Arrby
9th April 2005 20:04 UTC
How to Post a Plugin? (tried wiki, no success)
I have written a plugin which I thought I would share.
I tried to upload the .zip file to the new Wiki, but I haven't figured out how yet. The upload page keeps telling me the file appears to be empty. I have logged in and the wiki recognizes me. It first gives me a message about prefering files to be less than 100K (this one is 177K) and when I press the "save anyway" button, I get back the upload screen with a "File appears to be empty" message.
What is the size limit on attachments directly to the forum?
At 177K can I just attach to a forum message and let someone with appropriate authority move it to the archives or the wiki?
Thanks in Advance!
kichik
9th April 2005 20:11 UTC
I don't know why it says it "prefers" files less than 100KB, that's the definite limit. The forum can't take files as large as that either. If you can't make it smaller, send it to by mail for uploading.
Arrby
9th April 2005 20:17 UTC
Thanks kichik, but: "send it to by mail".
Send it to who, you?;)
kichik
9th April 2005 20:21 UTC
Yes, send it to me to kichik@users.sf.net.
Arrby
9th April 2005 20:50 UTC
Okay, Thanks!
Couple more questions, since we are on this topic, then I'll stop bugging you for a bit.
The Plugin actually includes a couple "development box" side supporting programs. The .zip file is as large as it is cuz I included precompiled binaries. I could remove these if you prefer, but I wonder if all potential users actually have C++ compilers (and in this case VC++ compiler). Also 1 of the programs would require potential users to go to the web and download an entire, non trivial sized library and build it first. What is your recommendation, leave the precompiled binaries in or just include the source? (sorry for being so wordy)
Question 2: After I send it to you and you put it wherever,
will you send me an email or something so I can post an announcement topic? And if so, would it be appropriate or inappropriate to attach the Plugin Readme.html (itself 41k) to the announcement topic?
Next question. If I make something small enough to post to the wiki, how do I include a link to it in a message here? Just look at recent uploads and right click on the file name, copy shortcut and paste into "post reply" text?
If I post a file, like this to the wiki, should I also create some kind of page on the wiki itself mentioning/short description of the plugin and what would be the link process to link the resulting wiki page to the uploaded file?
Is there a wiki help document that would explain all this stuff?
Finally, only slightly related, I see topics here that have links to other topics embedded. If I ever have a reason to do the same, do I just go to the topic I wish to include a link to and copy from my Address field (IE) and paste that into the "post topic" text, or is there some other method for refering to other topics from within a topic?
kichik
9th April 2005 21:00 UTC
Include the source, the compiled plug-in with no precompiled intermediate files and instructions as to how to compile the source.
If I upload the file, I will send you a link to it.
As long as you don't paste the entire readme into the thread itself, it's appropriate to attach it. But it should really go into the zip file itself.
Uploading to the wiki is meant to be a way to attach files to wiki pages. You should create a wiki page for your plug-in. Do what works to link to the plug-in download for now. There is no definite method to do that yet.
There is no wiki document as it's all pretty much new.
Links in the forum use absolute URL. There is no method to link to another thread without its URL.
Arrby
9th April 2005 21:15 UTC
Thanks for your patience in answering all these questions!
The .zip file pretty much follows your recomendations with the exception that the two supporting .exe programs are included (which is what makes it so big). The plugin follows a paradigm similar to the ExtractDllEx model (though it has nothing to do with compression), such that one of the supporting "development box" programs is necessary for the plugin to be of any use, the other one is not technically necessary, but is a great convenience to users.
The zip file has been created so all a user needs to do is extract to the ${NSISDIR}\Contrib folder, and then copy or move the prebuilt .dll to the plugins directory or compile.
I think for this first time, I'll just go ahead and mail it to you. You can make any appropriate recommendations for "next time" to me after seeing what is there.
Thanks Again!
(bug kichik mode off)