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I would like to suggest (where sensible) a direct PDF download, as opposed to ZIP files, so that one could directly load my PDFs into iBooks on iOS devices. (I recognize that one can use 3rd party utilities to unzip the file, but I find this to be buggy at times, especially with the large hardcovers.)
An alternate suggestion along similar lines would be an App connected to my Paizo Downloads, which could handle the PDF downloads.
Did this get lost in the holiday weekend festivities?
I use an app called GoodReader, which is way faster than iBooks, and also handles the zipped PDFs.
Thanks for the tip!
Chief Technical Officer
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I would like to suggest (where sensible) a direct PDF download, as opposed to ZIP files....
For what it's worth, when we first started selling PDFs, that's how we offered all single-document PDFs, but what happened was that people would click the link expecting it to initiate a download, but it would instead open using their browser's PDF-plug-in, and they wouldn't know what to do with them at that point. Moving to zipping *everything* removed a lot of customer service issues.
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Our hobby is notoriously ... resistant ... to technology. There were customer service threads along the lines of "What the hell am I supposed to do with that whole 'PDF' kind of file? Is that some virus? Can't you just give me a proper .txt?" or "My Internet Explorer 3.0 can't open your PDF files, please fix it" in the past.
Eventually, a time might come where letting Tablet users access their downloads will be more important than people who have issues with their PDFs opening in the browser instead of downloading.
Maybe detect the browser platform when determining how to personalize? (I of all people know that that is far from trivial, but it's an idea.)
Maybe detect the browser platform when determining how to personalize? (I of all people know that that is far from trivial, but it's an idea.)
A simple profile setting somewhere would be a more direct (and controllable) solution.
I suppose the scenario of when a small PDF (i.e. just of maps) is included with a download would also require some special handling, further complicating the issue.
I sometimes run into the desire to do this. I keep only a fairly limited number of PDFs on my iPad (though I usually put all of the PF core stuff there) but sometimes when we're playing I'd like to get something else I purchased on there...and that's when I'm away from my iTunes computer and can't do anything about it.
So, yeah, it'd be a nice feature but I understand the issues with pulling it off and can live without it if the problems are too great.
An idea: for products that are a single PDF include two links, one for a zip and one for a raw PDF. I don't know the technology issues surrounding this but I'd think it'd be clear enough from the users' point of view.
M
An idea: for products that are a single PDF include two links, one for a zip and one for a raw PDF. I don't know the technology issues surrounding this but I'd think it'd be clear enough from the users' point of view.
I assume that have never worked tech support, as there is no such thing as "clear" when it comes to how end users will interact with software. (E.g. I have had to help someone power on their computer.)
There would be some increased demand on Paizo's support staff if a change is made, (as Vic mentioned above). This has to be weighed against the benefit to smart phone and tablet users, which don't have Adobe's PDF reader plugin to "intercept" PDF downloads.
(While I'm thinking of it, I should mention that direct ePub downloads would be nice to do, in addition to PDFs.)
Nope. Never have worked tech support...and from the stories told to me by friends who have I'm very glad of that fact!
Still, if you can't figure out what you're going to get when you click a link called either "Zip file" or "PDF file" then maybe you shouldn't be playing something as complex as an RPG and should stick to Go Fish instead. :)
M
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Nope. Never have worked tech support...and from the stories told to me by friends who have I'm very glad of that fact!
Still, if you can't figure out what you're going to get when you click a link called either "Zip file" or "PDF file" then maybe you shouldn't be playing something as complex as an RPG and should stick to Go Fish instead. :)
M
Trust me, there are a lot of people out there who can navigate a GURPS or Rolemaster book without any problem but are completely at loss when confronted by anything that's more complicated than an answering machine.
Nope. Never have worked tech support...and from the stories told to me by friends who have I'm very glad of that fact!
Still, if you can't figure out what you're going to get when you click a link called either "Zip file" or "PDF file" then maybe you shouldn't be playing something as complex as an RPG and should stick to Go Fish instead. :)
MTrust me, there are a lot of people out there who can navigate a GURPS or Rolemaster book without any problem but are completely at loss when confronted by anything that's more complicated than an answering machine.
Neither GURPS nor Rolemaster books contains malicious imps that from time to time think they know better what you want to do than yourself.
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I sometimes run into the desire to do this. I keep only a fairly limited number of PDFs on my iPad (though I usually put all of the PF core stuff there) but sometimes when we're playing I'd like to get something else I purchased on there...and that's when I'm away from my iTunes computer and can't do anything about it.
So, yeah, it'd be a nice feature but I understand the issues with pulling it off and can live without it if the problems are too great.
An idea: for products that are a single PDF include two links, one for a zip and one for a raw PDF. I don't know the technology issues surrounding this but I'd think it'd be clear enough from the users' point of view.
