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[Rochndil]

Greetings!

I've been working to organize all my DF mods, and have frequently run into a rather significant stumbling block. Many of the mods use highly abbreviated filenames (DF_4.5.3.rar) for example, and lack any creator/content information! This causes two problems.

1. How do I file these away? I try to organize things by WHAT they do, but it's hard to quickly parse through a stack of matgloss entries to see what's been changed.

2. If I really like the mod, how do I heap praise upon the creator, as is their just due?

To give some small aid to the modding community, and contribute something meaningful, I offer the following Mod Readme Template document, under the spoiler tag.

Mod Readme Template:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sample readme format document, created by Rochndil, 3/7/09 - Ideas stolen shamelessly from Morrowind Mod readme layout.

This is a quick template for DF modders to use to add the critical information about their mods to the distribution archives. The actual template follows - replace everything in brackets[] with the relevant data, and include the resulting readme in the root of your archive. You may also want to save it as readme_modname.txt to avoid conflicting with OTHER modders' files.

Name: [mod name]
Version: [version of this mod]
Date: [release date]
Creator/Integrator: [your name!]
DF Version(s): [what does it work with?]
--------------------------------------------------
Summary: [what does this mod do?]
--------------------------------------------------
Installation: [what to do, what goes where]
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Detailed features: [if necessary]
--------------------------------------------------
Compatibility: [known conflicts/compatibilities with other mods]
--------------------------------------------------
Version history:
--------------------------------------------------
Download link(s):
--------------------------------------------------
Forum thread: [if there is one]
--------------------------------------------------
Credits: [thanks to all those who've gone before]
--------------------------------------------------
Creator contact info:

If every mod maker were to take just a few minutes to complete one of these files, and dump it into the root of their distribution archives, both the modders and the user would have vastly improved information at their disposal.

I also offer two small suggestions:

1. Make mod archive names meaningful. DF_2345.rar doesn't tell you much. DF_kittens_for_target_practice.rar is a LOT more descriptive.

2. Include the mod name in your readme name, ie readme_cats.txt, so that YOUR file won't overwrite other folks' files.

I hope that this will prove useful to folks. I know *I* would certainly appreciate seeing more information in the archives I download, because my memory isn't very reliable.

This template is public domain, and may be used, abused, and re-worked in any way that is useful. Or dwarven - especially the abused part.

Rochndil, who spend a lot of personal and professional time organizing information...