Not really directly related, but on the same topic. I think their should be a new quality category authors are rated on in their author profile. It could be a ratio of the number of downloads in the past seven days by the number of files the author has posted. So authors who dump many useless programs will be identifiable.

How would that really work....we have to think realistically!?

The authors could then be ranked based on the resulting number. Someone who made 100 versions of absurdly pointless math programs that only gets 5 downloads a week would have a quality rating of .05 and be ranked far behind someone who has 10 really good games and gets 300 downloads a week with a quality rating of 30.

"10 really good games" and "300 downloads a week"...that's only 30 per week which is generally a pretty crappy program (with some exceptions such as programs that have been up for years).

The programs that I have that have been up for years still get descent and consistent downloads.

ImpQuest is a relatively crappy program (by me) and it gets 130 downloads a week.

Maybe part of the problem is the lack of standardization in programs. It makes it hard to judge a program when the set up is so different between them. What i mean is that every program should require a _descriptive_ screenshot that really captures the essence of the program, i.e. not just the title screen. Every program should also require a readme file in the zip that can be read in the browser like the current .txt ones. If you want a html readme thats okay, but you should complement it with a regular text file. And the readme shouldnt just repeat the description of the program, but should really do a good job describing the program and its features so it is easy to use. File descriptions should be screened to be unbiased and simple descriptions. Then the rating and sorting systems already discussed should be implemented.

The other thing I have to say is that we should not simply delete the bad programs. Every program uploaded (and accepted by my "standards") should be around for one year, and then if it is a truly worthless program the author should be contacted and offer consent for the deletion of the program. So in other words, every program is safe for a year, but then only if it is a "good"(as in not worthless or repetitive) program will it stay in the archives. As much as I would like for all of the programs to stay, it is unrealistic as the archives continue to grow.

Well, i hope not to write another lengthy discussion of my theory on this topic.

so your saying if i made a basic program like this:
>
disp " "
>
and made 50 copies of it under diferent names, then put them all on the site, that my incredable magnifisant engenious (i just spelled 3 words in a row wrong) programs would be safe for a year?

yes, if you wrote a good description, a quality readme and made an accurate screenshot.

I think the archivers would catch on.

Besides, there is a "request to be deleted" form, and it works too. Trust me, I know. I had to "censor" Kill Bin Laden because of it :)

That's stupid. Everyone hates him and if they don't they should be censored.

It was clearly in violation of the site policies, both of these are given as in violation of the policies:
# Content depicting any real person besides the author
# Content promoting or depicting terrorism or racial/ethnic hatred

All right.

So if I made an educatoinal program about George Washington that would have to be censored because he was a real person?

Besides, the game is anti terrorism not pro terrorism. and as far as I can tell it didn't back any racial comments, only anti Osama BinLadin comments. How come this game got censored because in it you have to kill a well known teerorist. Heck, in Wolfenstein you have to kill Nazis and the game makes it pretty clear. It has all kinds of swasticas on the walls and half of the enemys have them on their backs! This is definitly not to say that Wolfenstein should be censored, its a great game. I'm just saying that your logic in censoring Bin Ladin is shaky at best.

I didnt censor it. I was just rationalizing it. I agree that it wasnt much of a problem and that i would be fine if it were still "kill bin laden." BTW, George Washington wasnt a _real_ person ;)

He's on my quarter.

Really??? He's on MINE TOO!!! What a coincidence! All the other quarters I have though just hav a picture of a bald eagle... :( lol

You would be surprised at how much grassroots support he has outside the US.

By the way, that is a heck of a lot of Re:'s

sorry, i did that, i hope it hasn't caused too much confusion......

The only thing is, how do you determine a repetitive program? Sure, there are hundreds of "guess my number" games out there, but what about some of the others? How do you determine which triangle solver is the best and which are repetitive? I certainly wouldn't want my files pulled off the archives. Then again, mine have quality screenshots, .txt ReadMe's, and good descriptions... But still, how do you go about picking and choosing? I like the subfolders idea, and I think it could do a lot of good. Even better, a featured program subfolder...

I really dont want anything deleted, but it is unrealistic to keep it all. The most important thing is for beginners to have there programs around, which is why programs should be safe for a year. But then if someone has a worthless solver, it should be removed. Again, I dont like this, but i dont see a way around it in the future seeing as how ticalc is nonprofit. But, if the staff found a way to keep everything, then im all for keeping all programs around.