod isn't flawless within the first two weeks of posting. The second way is to be featured in the Skyrim Mod Sanctuary series of videos. This is a great way for under-appreciated or "lost" mods to get noticed. Gopher has done some great work here and I really love watching the series. Unfortunately, it's pretty random what he chooses and he tends to favor immersive mods that mess with the mechanics or visuals of the game. Again, for environment design it's a bit of a limited market for advertising. But, still a great way to springboard into popularity if your mod is something he is impressed by. The third way is the easiest....well sometimes. Now when you start building a page for your mod, you can wait to release it until it's finished. Which is great. Before that it was a bit touch-and-go as you slowly fixed errors and typos, or fixed your BB code and embedded pictures and videos. But, when you decide to publish the page, it is added to a cue on the front page. Every time six new mods are posted, the old six are bumped and the new six are posted. But what happens when you join the cue in slot #1. Then slots #2-5 fill up. But you're still waiting on #6. Then someone uploads seven different language translations of the same mod all at once? Now the main page has six language translations of the same mod and bumped yours off after only a split second of notoriety. This is very possible, in fact it happened to me. Now, unless you delete your page and repost it, you've lost the only sure-fire way to get on the front page. If this doesn't happen, it's amazing to watch your page go from 0 views and 0 downloads to 100 views and 10 downloads almost instantly. The more time you are in that list on the main page, the more views and downloads you get almost exponentially. Time it wisely. The fourth way (and last?) to get on the main page is to upload an image of your mod. It shows up in the same 6-slot cue like before. But you need to "hire" a crazy-good photographer with an awesome eye for detail and a very beefy computer and GPU running about 100+ enhancement mods to get noticed. Also, the image needs a good title. Again, sex-appeal and fire seem to get the most notice. I was lucky enough to find someone to take a photo series for my mod. It actually helped a lot and probably doubled my page views. There's no way of telling for sure, of course, but the first day I noticed a spike in activity. You can always space out your uploads, as well, to remind people. I tend to upload once a week-ish if I take a decent image. Of course, linking to your mod page on the image page is essential. Another way of getting page views is to update your mod as often as possible. The recently updated column does get checked regularly, even if it's not on the main page sometimes it's the next best thing. Nothing kills a mod quicker than never updating it. Not just the .esp file but also responding to comments, answering questions, moderating, creating forums, and offering new content if you can reach a view goal or endorsement goal. Past that, there is just cleaning up your mod page and making it as interesting and informative as possible. Lots of great pictures, custom fonts, headers, and YouTube video walkthru's or trailers. I learned a lot of BB code and utilized Photoshop to try and spice up my page/make it less dull. I also used Bandicam to record in-game footage of my mod, then edited a 30sec trailer in iMovie and embedded it directly into the description page. People commented on how the only reason they downloaded my mod was because of that video. After a month of this, I feel like I've exhausted all the avenues. So I'd love to hear what other modders do to advertise their own mods: your frustrations getting page views and downloads, things you've tried that work or don't work. Can't wait to hear from you all.

What-if's aside, as a mod author who wants to moderate his comments fairly, I would just like the option to move a comment to a specific forum/discussion thread on my mod page. It would be nice to be trusted enough to decide under what category they belong, rather than edit or remove them. If I could have it my way, after a comment is posted in the main comment thread I would have the option to move it to "Bug Reports", "Troubleshooting", or "Feedback with Spoilers." If I do nothing, it just stays in the main thread. Those three things are really the only things I can think of that I would ever want to move off the main comments, aside from blatantly inappropriate comments. Then the potential mod downloader can make the call as to which thread(s) they want to read.