This topic came up in the Daz forum - forgive me for cross-posting. I'd like to appeal to the merchants here. Please, please, pretty please with cream on top... don't name your readme file "Readme.txt". Call it 'xyz product readme.txt" by all means, but don't make me have to go into my poser folder after install every time, locate the readme.txt and rename the darn thing to something that won't get overwritten by the next product that also uses "Readme.txt" Not to mention I won't find the darn thing when I need to find it, or worse, I'll have overwritten it with something else. Often I end up having to go back to the zip, open it, pull the readme file out, read it, and then render. Put it in a sensible place... i.e. a folder called Readme That way I might just find it when I need it. :) Thanks for reading and putting up with my pet peeve. :) Silke

I second that request.

Funny I started doing that a couple years ago when this request first appeared, I'm constantly amazed that so few others do, it only makes sense after all. :)

We make sure all our readme's go to the texture folder of SAMS3D, that way you can find it or delete it, but we can rename ours to the product and still point to the textures file. It is the same all the time, so by renaming it the product file you will end up with a lot of them. Sharen

I thought you were supposed to read the readme file from within in the zip file. That way, you read it before unzipping all the other files.

Although I agree with your suggestion, the reason for this is that Renderosity Merchants are told explicity in the guidelines to name it "Readme.txt". I see nowhere where they disallow "My Product Readme.txt", but whether or not naming variations are acceptable is not mentioned there. This is something that should be brought up with the Marketplace.

I named the readmes for my Marketplace products "ProductnameReadme.txt" without any problems from TPTB, so I guess it's acceptable. I do, however, place 'em in the main folder, as directed by Rosity.

It is the same all the time Which is a fair point Sharen. If all the readme files contain the same info then it doesn't really matter if they over-write - especially if they go into an "owner" folder. Personally I tend to include a file list in most readme files and occassionaly instructions, which means naming to the file is more useful as the readme's differ. I know a couple other people like Maclean who include mini-novels in them along with instructions to use the item. In those cases it makes sense to name it according to the product. For freestuff items that have commercial restrictions it's also a good idea to name the readme accordingly as it's then identifiable with the item in question. Being a freestuff whore with only one or two commercial tasks under my belt it's useful to be able to keep track of what can and can't be used. If however it's a very basic readme, such as the rosity MP license or similar file then overwriting isn't an issue. As with anything like this, common sense rules. :)

'other people like Maclean who include mini-novels' ROTF. LOL, Questor. You mean I'm a novelist? Cool. No seriously, I've always named my readmes 'macproductnamereadme.txt'. That way, not only is each one individual, but if you keep all your readmes in the same folder, they all group together as 'mac-something'. I second the movement to abolish the generic 'readme' name. mac

Even if it is the same readme each time... it is specific to that "author" and thus the name ought to reflect the ownership. Just readme.txt means it probably won't get seen much less read. Saying "SAMSreadme.txt" or Travelers_readme.txt" is a hint that it is the same general readme with nothing specific. Inside near the top ought to be a sentence identifying the version number and date when the product was finished. Example: "American Flag, version 1, D Ross, January 1775" is probably different from "American Flag, version 3, D. Ross, April 1777" even if the file name was simply "Flag Texture" and they have the same usage restrictions. If it is SAMS_Dollhouse_readme.txt, that is a hint that I might find information on loading or assembling or using various pieces of that particular package. An example here might be "Main camera is set to the exterior of the house and Posing camera to the interior, both with appropriate focal lengths." That might minimize questions from people wondering why they can't see inside, and it is the sort of information which might apply to your residences, but not to the barbeque or swingset or picture frame. ;) My main pet peeve with readmes though... is when the person makes them a doc file. :grrrrr: I don't have Word on the Mac, and don't want to corrupt my sweet little graphics machine with some ill-executed excrable cross-eyed wonder masquerading as a text processor. I can read .txt files on all of my machines, in almost any program which opens an ASCII file. If the carefully-crafted prose is supposed to be read by everyone, why limit the audience? Carolly

