A Request TO All Modders That Upload Stuff

[rekuli]

just a general note/request:

 

If someone downloads an archive, be it a mod, source-code or something else, he/she/it expects to find the related documentation WITHIN the archive so that one knows what to do with the downloaded stuff and how, even if not accessing (or wanting to access) the web. This is a general rule that was established for all open source, free-, and shareware in the early 1980s. And it is a good rule, because all things necessary to use a d/l'ed package are contained in that package (except for external dependencies, like other archives)..

 

 

So this leaves the question:

WHY don't you "modders" INCLUDE the readme/doc you post in the documentation tab WITHIN THE MOD ARCHIVES? This really makes me mad because everytime I want to read where to find the things or how to re-install (if dependencies exist) I need to re-connect to nexus and cut and paste that text into a text file for easy reference.

This really starts to piss me off, and I am sure I am not the only one.

 

Please, to all of you, change your behaviour and INCLUDE DOCUMENTATION IN THE ARCHIVES in the future. Not just this "I made it" stuff, but the far more important usage info.

Thank you. I'm serious.

[Rabbit1251]

I would like to see that, too. But I just copy and paste the mod description along with pertinent screenshots into the mod archive file. Admittedly this becomes more difficult if the mod description includes many lines of text in a jpg format. In that case I have to make a Word Document or pdf file for it which is much more trouble. But it gets me by.

 

 

Rabbit

[David Brasher]

I fully agree. If a person uploads a mod, in the same package they need to upload the readme file which includes the installation and usage instructions. It is absolutely shocking how even some of the top 100 files fail to include this most basic information.

[blove]

Is there some question as to whether or not they are modders?

[channel0]

a lot of the modders do include a readme in their mod archives, but

it sometimes happens that NMM has to overwrite a readme file in the \Data folder because the file is simply called "readme".

it could be good practice to rename the readme-files to "[name of mod]readme.txt" or "[name of mod]readme.doc",

to avoid confusion.

just my 2cts.

[acidzebra]

"extract archive to Skyrim data folder".

[Veltoss]

Something equally important to remember is to not, for the love of god, name your readme as readme.txt

 

I can't count the number of times I'm asked to replace readme.txt, which essentially makes it worthless for anyone with more than one mod. Call it ModName-Readme.txt or something, please. :rolleyes:

[channel0]

i'd settle for a readme link if i was sure the mods were kept in the same place in the nexus forever,

but that's not always the case, so, as OP stated, plz include them in the package, and name them after your mod...

[rekuli]

I am glad that most of you agree. An inspiration of a purposeful archive structure might be (BAIN compliant as well):

 

foo-x.y.z/

docs/

foo-x.y.z.txt (or html)

readme.txt

credits.txt

screenshots/

textures/

meshes/

scripts/

foo.bsa

foo.esm

foo.esp

… (and whatever comes with it)

 

 

blove: no, it is not an evaluation "are you a modder or not", it is a simple matter of thinking straight and making things easy for everyone. Isn't it a fact that every modder wants to get endorsements and maybe even be on the "top modders" list in some way? ;-))

 

 

(note: this editor tricked me by accepting tab as "ok, I'll save now", hence the edits. I had not intended to post and correct until it looks right :-).)

Edited November 5, 2012 by rekuli

[channel0]

looks great. could we add this somewhere like 'best modding practices' and make it sticky?