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07-11-13, 03:55 PM   #1
Malsomnus
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A question to add-on developers

I'm curious, how do you other people advertise their add-ons? The only thing I have to go by is the recently-updated list on this site, and that's pretty hard to stay on even with several new versions every week. I don't really like marketing, and it would feel pretty childish to go "Hey, look at this thing I made!" at people.
... and yet, I'm pretty sure there are many people out there who would find my add-ons useful if only they knew about them.
So how do you guys let the masses know about your add-ons?
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07-11-13, 06:58 PM   #2
Dridzt
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I don't.

Very rarely I might put some keywords in the description to help the google bots along (I think maybe I've done it for a couple addons?)

Other than that I don't go looking for users, I try to make my description to the point and let users find them.

I'm actually pretty happy when I see some downloads and no comments, means I don't have to fix anything

Plus my overall disposition is that I make addons for myself and my guild, others using them is a fortunate by-product.
I do try to respond to reasonable feature requests even if it's not something directly useful to me.
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07-11-13, 07:09 PM   #3
Fizzlemizz
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I'm with Dridzt.
I don't know if the fact that the addons I'm minding were popular back in the vanilla/TBC days but there's rarely a day goes by without a couple of downloads and I don't have any keywords other than the titles and I only host here.

If your addon is uber cool, word of mouth seems get things going pretty quickly.

Last edited by Fizzlemizz : 07-11-13 at 08:06 PM.
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07-11-13, 07:29 PM   #4
Tonyleila
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Ya many downloads come from word-of-mouth recommendation.
Also if you often update your addon (if needed) it gets more downloads.
You are right by linking to your other addons on the bottom of every addon page = if you like this addon you like this addon to maybe.

When I look at your addon page a problem is mabye the names of your addons.
Try to avoide words that stick together and discribe as much of the the addon as possible in the addon titel (thats not looking super cool but it will help ppl find your addons on wow UI and other sides the titel of the addon is

SanityCheck
=> Rename to:
Sanity Check (wrong gear & missing buff checker)
=> just an idea

Now if someone searches in search addons for wrong buff check your addon will popup
Currently there is no way to finde your addon noone woud search for SanityCheck (though its a cool name). Test this by yourself if you can find your addons on wow UI by the things they do and if not rename them.

"Intoxicated" is also one of the names I woud discribe more - as a german I had to google this word

You coud search in the forums for ppl who have problems that you solve with your addons and give them the link to your addons

Also a very effective but reluctantly used methode is to name your addon similar to other well known addons that do similar things as your addon
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Last edited by Tonyleila : 07-11-13 at 07:49 PM.
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07-11-13, 08:09 PM   #5
Fizzlemizz
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And there's always Tonyleila's added approach, if you'll be posting in the forums, to add links to your addons in your signature. Nice one.
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07-11-13, 08:16 PM   #6
Tonyleila
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Originally Posted by Fizzlemizz View Post
And there's always Tonyleila's added approach, if you'll be posting in the forums, to add links to your addons in your signature. Nice one.
Do it right with a huge animated blinking gif in your signature that links to your addons! IT WILL HELP!
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07-12-13, 12:46 AM   #7
zork
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It really depends on your intentions.

I write addons for myself in first place. I need to be interested in them and it is my free time going into that.
Since my intention is personal I get satified by just writing stuff and bringing ideas to life.

It can feel rewarding if many people download your stuff too but I think it should be driven by your self motivation in first place.

Regarding advertising...post some screenshots of your UI or addons on MMO or Reddit. If people like what they see they might use it.
Not sure if it really got me sth but I have links in my sig to my UI.

Addionally don't be to disappointed if the downloads are low. WoW subscriber rate is dwindeling and most people have settled on their addons.

Patches can make room many new addons since there is new API stuff.
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07-12-13, 04:07 AM   #8
Malsomnus
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I'm not really chasing fame and fortune, if that's what it came out as I make all my add-ons because I need them (yes, damnit, I need those dancing bears!). And, of course, being the weirdo that I am, I enjoy writing them.
But I always see situations where other people would benefit from having stuff I've written so I imagine there must be many more people out there who could find it useful if only they knew. And frankly, it's really fun to get feature requests for something I've written!

I'll probably use at least some of Tonyleila's advice... but I'm not sure many people would search for "Dancing Bears When You Kill Lei Shen" either, so I will just rename that one to "Deadly Bear Mods"
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07-12-13, 10:15 AM   #9
ravagernl
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I would rather spend time on developing unique features then spend time of SEO and/or addon promotion. I think this goes for any service that people provide, if the service is good and you have unique selling points that work, your service or product will become popular over time anyway.

- Write some global documentation for your AddOn on your download page (if there's too much info, highlight the unique features and link to a documentation site). Make the documentation clear. Try to simplify grammar, because a lot of users do not have english as their primary language. In genral, try to make your descriptions and documentation "attractive to the eye". In other words, categorize your content with headings and/or descriptive images. Aside from that, if your addon contains configuration panels, be sure to include some way of "tooltips" ingame so people don't have to alt tab out of game to go to the addon page.

- Listen to your users feedback when you want to make your AddOn popular. When so much feedback is given, set up forums and/or bug tracking systems. Don't do this prematurely, people that are interested in your AddOn will frown upon empty forums. Start small, end big. Don't try to promote something in a way that expectations exceed what your AddOn can do.

In short, user opinion about your AddOn will always be more important then advertising.

If I would need to recommend someone based on their communication to wowinterface users and/or style of documentation, it would probably Phanx and/or zork. I'm currently using approximately 90% of her addons because, well, they just work, they are not complicated, and they have the features I want, and not a gazillion features I do not need.

Last edited by ravagernl : 07-12-13 at 10:53 AM.
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07-12-13, 05:36 PM   #10
Ketho
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As most ppl above me already said:
  • regularly updating your addons (maybe even if it's just a toc bump)
  • just writing good addons, word of mouth gets it going
    - having a "cool looking" options interface if needed; respond to user feedback/tickets
    - optionally localizing for different languages
    - some addons are very simple with just 1 single feature and can still get lots of users
  • upload your addons to both curse and wowinterface, I see you already did that. some kinds of addons are more popular on curse and some more on wowinterface
  • having a lot of addons, some users will check out your other addons if they really liked one of your addons

  • anticipate with new addons for every new patch, ie the pet battles addons got huge within a few days
  • make fun and unusual addons, gets you in the spotlight. more dancing bears with rainbow fireworks

  • you can show youtube footage if applicable, curse supports embedding them on the addon page
  • make addons for user requests/complaints, browse the reddit/mmochamp/wowhead/bnet forums. I remember p3lim made an addon by reddit request
  • some addon authors even set up their own website or facebook page for their addons
AddOns aren't very popular anymore though like they used to be. Like Zork said, subscribers are dwindling and the golden age is kinda overdue

Last edited by Ketho : 07-12-13 at 06:04 PM.
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07-13-13, 06:07 AM   #11
Malsomnus
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Oh my, that was a comprehensive list of tips (and I enjoyed the Golden Age link too) ^^

What do you mean by toc bump? Like, update the supported WoW version?

Also, it's sad to admit, but I have no idea how to upload to Curse. I have uploaded 2 add-ons to Curseforge, and it turns out that they magically appear on Curse about 2 weeks later without any sort of notification, but I'm pretty stumped about the how and why of that transition.

I'm definitely planning to make add-ons that people request, I've had 2 pages from this very forum open for that reason for about a month but I just seem to be working on so many add-ons at the same time that I never get around to it
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WoWInterface » Developer Discussions » General Authoring Discussion » A question to add-on developers

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