Snapfiles, and what makes a good software listing site..

[mouser]

There are a lot of new software listing sites cropping up.
I wanted to post some observations about what makes a good one and a bad one.
I'll focus a bit on snapfiles (www.snapfiles.com) since that's one of my favorite sites.


Does the site accept pad files (standard file format for describing a program)?
 really annoying from an author's standpoint if they don't.
(snapfiles does NOT accept pad files - come on guys get with the program!)

Does the site actually test the programs they list, or just put up the text from author's description?
this one is my favorite thing to look at from an author's standpoint; i'm always very impressed by a site that actually TRIES the programs that are submitted and takes the time to make their own comments and screenshots.

for example, here's the snapfiles page for Flipbook Printer which i submitted *yesterday*:
http://www.snapfiles...flipbookprinter.html
notice that they actually tried it, using their own movie, and made their own little summary of what the program does in their own words.
to me this says volumes about a software listing site that they take the time to do this.


does the site encourage users to rate and review programs?
Fileforum (www.fileforum.com) is the best at this, hands down, and it makes fileforum a fantastic resource, even though you really have to take such ratings with a big grain of salt since it seems developers try to skew the ratings against each other.


does the site list freeware and shareware?
most software listing sites have some freeware, but many have very little.
snapfiles seems to have a large freeware listing collection, and encourages it.
freeware world team is still the best place to find new freeware listings though, imho: http://www.all4you.d....php?action=newlinks


does the site go find its own new discoveries or does it rely on submissions?
again freeware world team wins this hands down.
also our friends at shell extension city (http://www.shellcity.net/) are great at finding new stuff.


is the site well set up for search and browsing?
most sites have a good search system, but few are really well suited for browsing categories
snapfiles does great here too, in not only organizing stuff well but making it easy to switch between freeware and shareware listings.

[CGA]

Totally agree with Your opinions Mouser, now if we only had a site that combined the lively community of Fileforum with the excellent layout and search features of Snapfiles.... But I guess you can't have it all.

[nevf]

In my experience as a software developer and of others I know, these sites are pretty much a waist of time and effort. Web templates are available that enable people to set these sites up quickly and easily. They then try and make money with ads, affiliate schemes etc. They typically add very little value to either us developers or you folks looking for software.

In fact most are a joke. They get hold of your PAD file, add it to there site, e-mail you telling you you've been awarded 5 starts/elephants/rabbits/whatever and request a link back and want you to add their 5star-rabbit image to your site. They've never even looked at the software and are obviously just trying to get as many links back to their site(s) as they can.

The bottom line is that their is absolutely no value in these 5 rabbit awards any more, with maybe a few exceptions. These people are destroying themselves. The public needs to be made aware of this and IMO developers should stop putting the awards rubbish on their sites.

Now if there was a site that offered and delivered real unbiased reviews of software it would be fantastic. I speak as both a consumer and publisher.

I feel sooo much better now. /rant.

[mouser]

nevf, i agree with most of what you say - there are huge numbers of these software listing sites popping up, as it becomes easier and easier to automate them and run them with little human work involved.

and i agree the ratings given by editors for these sites are mostly useless.

some in fact are much worse than useless.  it's becoming more common for such sites to "charge" developers in order to "review" their software.  very fishy.  and yes, they all survive on ads, which isn't in itself a bad thing as long as they actually provide some good content.

but this just makes it all the more important to identify those few sites that actually do a good job.
i've pointed out a couple here i like:

• snapfiles, for their organization and friendliness to freeware
• freeware world team, for their focus on freeware and great work at finding stuff
• tucows, is now just plain insane (they used to be *the* software lising site)

[mouser]

Now if there was a site that offered and delivered real unbiased reviews of software it would be fantastic. I speak as both a consumer and publisher:

https://www.donation...m/Reviews/index.html