Distributing content
You've completed your creation. You've tested it, polished it, and tweaked it. You feel confident that your add-on is the greatest achievement since the sandwich was invented. Now what? Make it available to the world! How? You can either share your content via the forums, or via the add-on server. Both methods are discussed below.
The Forum
The Wesnoth forums is a good way to distribute small creations, like single multiplayer maps. Larger creations, like multiplayer eras or campaigns, should be compressed before uploading them. Note that you may encounter a size limit on attachments.
Also, there is a legal announcement that you should read before distributing anything on the forum. Basically, by posting you say that you own the license to what you are posting, and that you are giving rights under a Gnu or Creative Commons license as stated on Wesnoth:Copyrights.
This option allows for feedback and is pretty easy for the content creators to do. However, it requires extra steps on the part of the downloader and limits the add-on's exposure to players who regularly visit the forum.
The Add-on Server
The add-on server is the preferred way to distribute your creations, whether it's a single map or a large campaign.
In in order to publish an add-on to the server, you need to create a _server.pbl file inside your add-on's directory. Detailed instructions on the syntax of the file are located on the PblWML page. File _main.cfg is also required, even for resource addons.
Once you are ready to publish:
- Open Wesnoth
- Select Add-ons from the main menu
- Connect to the default add-ons.wesnoth.org add-on server
- In 1.12: Select your add-on, which will be the last entry in the list of add-ons. Then select Publish add-on: Your Add-on Name
- In 1.14: In the "State" drop-down above the list, select "Publishable", and the list will show only your add-on. Select your add-on, then click on the shield icon with the upwards arrow.
Note: If you haven't included a passphrase in the _server.pbl file then Wesnoth will add a randomly-generated password to it. This password can be used to upload updates.
Note: By default, all files and folders inside the add-on's directory are uploaded, except those that begin with '.' and those that end in '~'. If you want to exclude any others, you may do so by creating a _server.ign file and listing within it the files or folders you wish not to be uploaded (see IGNFileFormat for more information).
Note: A command-line interface to publish add-ons exists for those who prefer it. The script is located in a path like "/share/wesnoth/data/tools/wesnoth_addon_manager" (may depend on your OS and wesnoth version).
License
Whenever you upload or update your add-on, you will have to confirm that it is licensed as required by
- Wesnoth:Copyrights#User_Made_Content_-_Code and
- Wesnoth:Copyrights#User_Made_Content_-_Visual_and_Audio_Content
When a user downloads your add-on, it will include the ART_LICENSE that you included and a COPYING.txt file containing a copy of the GNU GPL version 2, signifying the content is licensed under such.
Version control distribution
It is recommended that you create your own personal repository on a service such as GitHub. This will allow tracking changes you make to your content, as well as make it easier for others to collaborate with you.