How to release files on the forums using Shareaza

[mig]

How to Release

Note: All the pictures are thumbnails, click on them to open them in a new window/tab for a full size view.

Firstly you will need Shareaza, so goto http://shareaza.sourceforge.net to download the latest version and install. While other programs can produce magnet links, PeerWeb.org only provides support for Shareaza, and as such this guide is written for Shareaza.


Setting up Shareaza

Once Shareaza is installed, open it up and you should get the home view, click the library tab at the top, highlighted in red, to goto the library view.



Now click the "Share Files" button at the bottom, again in red.



Now click "Add" (highlighted below) and tell Shareaza where the folders are which you wish to share. Please remember that you shouldn't share system folders (Windows, Program Files), My Documents, whole drives (C: for instance), or personal files, this is for your own good.



Once you have selected which folders you would like to share it should look like the image below, where I have shared a folder containing files relating to PeerWeb DC (which is now known as Apex DC).



Click OK to get back to the library view, and click the "All Files" option highlighted below.



If the files are grey instead of black, you will have to wait for Shareaza to finish scanning (hashing) the files before you can continue. If this is the case, check the Home tab (located at the top, next to library) and on the left you should see a notice letting you know how many files and how much data Shareaza has to scan. Depending on the amount of files and the speed of your computer, this may take a while, so please be patient. You may notice some system slowdown or sluggishness while this is happening, if you do you can click the "click here to make Shareaza hash slower" link on the home view, on the left, to make Shareaza use less resources. If it says "to hash faster" you are already in the slower mode and will just have to wait it out.

Once this has completed, you should go back to the library view and select All Files again, where you should have a list of files you have selected to share, but with all the filenames in black (like shown above).

Now, if you wish to share one single file, please continue down, if you wish to share multiple files at the same time (saving much time and effort) then skip down to the "Multiple Files" section, as the process is a little different.


Single file releases

For single files, right click and select the "Copy URI" option as highlighted below.



You should get the following pop up appear (shown below, but with slightly different links). You should check the option highlighted in yellow is unticked as shown below, this is because including alternative sources in a magnet link is forbidden by the site rules. Once you have checked this option is disabled, please click the magnet link at the top, highlighted in red, the one starting with "magnet....." to copy this to the clipboard.



From here please proceed to the "Creating a release thread" section, and skip the following section.


Multiple file releases

To release multiple files at a single time, for example music albums, you can use Shareaza to speed up the process and do much of the work, so instead of doing the above steps for each file, it will produce all the links in the correct format so that all you need to do is paste the link into a new thread.

First, select the files you wish to share (hold Ctrl and click each file) as below



Then right click and select "Export URIs..."



You will now get a pop up like below, from here you will need to input a format string into the text box highlighted in red.



The string you want to copy and paste into the box is the following:

[magnet=magnet:?xt=urn:bitprint:[SHA1].[TIGER]&xt=urn:ed2k:[ED2K]&dn=[FileBase].(PeerWeb.org).[FileExt]][Name] - [Size][/magnet]

This will force Shareaza to output everything in the required format, including an ed2k hash which isn't normally included but is useful to have, so click the copy button (highlighted in yellow).


Creating a Release Thread


(The pictures were taken using Opera, hence the slightly different appearance on one or two of the pictures, but there are only minor differences between browsers).

Now you have your magnet link(s) on the clip board, navigate to the forums, and select the appropriate release forum, in this case "G2 Software" as PeerWebDC is a program. Click the new thread button (highlighted in red).



You will now get a new page load up where you create a new thread. First enter an appropriate title for the thread, please see this page for guidelines on formatting a new release thread.

For single file releases, please click the highlighted red magnet button and proceed to the next step.

For multiple file releases, simply paste the links directly into the thread and everything will be in the correct format, you will not have to do any work apart from putting together the rest of the release thread, you should consult the release guidelines for instructions on this.



Now you should get a pop up appear like the one below, you should now paste the contents of the clip board (the magnet link from Shareaza) into the text box like below (the link and text will be different).



Click OK and the magnet link will appear in the thread body like shown below.



You will now need to scroll left in order to input the clickable text for the link, the square brackets (highlighted in red) indicate where to place the text.



Normally you should use the filename for the clickable text, like shown below in red. You should then click "Preview Post" (highlighted in yellow) to check everything is as it should be.



You will now be taken to the preview post page, which will look similar to below. To check the link works, either hover the mouse pointer over the link (in red) and check the status bar (at the bottom of the window) or you may get a hover over text box as shown in yellow (dependant on the browser, you may not get this).

If the magnet link doesn't work properly, and either a smilie appears in it, or you get half the magnet link and it doesnt work then untick the disable smilies option further down the page, click the preview thread button again and it should be sorted.



If the link works fine, and you have followed the release guidelines then please click the "submit new thread button" to place your release thread into the moderation queue.

If there are any problems while trying to create a release thread, submit the thread as it is after adding a note saying what problems your having, then one of the members of staff or one of the releasers will help you out.

Moderation Queue

The moderation queue means that your new thread will not appear immediately, it is awaiting the approval of an Official Releaser or a member of staff. The queue is in place to keep up a high standard on the forums and to enforce the rules, normally a thread will be moderated within 24 hours at the most.

Should your thread be approved, it will show up in the release forum, and will include a reply from the member of staff or releaser notifying you of relevant improvements or additions needed. Please make any changes requested by the staff member or releaser and reply if you have any further questions.

Should your thread be deleted from the queue, you should recieve a PM from the staff member or releaser giving you the reasons why it was deleted.

If after 24 hours, if your release thread has not appeared, please PM mig who find out what has happened for you. Please only contact mig after 24 hours have passed, the moderation process isn't immediate and can take time.


If you have any questions about releasing, please post in the Support forum where the staff, releasers and users will answer your questions.