M
You need to buy the Goodreader app. Whenever I download a Paizo product, Safari asks me if I want to open it in Goodreader. Then Goodreader unzips the file for me and I'm able to open it up.
-Skeld
(While I'm thinking of it, I should mention that direct ePub downloads would be nice to do, in addition to PDFs.)
EPubs are direct downloads. I get them in mobile safari all the time.
Customer Service Dire Care Bear Manager
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Nope. Never have worked tech support...and from the stories told to me by friends who have I'm very glad of that fact!
Still, if you can't figure out what you're going to get when you click a link called either "Zip file" or "PDF file" then maybe you shouldn't be playing something as complex as an RPG and should stick to Go Fish instead. :)
MTrust me, there are a lot of people out there who can navigate a GURPS or Rolemaster book without any problem but are completely at loss when confronted by anything that's more complicated than an answering machine.
We run across issues with computer literacy all the time in customer service and its important to realize, not everyone has grown up with access to computers or has had the opportunity for computer training. We find this especially true with parents and grandparents of gamers trying to access the site to place an order or gift certificate for a loved one. People who, for one reason or another, really don't have much, if any need to be on the computer, or have never had the opportunity to be around computers, but want to get something for their kid or grandkid that they really, really want.
I had this at my last job too. At one point, the company decided to make viewing W2's and paystubs online only. I ended up walking through several staff getting signed up. There were numerous staff who were hard working, bright, kind, people who were very good at their jobs but had never been around computers, at all... ever. Explaining how the mouse worked, click, double click, logins, passwords... it was a huge logistical challenge for them.
Sometimes the lack of computer literacy stems from a lack of need, sometimes its lack of funds, or lack of availability. I think its easy to consider ourselves (posting on the messageboards, using computers daily, hourly, etc) "average" when the reality is that there are a lot of people out there, from various walks of life who have never, or rarely ever, used a computer. And its surprisingly hard to get access to computers! If you're interested in understanding how this issue comes into play (and why libraries are so important) I highly recommend reading through, at least the narrative portion, of this comment California Dreaming.
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Well said, Sara Marie - I encountered the same disconnection between (my) expectations and reality at the university and, to a lesser degree at my job, (seemingly) average knowledge about computers often put me in a position of fixing and advising for co-students and co-workers whom I would have considered to be part of the crowd that grew up with computers and technological gadgets.
Never forget that what you know and do may not be as 'common' knowlede as you think - sooner or later you will need the same acknowledgment from somebody who might help or teach you in a field of knowledge you might not even realize is out there.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Another thing: Products containing anything more than a single PDF file have to be zipped anyway. Having one behavior for one type of product and another behavior for another type of product will lead to confusion (and inevitably to customer service issues)—especially when it may not be immediately apparent to the end user which type of product they're about to download.
Another thing: Products containing anything more than a single PDF file have to be zipped anyway. Having one behavior for one type of product and another behavior for another type of product will lead to confusion (and inevitably to customer service issues)—especially when it may not be immediately apparent to the end user which type of product they're about to download.
To be fair, there's already something of this behavior in place. Single-file zips, when unzipped, have a Paizo internal name, whereas folders have a proper name as do all the files inside them.
Compare: 100 Cantrips is 100CantripsPFRPGPDF.zip, which unzips to PZOPDFLEE100CANTRIPSE.PDF.
Fantasy Maps: Bless'd Harbor is FantasyMapsBlessdHarborPDF.zip, which unzips to BlessdHarborBW.png, BlessdHarbor.png, and BlessdHarborGazetteer.pdf (which are all put in a folder called FantasyMapsBlessdHarborPDF by most unzipping programs).
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Another thing: Products containing anything more than a single PDF file have to be zipped anyway. Having one behavior for one type of product and another behavior for another type of product will lead to confusion (and inevitably to customer service issues)—especially when it may not be immediately apparent to the end user which type of product they're about to download.To be fair, there's already something of this behavior in place. Single-file zips, when unzipped, have a Paizo internal name, whereas folders have a proper name as do all the files inside them.
Compare: 100 Cantrips is 100CantripsPFRPGPDF.zip, which unzips to PZOPDFLEE100CANTRIPSE.PDF.
Fantasy Maps: Bless'd Harbor is FantasyMapsBlessdHarborPDF.zip, which unzips to BlessdHarborBW.png, BlessdHarbor.png, and BlessdHarborGazetteer.pdf (which are all put in a folder called FantasyMapsBlessdHarborPDF by most unzipping programs).
To be fair, i'd bet both of those are by different publishers, and I bet neither is Paizo (the links bring me to a blank page, and i can't find them with search, so i can't see the store entries). Compare the ISWG single file and file per chapter versions (a solid apples to apples comparison). Both download with a zip file name describing the contents. The contents both use a product code for the name of the book instead of the name of the book. The file per chapter version appends chapter names. That's how Paizo names its files. Different publishers probably use different naming conventions, which is what you see.