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Hello everyone
I'm here tonight because being the owner of a website called ADnD Downloads that already hosts a long list of Pathfinder/D&D resources, I have created a "service" letting everyone upload their creations, and share them with the world. Custom character sheets, homemade creatures, adventures, traps, spells monsters, magic items, etc.
Everything is explained here: Hosting and sharing service.
If you have resources/creations that are already online (like an online dice roller for example), they can also be added.
I'm providing this for free (like I have done for over 15 years now), simply because I believe Pathfinder and D&D are fantastic games, and homemade content is a huge part of their greatness. I really want to help people in the community find a good place to share their homemade content. So I'm open to suggestions, feature requests, and constructive comments.
By the way, if you don't create content, but would like to upload and share free resources (there are sooooooo many netbooks out there), we also accept those. Feel free to participate!
Thanks a lot for reading this, and thanks for your time.
Thanks.
I was hoping someday to throw up a homebrew fantasy world for the Pathfinder system, yet can't justify making a company solely for a free pdf product.
Tried to view a 3.5 class - no viewable content, only an option to Download. Sub-optimal.
Endless ads to buy RPG Books. Not good.
No distinct Pathfinder classes. Oh well.
Yeah, the interface is pretty awful. It takes too clicks and a download to view any content. When there exists Google Drive and tools that will parse RTF/word documents into XHTML, there's absolutely no excuse for this. There should also have a summary in the content directory/list. Just a name doesn't really help browsing for content at all. Finally, the white on black color scheme is kind of hard on the eyes for a site that involves a lot of reading.
The navigation is fine. Its simple enough. However, once you have found something, there are too many clicks to actually download it.
First, I would like to thank you people for taking the time to give your comments. Even if some are kinda rude, for no reason, I still took some time to think about all of them.
Just so you know, ADnD Downloads is a personal project that I started when I was a teenager. Today, I do my best with the little free time I have as a father with young kids. I only goal is to contribute to the online community, and hope I can make a little difference in the life of some GMs and players.
So here are my replies to some of your comments.
Tried to view a 3.5 class - no viewable content, only an option to Download. Sub-optimal.
This is a good point. When I started the site, over 15 years ago, downloading content was very important, because you weren't connected to Internet all the time. But I plan on adding an online-viewer really soon, so that will fix the problem.
Endless ads to buy RPG Books. Not good.
I did my best not to mix ads and content. They are almost always located on the side, and shouln't be a problem. But I need those adds to pay for domain name, and hosting. If you really can't stand ads, I suggest you check at the Adblock Plus extensions for Chrome and Firefox.
No distinct Pathfinder classes. Oh well.
This is exactly why I need people to "contribute" by using the service I'm offering. The more people join the adventure, the more content, like PF classes, there will be.
Yeah, the interface is pretty awful.
Thanks. ;-) Like it's written on the welcome page, the site has no real design right now, because I just totally rewrote the code behind it, and I had no time for design yet. I hope I can fix that soon.
It takes too clicks and a download to view any content. When there exists Google Drive and tools that will parse RTF/word documents into XHTML, there's absolutely no excuse for this.
This will get better soon. Like I said before, the original website was designed so people could download and use the content while offline. I will soon reduce the number of clicks, and make all the content viewable online.
There should also have a summary in the content directory/list. Just a name doesn't really help browsing for content at all.
This is because a lot of content has been there for years, without any description. I will personally take some time in the next two weeks to write descriptions for as many resources as I can. But if you visit, for example, the Ravenloft section, you'll see that almost everything has a complete description (https://www.adnddownloads.com/en/ravenloft), same thing for character generators (https://www.adnddownloads.com/en/character-generators).
Finally, the white on black color scheme is kind of hard on the eyes for a site that involves a lot of reading.
I think you're right. The "real" design will most probably be dark text and light background. Much easier for reading.
However, once you have found something, there are too many clicks to actually download it.
True. Clicks will be reduced, in the end, to only two: select a section (like Characters Sheets), and click on a resource to view it online. Much better.
Again, thanks for you input.
You can still offer a download link.
Yes I will. I just need to find a way to present both options without making the interface just a long list of action buttons. I also want to keep the details page, as it is useful to create a single URL for each resource. So that makes three possible actions for each resource: view, download, and details.
That probably comes with a real design/UX phase. I'll ask some of my interface designer colleagues to give me a hand.
As far as providing free content goes, that's a fantastic resource. I just found it hard to get a sense of what was there...
I appreciate your comment. This probably just means I have to work on present things in a more intuitive way. I admit there is a lot of room for improvement. Thanks!
I think it's a brilliant idea. Definitely feels beta. I actually uploaded one of my PF archetypes. I'm hoping it goes over well. If it does, I'll upload more classes and archetypes.