1. What is PAD?     Back to top

PAD is an acronym for Portable Application Description. It is a system that helps authors provide product descriptions and related information to online sources in a standardized manner, and using a standard database format. This allows webmasters and program librarians to automate their submission processing and listings creation. PAD saves time for both authors and webmasters.

You can download the current release of PADManager (a free utility used to create PAD files)

Also, an extensive FAQ about PAD itself can be found at http://www.padspec.org/padfaq.php

Before editing a PAD file you should check that you have the most recent version of PADManager. Use the "Check for updates" function from the main menu and download an update if needed.

IMPORTANT! Do not create a PAD file by copying a PAD of another product. PAD files contain unique identifiers. PADManager creates a set of identifiers when you click the "Create" button. To create a copy of another PAD with a new set of identifiers, use the "Clone" button.

When creating your PAD file make sure that:

• Product icon is a static GIF image 32x32 pixels.
• All fields are filled in including the Simtel extension.
• Don't forget to specify the product license and the distribution permissions. If you don't have any specific distribution rules, simply specify the following "This product can be freely distributed through the Internet. To put it onto a CD, contact "
• Do not use carriage returns and HTML tags in descriptions. In the 2000 char description you can use carriage returns.
• After creating you PAD file you should upload it to your server. You can do this using the "Upload" button. Do not give your xml files common names ( like pad_file.xml ). It is recommended to name you PAD file as "your_product.xml". Substitute "your_product" with you actual product name.

2. How many and which sites do you submit too?     Back to top

Thanks to the constantly growing number of contributors, our database grows daily. On the moment this document was last updated, there were 508 sites in our list.  331 of them accept shareware and freeware programs of any kind. Others accept products of certain genre only ( Audio, Graphics, Games, PDA etc. ) Our submitters will submit your product to all common archives first and then to specialized sites your product fits.

The sites chosen include the most popular and successful sites available. These include such popular sites as Files32, FileBasket, Simtel, SnapFiles, SharewareJunction, and Tucows, just to name a few. Unlike other services that blindly submit to each and every site, we carefully select our target sites by evaluating important aspects like link popularity, promotional opportunities, and product visibility. Doing this helps us insure that the sites your products are listed on will have the highest chances for success. Please note that the some sites now charge a fee for a listing, and we can include those sites in our service; however, their submission fees are not included in our basic service fees and must be ordered as additional surcharged options via our Marketing Services and Additional Submission Services.

3. What types of software will you work with?     Back to top

The application must be a Windows (including Games), Linux, Macintosh, Wireless and Handheld applications that have a trial download.  The license type does not matter, so you can be a shareware, freeware, trial, GPL, OpenSource, demo etc..  For a seal of quality we will only look at Windows applications.

4. What sort of report will I get?     Back to top

After we complete our submission process, we will collect the URL's to your products from all the sites we submit to. We will then provide you with a report (via email) containing that list so you can see exactly where your products are located.

5. Am I guaranteed to be listed on all these sites?     Back to top

Products are normally accepted without any question, but acceptance cannot be guaranteed for all products on all sites. We will do our best to get your products listed on all sites we submit to, but the owners of the sites make the final decisions on whether or not they will accept a given product. But overall, the majority of sites do accept just about everything, and this is merely an FYI.

6. How long does the process take?     Back to top

After we receive your PAD file, we verify all the information and schedule a start date for you.  Typically this process takes no more then 7-10 business days from the day we receive your verified PAD file. We do our best to submit your application as fast as we can.

First submission round takes up to 5 days and you will receive your first report immediately after the first round. Second report and resubmission ( where needed ) will begin 1-2 weeks after the first round. Our third report and resubmission ( where needed ), 30 days after the first round. This process guarantees that all of your information is verified and placed correctly throughout our download partner network.

We always strive to get your products out there as quickly as we possibly can. It takes more than 10 hours to submit your product to all software archives and to track the results of your submission. Our professional submitters will do this work for you manually submitting your products to every site in our database and tracking the results

Please, order submissions beforehand ( 1-2 weeks ). We have to place your product into our schedule. Resolving issues with your PAD file may take some time also. We understand if you cannot do this due to a bug fix or new release and we will do our best to accommodate you.

7. What do you need from me to get this started?    Back to top

* A link to a generated and verified PAD file. If you want us to create one for you, just let us know. Or, click here for information on how to create a PAD file

8. What license types will you work with?    Back to top

We take it all: shareware, freeware, trialware, GPL, OpenSource, demo etc. Again, you must have a trial/evaluation version available for download.

