Last update January 17, 2007

How To /
Promote DProjects



Difference (last change) (Author, normal page display)

Changed: 7c7
(adapted from Posting:digitalmars.D.announce/5181 by Walter Bright)
(adapted from NG:digitalmars.D.announce/5181 by Walter Bright)

Changed: 23c23
#Submit links to your project releases to www.betamarker.com. Submit articles, tutorials, anything of interest to www.dzone.com, gamedev.net, www.artima.com or even www.digg.com. Let us know so we can digg them! It doesn't matter if the reference doesn't make it to the front page, it will still help. (I'd also suggest www.reddit.com. -- Mike Parker)
#Submit links to your project releases to www.betamarker.com. Submit articles, tutorials, anything of interest to www.dzone.com, gamedev.net, www.artima.com or even www.digg.com. Let us know so we can digg them! It doesn't matter if the reference doesn't make it to the front page, it will still help. (I'd also suggest www.reddit.com. -- Mike Parker)

A revised version of this content now exists as an official webpage: DigitalMars:d/howto-promote.html. Comments can be left at: DocComments/PromotingDProjects


Promoting D Projects

(adapted from NG:digitalmars.D.announce/5181 by Walter Bright)

A lot of you are writing useful projects in D, useful code snippets, insightful commentary, etc. Much of this stuff gets reimplemented over and over because few are aware of the existence of it. We can stand on each others shoulders a bit more if we do a little less wheel reinvention.

I've learned a lot about trying to get the word out on the internet with little to no marketing dollars, no marketing staff, no nothing. I suspect that most of you are in the same boat <g>, so I thought I'd share a bit about what I've learned.

  1. Make a web page for it. A newsgroup posting here in digitalmars.D.announce is great for announcing the existence of the project, but then it scrolls away and gets forgotten. You need a web page for it to get it noticed in the future. Use dsource.org if you don't have your own, or the D wiki, etc.
  2. Having your stuff findable by Google is the most important thing you can do. The overwhelming majority of traffic to the Digital Mars web site is coming from google search results pages. If it isn't findable by Google, it might as well not exist. I won't get much into google search engine optimization here, as there are plenty of web sites on that (findable via google, of course!), but there are a couple highlights I want to hit.
  3. Think about what, if you were looking for your project, you'd type into the google search box. Then, make sure those keywords are on your project description web page.
  4. Include the phrase "D programming language" somewhere on every D web page you do. Don't put it in a graphic, put it in text so google will find it. This phrase helps build "brand" on the internet, and your D page will show up in google searches on D. Just using "D" by itself won't work (try it!).
  5. Ask me to put a link to your page on DigitalMars:d/dlinks.html. Send me the exact text to cut & paste in. Try to get reciprocal links from other relevant D pages. This will help people find it.
  6. Submit links to your project releases to www.betamarker.com. Submit articles, tutorials, anything of interest to www.dzone.com, gamedev.net, www.artima.com or even www.digg.com. Let us know so we can digg them! It doesn't matter if the reference doesn't make it to the front page, it will still help. (I'd also suggest www.reddit.com. -- Mike Parker)
  7. Post on the newsgroup comp.programming to reach a more general audience.
  8. People coming across D source code on the internet may not recognize it for what it is. I think it's probably a good idea to add the comment:
    // written in the D programming language
    at the top of every published D source code file. I'm going to start doing that with Phobos source.
  9. Take a look at related Wikipedia articles for which a relevant discussion about or link to your project might be appropriate.
  10. In doing the above, be sure you're not spamming. Any links you do should be of genuine and relevant interest to the readers.
  11. Doing this isn't just good for D, it's good for your career. Recruiters are going to google your name, and if they find all those cool projects you've done, it can only help.
And, of course, I should follow my own advice and turn this posting into a web page!
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