What makes a good mod page? User opinions wanted.

[damanding]

I read the changelogs also to see what specific updates were made on a mod I'm updating for myself. I also find changelogs useful when troubleshooting problems for other users.

[crawe1x]

 

 

 

Question: Do people even read the readme and changelogs? I've tried to avoid having any of those tabs and keep the mod page simplistic. The only way I could think of a changelog would be even remotely useful would be if I was trying to help another mod author debug their mod, otherwise, it's not even worth having up.

 

 

 

I like changelogs. It's one of the first things I check for after I've read the main description, etc. It helps clarify certain points but also helps prove the author's commitment to the project.

Edited December 2, 2016 by crawe1x

[genolune]

I use Nexus Mod Manager for all Fallout 4 mods so I can periodically hit the fix download ids and check for updates. It just now occurred to me that anyone who does that for my mods would see they need to update so maybe a changelog would be more appropriate as mods get bigger.

[DoctorKaizeld]

the change log is useful. but shouldnt be in the description

[genolune]

I agree with you there qwerty.

[gamefever]

Changelogs are really useful,

I will sometimes write up changes for a future update as they are completed to save time and so I don't forget.

I've worked on some mods alongside guys that work for a living, yup in software although me Ima student for 2nd time, anyways what I learned from those guys is that best practice is to make your change number very small such as version 1.0 goes to version 1.01

Some of these guys will use a letter in addition for Hotfixes, say you make a whole bunch of emergency fixes to make stuff actually work.

1.01a version. Although letters also help to hold back the version from hitting 2.0

If you make a version 2.0, it implies that so many changes took place that it is a completely overhauled mod that may not function quite the same (like Windows XP to Windows 7).

 

Nothing worse than using a mod that goes through updates that says,

 

Updated Changes

"Stuff, lolz I forgot, but here's 1.5!"

 

For down and nitty gritty details on a mod I suppose that's what the radial readme would be best for, this way only your mod users that prefer to really get deep into to reading about the inner workings will attempt to read it.

Having the everything of the mod on the front description page can sometimes lead to more questions but not the kind you might expect. Can be due to English as a Second language or first language reading comprehension failure ><

 

Also the side effect of a short and sweet description is that the front page looks clean and thus actually more appealing to a broader audience. You will be better off sticking to a short mod description, installation instructions, and requirements....Plus don't forget graphics, pictures, and fan made video's........If you get a good following you can use their stuff for future mods rather than make your own thus saving more time to be used for modding and playing.

 

Edit,

If you mod for long enough,

I have found that keeping a 2nd drive full of current backup's of the actual unreleased work would be invaluable as sometimes information being lost does happen and when it happens to a mod it can represent losing months of your time.

I've lost primary drives just to failure of the drive but also I've needed to take extreme cleaning measures of my primary drive from time to time. Losing information you have been working on over a month or more of free time is really stomach wrenching. There are all sorts of ways things can go wrong like Operating System update failure, other failed application updates, and wear an tear. Having a 2nd drive is much cheaper than paying out for information recovery.

Edited December 3, 2016 by gamefever

[genolune]

So how do you keep good, organized files for version control to help avoid losing any builds you have? I like what you said about the version numbers so I'll definitely keep all that in mind.

[Cameron71]

I'm not sure if this applies directly here but hopefully this helps someone ...

 

Always have your Mod's Title be the same as it's Download File and the same as the ESP or ESM.

 

I can not tell you how frustrating it is to have a file download and it be called "Main". Or when I need to figure out what esp is causing a CTD when it is an abreviation of the mods title. When I load Skyrim now I have no idea what mod 3TR.esp does, who the author is or how to find out except guess work in the CK or Xedit.

 

There should always be a flow back to the mod page.

[genolune]

That's actually what I try to do for the very same reason as you. Same when I go to look at the .7z/.zip/.rar files to figure out stuff and it's things like original or something else which doesn't tell me anything so I go rooting around until I find a file that identifies what mod it is.

[BlahBlahDEEBlahBlah]

Changing the name of the ESP between versions will also screw up things.

The game will treat them as two different mods.

 

Edit: Just throwing it out there as the conversation shifted to naming for a second or two there. =)