9. Who hosts the PAD file?    Back to top

We can host the PAD file for you on our servers, or you can store it on yours. The benefit in allowing us to store it for you is that we can make changes to the PAD file on your behalf much faster, which helps to ensure that our target submission sites have access to the most up-to-date information.

10. I would like to place your logo on my site.  How do I do that?    Back to top

Great! We have quite a few images for you to choose from. Click here to view them.

11. I gotta have some Promaxum merchandise -- how can I get it?    Back to top

Well, look no further -- we have a wide variety of nifty items to choose from. In our Promaxum store, you will find things like T-Shirts, Sweatshirts, Ball Caps, Mugs, Mousepads, Clocks, Bears..... even a Promaxum Lunch Box! We've got all the Promaxum merchandise you can stand! Please visit our online store and pick out your favorite items. They also make great gifts, too!

12. What is the difference between the Software Rover and Software Max packages?    Back to top

These packages are very similar; the Software Rover package does not include our Submit Fire service and the Seal of Quality Review.

13. Will you provide me with login information so that I can promote my software on the shareware sites?    Back to top

Yes! We will give you the login information so that you can purchase promotions if you wish to. All passwords are stored in our database. We do CD-ROM backups on regular basis as well. You can request the list of your accounts whenever you need it.

14. What happens after the software has been distributed on all the sites?    Back to top

You will receive 4 reports during a submission cycle. To make a report our submitters manually check a version of your product listed on each site from the list. In each report you will see the list of sites where your product was submitted and the list of sites that listed your product.

15. What if I want to submit to a specific site not in your report? Can you do that for me too?    Back to top


Yes, we will do this for you as long as the site accepts PAD submissions.

16. After I use your service will I be able to manage my own titles on the software sites?    Back to top

Yes if you choose to manage the titles on your own we will give you all information but you may need to contact the software sites directly and have them change management information. We hate to see you go, but if you decide not to use our services any longer, we’d appreciate any feedback you can provide so that we can improve our services.

17. what if I discover a bug in my software will you update all my listings right away?     Back to top

We will do one update during the first month for your software if you are using our standard package. We highly recommend the Seal of Quality package to have your product reviewed so that you can avoid this problem before submission.

18. How often do you recommend to submit new versions?     Back to top

From our experience it is a good idea to submit a new version every 2 months. We do not recommend to submit new versions more often than once a month. Yes, it will increase your downloads because your product will occupy first positions on those archives where products are sorted by date of last update but this can be considered as spam and you will be banned by most important and high-traffic archives.

19. What is the Seal of Quality?     Back to top

We will give you an overall opinion of your software, including pointers and advice on things you might want to do before we submit you to the various sites. If your product passes our testing, your product will be rewarded with the Seal of Quality

20. What are the items you look at when evaluating my product during the
review process?     Back to top

There are many different items taken into consideration when looking at applications; some items include interface, organization, and installation just to name a few.

21. After you have evaluated my software and sent me items to fix, will you check my software again for free?     Back to top

Yes! We will check your product again once you have made the changes we recommended, but we will not re-evaluate your software. For a re-evaluation you will need to purchase the Seal of Quality package again.

22. What other resources are available to help me out?    Back to top

There are some great places to give yourself a head start over everyone else.  Take a look at our resources page for more information.

23. How long does a Seal of Quality Review take?     Back to top

Due to the volumes of software we receive, typically 3-4 business days.  If you are in a hurry, we do have an express service that will guarantee we review your application within 1 business day.
 

24. I already have accounts on some of the download archives. How do you handle this?     Back to top

Our submitters will ask you to specify your common login and password you are using to create accounts on software archives. They will use this info to create new accounts for you and they will try these login and password if an account is already exists. If you common login info won't fit, submitters will try to request your login info on the server. If it's not possible, submitters will ask you to search the login info in your records. A new account will be created only if the old account info was lost.

25. Additional recommendations?     Back to top

Please, do not release new versions during the submission cycle.

During the submission cycle you will receive confirmation and other messages from software archives. You should forward these messages to our submitters. After submission cycle you will receive a huge amount of spam to addresses specified in your PAD files. We recommend to specify the same address in all e-mail PAD fields and make automatic forwarding from this address to our submitters.

26. How do you handle updates to my applications?    Back to top
 

If you would like us to submit an update for your application, all you need to do is purchase another Software Rover package. We will already have your PAD file on record, so submission time should be faster.

If you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. We will respond to your questions just as quickly as possible.

27. I have more questions     Back to top

If you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. We will respond to your questions just as quickly as possible.