'American Flag, version 1, D Ross, January 1775' Gosh! Has poser been around that long? Amazing, the things you learn in this forum. 'when the person makes them a doc file' Ditto, PDFs. Good old text rules, or html if you need to add pics. mac

Yup :) Now just name it something sensible....... :P Seriously tho, I've overwritten so many readme files in my time, it's become a major gripe of mine. I do watch out for it now, but I don't catch them all. BTW - there is a folder called readmes (I think it's standart in poser4/5 but not sure) why not put it in there, and if you want to have your own folder - create one in that folder, instead of the top level? That way all the readmes are in one place, but sorted by artist. (That's what I do now, manually, when I install something from some place, not just from here, but Daz, RDNA, Poserpros, Poserworld etc.) And Carolly - I agree. PDF - that's all very well too, but AR takes forever to fire up these days, what with the overblown DRM stuff they added. Gimme text. nods HTML I don't mind, it's universal and loads quick. "mini-novel" Ohhhh gimme mini novels, by all means. I rather have too much info - than none, or too little.

'but AR takes forever to fire up these days, what with the overblown DRM stuff they added' Silke, If I've learned anything at all in years of using computers, it's that 'new' doesn't neccessarily mean better. I have a stash of old versions of apps which I keep and use when I have to re-install. I'm currently using acrobat 4.0 which I've had for a long time. It's a bit klunky, but it works. I've been burned several times moving up to the new versions of apps. An example being ACDC. I got the upgrade 6 months ago, hated it, and went back to my trusty old v2.41. Every time a new version comes out for a program nowadays, they add more junk, and each version seems to be more intrusive than the one before. And I HATE 'helpful' software! Grrrr.... I threw IE 6.0 in the trash too. 'I rather have too much info - than none, or too little' Ah well, I'm with you there. The Help File for my newest product is 33 pages, + a short tutorial, + another 6 pages listing body parts, materials and morphs for the figures. Overkill? Well.... I don't think so. 'Ya don't like it, skip it' is what I say. It's called '------ (product name) Help File', is in html format and can be stored anywhere at all without losing it's files. Now if other people would do that for me when I buy a product, I'd be happy. 'Do as ye would be done unto' sounds like a good rule. mac

hauksdottir.... I'm a dual mac and pc user and I can agree with the doc thing and not having word (even though I do have it..I hate to fire it up because I hate Microsoft programs in general on a mac). Do you have BBEdit.? Even the free version will crack open most files no matter what they are named or what file types they are. I sometimes even open corrupted page layout files to get back lost text if I absolutely have to. You can set the mac to use that as the automatic open program for text files and then just double click I believe. I also use it to do source coding in html as well...a lot better than Simple Text since it has no limits on how big the file can be. Hope that helps !

zai, I access the 'net via this Win98 box, and can open Word documents... but if I have the file unzipped on the Mac and ready to install, why copy it to a zip disk and sneaker it over to this machine only to open it and have nothing important inside the file but the guy's name (which I added when I downloaded it). Maybe there is something important there... if I run into problems with the model I might go hunting for a readme... but that is an extra step to a different machine. Most of my fellow Mac users don't have both machines. I ought to look into BBEdit one of these years. It'll be handy for other things, too. Carolly

Isn't there a Mac equivalent to the free Word Viewer available from MS? It even has the advantage of not running macros, so providing an extra level of virus protection if you have Word but use it as your default opener.

I have no difficulty reading the file from within the zip, and leaving it there. The last thing I want is my drive cluttered up with readme files. And definitely not folders of the things ...

Phantast, just one folder called Readme is what I was talking about. At the moment some put them in folders named after them, others in one called readme, others again into readme's, then another into the texture folder, the character folder etc etc. GAH! I am forever scanning for txt files in the runtime because I can't find stuff, or don't want it there. Hence... (for example) D:poserreadmexyzartistxyzproductreadme.txt (or html) top level uncluttered, it's all in one top level place, I can find it easily and quickly, it won't overwrite stuff.... Bingo. I'm happy. I'm sure a great many others would be too.

I just found a readme in the GEOMETRIES folder last night. :shake head: I seldom go into the Geometries folder.