Frequently asked questions
Q: How do I represent PAD URLs in the PADmap?
1. Make sure that all PAD URLs follow the RFC-3987 standard for URIs.
2. Provide the full (starting with http://) and direct (without URL queries containing '?', '&', '=' etc.) links to all your PAD URLs. Please remember that PADmap file must contain ONLY PAD URLs, one URL per row. No other types of text (comments, empty rows, html tags, javascript blocks etc.) are allowed! Also please remember that you must link ONLY to PAD URLs, not just to any URLs. PADmaps are used ONLY by PAD-enabled download sites that do NOT need any other URLs to be provided.
3. Avoid any duplicates in PAD URLs. The best way to do so is to order all PAD URLs alphabetically.
4. Avoid any broken PAD URLs, so do NOT forget to update your PADmap file when you remove an outdated PAD file from your server.
Q: Where do I place my PADmap?
There are no special requirements on PADmap file placement, however, if you host all your PAD files in the same directory on your server, it is better to place the PADmap file right in this directory and make it the directory index. If you generate your PADmap using any server-side script (see PADmap PHP generator in PADmap Kit), your server should be already configured to accept scripts for directory index, otherwise if you create your PADmap text file manually, you will have to create/modify .htaccess file in the directory by specifying the directory index file, e.g.
DirectoryIndex padmap.txt
Now, when someone opens your PAD containing directory in his browser, he will see the list of all your PAD URLs instead of error 403 page.
Also, please remember that all PAD URLs in a PADmap and the PADmap URL itself must be from a single domain name.
Q: How do I notify download sites about PADmap URL?
As far as PAD-enabled download site engines do neither crawl the whole sites by following links, nor even read robots.txt files, the only way to notify download sites about your PADmap location is by using special PAD extension included in PADmap Kit. As soon as you specify your PADmap file location in previously submitted PAD files, all download sites can retrieve it by checking all PAD URLs in their databases for <PADmap_Location> field value, pick up your PADmap file and check the existing PAD URLs against the available PAD URLs to find out missing ones.
Q: What is the difference between PADmap and PADring PAD extensions?
The main difference is that now you do NOT need to update ALL your PAD files every time when releasing a new software product or abandoning an old one for only to update PAD URLs list in PADring field. Instead, you modify only your PADmap file which can be easily accessed by retrieving <PADmap_Location> field data in PADmap extension. Also, having 30 and more software products, you do not have to specify all 30 PAD URLs in each PAD file but only the path to one PADmap file which causes a significant reduce of your PAD files download size.
Q: Is there any ready-to-use solution for download sites webmasters to pick up PADmap URLs from submitted PAD files and get PAD URLs from PADmaps?
Yes, we have included the free padmaps lookup PHP script for download sites webmasters in PADmap Kit that will check all PAD files from submitted PAD URLs list for <PADmap_Location> field availability, retrieve all found PAD URLs, remove all found PAD URL duplicates, sort unique PAD URLs alphabetically and email the new PAD URLs list to specified email address.
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