TPFC Site Resources

Share interesting information or links related to portable apps here.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
webfork
Posts: 9799
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:06 pm
Location: US, Texas
Contact:
Contact webfork

TPFC Site Resources

#1 Post by webfork » Fri Nov 08, 2019 8:09 pm

This post is an attempt to catalog important posts and threads on the site that includes some policy items, bits that may end up on the FAQ, and relevant links from other sites. While we have a Categories page on the site that helps organize programs, there's nothing like that for site forums. This is an attempt to give some structure to the huge amount of great ideas, information, and techniques suggested over the years.

I hope to improve it over time and at some point follow with a well-organized and clear listing that makes the information easy to navigate. Feedback and additions are welcome.

---

New users


Intro to the Portable Freeware Collection:

- Presentation (short): viewtopic.php?p=93245#p93245
- Text (detailed): viewtopic.php?p=72036#p72036

Introduction to portability

Some other introductions to portability and freeware:
viewtopic.php?p=86594#p86594

Things you can't do with installed software
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23069

Reasons to use portable software? Similar to the sales pitch for the commercial program VMware Thinstall (isolation, migration, sandboxes, etc.):
https://www.vmware.com/products/thinapp.html

How do you upgrade freeware?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... f=2&t=6359

What is Yet another Portablizer (YaP)?
viewtopic.php?p=85685#p85685

Why Portable Freeware?
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=23008

Why NOT Portable Freeware (when an installer is better):
viewtopic.php?t=23393

General software (not just portable tools)

About virus scanners finding issues that are not a problem aka "False Positives"
viewtopic.php?p=76247#p76247

When you say "Launch program.exe -profile," how do I enable that? (AKA launch arguments.)
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=22327

What is the registry and why does Windows have one? Do other operating systems have something like this?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 347#p29347


Site matters

Volunteers

How can I help out at portablefreeware.com?
viewtopic.php?t=23031

Search

How do I search "private" entries?
(Private is when a program has not received enough votes to appear in the main listing.)
viewtopic.php?p=75396&sid=58277ff0805cb ... f00#p75396

DuckDuckGo 's !pfw bang
viewtopic.php?p=93107#p93107

Testing

What is the portable testing process? (flowchart)
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7718

What are some tools to test portability?
viewtopic.php?p=21751#p21751

Windows portability testing environment
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21885#p72857

Test your applications in a sandbox
viewtopic.php?t=2046

Testing for dotNET requirement
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... hp?p=81778

Checking freeware connections (aka "phones home")
viewtopic.php?p=96370#p96370

Submissions / database entries

How to submit an application to the database?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... hp?p=20975

Should it be added?
viewtopic.php?p=25433#p25433

I added something to the database. Where did it go? Why isn’t it “live”?
viewtopic.php?p=76820#p76820

What software do you use for Submissions?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... f=2&t=5733

How does the popularity score algorithm work?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 12&t=14286

Updating database entries

How to write / edit an entry?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... f=2&t=6579

Can we write custom changelogs?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 18&t=22445

When there are multiple portable versions of a program – what do we list first (and why)?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 463#p39463

Database submission

What NOT to post:
viewtopic.php?p=2857#p2857

Good guidelines / a checklist to review before adding something to the database
viewtopic.php?p=92115#p92115

How to submit an application to the database directly?
viewtopic.php?p=64717

Are betas allowed to be listed or must only stable versions be listed?
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=24356&hilit=reflect

How to get users to vote for an entry?
viewtopic.php?p=83556#p83556

Why were dotNET programs not always allowed on the site?
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6079

I just posted an update and it didn’t go live – what happened? (There’s a delay for programs with over-frequent updates.)
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 408#p26408

Other

Site goals / direction of our site (as of 2017)
viewtopic.php?p=85612#p85612

Updating your portable collection
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5719

Why doesn’t my signature appear?
viewtopic.php?p=87197#p87197

Defining portability

The sliding scale of portability
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 574#p72574

It writes *some* settings to the "AppData" folder, is it portable?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 177#p80177

Why is it when some programs write to the registry, that's okay but not others?
viewtopic.php?p=81882#p81882

If it writes to the registry or has dependencies, is it still portable?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... f=2&t=1648 (this is actually “sticky” in the discussion thread)

Why do you bother with wasteful Electron-based software aka what does PFW actually accomplish?
viewtopic.php?p=91544#p91544

Some definitions of what constitutes a portable app (from amroamroamro over on Github):
https://github.com/atom/atom/issues/293 ... -115586202

... Other definitions, explanations:



Developer resources

Use Cases for portability (Agile)
viewtopic.php?p=79704#p79704

Suggestions on picking a name for your program
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24685

Top 6 wishlist for developer websites
viewtopic.php?p=97321#p97321

(Similar to the above "ongoing wishlist" but more involved) Project suggestions for freeware developers
viewtopic.php?p=83153#p83153

When NOT to make a portable version (sort of an anti-use case)
viewtopic.php?p=86495#p86495

Example of a great intro video: fast motion account of the program actually doing something useful is a great way to see what can happen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM4JKPeaISo

Security freeware developers: an open letter
viewtopic.php?p=76156#p76156

A list of software annoyances AKA what to avoid when making great software
viewtopic.php?p=65306

Creating help files
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13222

Problem: Not enough donations
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=23512

User resources

Promote freeware you love

How to promote / advocate your favorite program - The Portable Freeware Collection Forums
viewtopic.php?p=80845#p80845

How do you pay for freeware? - The Portable Freeware Collection Forums
viewtopic.php?p=29297#p29297

Making requests

How do I make requests for portablefreeware? What hasn't been developed yet?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... =11&t=8267

Donation coder's freeware request page
http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?board=71.0

Tools for making existing software portable
viewtopic.php?p=93471#p93471

Lost pages: For sites that are down

Cached Pages
http://www.cachedpages.com/

A Firefox plugin to deal with older programs whose websites have died:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... ne-162148/

Site pointing to the last free version of various software tools:
http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/index.html

Tips for using archive.org
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24588

Dealing with dead websites
viewtopic.php?p=70178#p70178

Related/Other

Awards / Recognition for
viewtopic.php?p=15774#p15774

What will make you buy software AKA what software I'll buy
viewtopic.php?p=67140

Why would you give away source code? (An example of someone that literally died without giving away the source code so all his project stopped abruptly): http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 656#p83656

File posting accessories
viewtopic.php?p=81774#p81774

WINE+Portable software / a.k.a. our stuff on Mac/Linux
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... f=7&t=6964

History of avoiding Download.com
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/93 ... otivations

Editors for PFW's forums (BBCode editors):

Web based: http://www.ecardmax.com/hoteditor/index_mini.html and https://www.sceditor.com/
BBCeditor - downloadable, many features: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=24971&p=96596
bbEditor - Downloadable, basic: viewtopic.php?t=24212

---

Misc Site Policy Questions

Do you accept software that you must register for (aka registerware ... short version: not banned but we look at it case-by-case)
viewtopic.php?p=81653#p81653

Why stick with 32-bit?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 901#p81901

Repeated posts on multiple threads?
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 155#p81155

Can I use URL shorteners in an entry? (the short version is no)
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 18&t=23140
Top
Post Reply

Return to “Resources & Links”