Linux Downloads Directory

**tana** · 06-19-2006

Another minor suggestion. If technically possible, I think it will be better to have descriptive names in the URLs, i.e. instead of:
http://dir.linuxforums.org/category/61/program/69/,
to have something like:
http://dir.linuxforums.org/utilities/editors/leafpad/ (with or without the latest vesion of leafpad)

This will be better both for search engines and for human navigation, so if it is technically possible to do it, it will make a difference.

**sailfrog** · 06-19-2006

(This is in response to ozars pointing out the spelling mistake in "popular")

fixed

Thanks!

Jason

**sailfrog** · 06-19-2006

Originally Posted by ozar

It might be good to set the directory up where a "category" must actually be selected with each download because I keep finding new downloads mistakenly left in the current default "Destktop/Applets" category. Hope that makes sense.

It does, and it's done

Now when submitting new software the category dropdown is set to a blank value and requires the user to select one.

Jason

**sailfrog** · 06-19-2006

Originally Posted by tana

Another minor suggestion. If technically possible, I think it will be better to have descriptive names in the URLs, i.e. instead of:
http://dir.linuxforums.org/category/61/program/69/,
to have something like:
http://dir.linuxforums.org/utilities/editors/leafpad/ (with or without the latest vesion of leafpad)

This will be better both for search engines and for human navigation, so if it is technically possible to do it, it will make a difference.

While techinically possible at this point it would require too many code changes (and too much time to complete.) Sorry about that!

Jason

**sailfrog** · 06-19-2006

Originally Posted by RustamB

I would suggest removing version information and direct download link, cause links could be outdated and we will not be able to keep versions up to date when downloads database grows too large. It's better to have just a link to the product home page, and let the user to decide himself about download version/language etc.

You make a good point however even if the current version and download link are out of date the download directory still gives you a summary and a link to the homepage such that you can get the latest version. So while it will take community participation to keep the versions updated even if that does not happen it is still a useful resource for finding linux software.

As an aside I write open source software and when I release new versions I hit 3 or 4 popular download sites (now 5 or 6

and update the entry for my software in there db. So not only will community participation help but also if the directory grows large enough and gains popularity you will find that software developers themselves will update entries.

Jason

oz · 06-19-2006

Originally Posted by sailfrog

It does, and it's done

Now when submitting new software the category dropdown is set to a blank value and requires the user to select one.

Yeah, that'll work - thanks sailfrog!

**tana** · 06-20-2006

Originally Posted by sailfrog

While techinically possible at this point it would require too many code changes (and too much time to complete.) Sorry about that!

Jason

NP, it's a minor issue - even without SEO, the site certainly gets enough traffic.

**sailfrog** · 06-21-2006

Originally Posted by tana

NP, it's a minor issue - even without SEO, the site certainly gets enough traffic.

It is a busy site

To be honest I don't fully understand how a search engine (or why) would rate a page higher because the url itself contained information related to the page content. If you have any insight into that I would be interested in understanding more about the process. Most of the sites I work on are for companies that would rather be invisible except to business relations, or my own open source project stuff.

Jason

**tana** · 06-21-2006

Generally keywords in headings, URLs, file names are important for better ranking - they have more weight in Google's algorithm for calculating relevancy. But having keywords in the URL and file names does not guarantee being at the top. And the opposite - it is still possible to have high rankings without keywords in the URL/filenames.

The worst is dynamic URLs with plenty of question marks in them. I know that there is an Apache module (forgot the name) for rewriting dynamic URLs in a SEO-friendlier mode, though I have never used it personally. That's in brief about SEO and URLs.

Tana

**src2206** · 08-24-2006

Originally Posted by Core Wizard

"We are pleased to announce that we have launched a brand new section on Linux Forums, the Linux Downloads Directory, find out more about it here."

Ok, so tell us what you think!
Mark.

PS. Read the about page for the Directory to know more about its features, and start adding applications!

None of these two URLs are working - its leading to nowhere

. Could someone please check it out?
Thank you.

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