PAD®
PAD® stands for Portable Application Description. It is designed to empower authors by providing product descriptions and specifications to on-line sources in a standard way. Using a unified data format allows website owners to automate program listings.
For both existing publishers using the PAD platform and new publishers, please check out PAD - Frequently Asked Questions.
Publishers can create and manage PAD for their software submission using the Publisher Control Panel. In this control panel, you can import a version 3.X PAD file and upgrade it to version 4 or create a new PAD file and get it automatically validated. This ensures your software promotion will seamlessly integrate with the many websites, directories, and other locations by making it comply with all the specifications. The control panel also allows you to publish your PAD file in the Global PAD Repository and apply for PAD certification.
Please note that starting with version 4, your submit PAD file is supposed to be hosted by the Global PAD Repository. This ensures that the data provided in your PAD file includes a verified source and was checked by live operators. There is no need to upload PAD files to your own website anymore.
Here you can find the database of download sites that support PAD:
http://padsites.org
The Publisher Control Panel offers premium software promotion services that allow you to distribute information about your software product across the Internet.
PAD® Specification
PAD file is an XML file that contains information about a software product. Its format is specified by the PAD specification. The current PAD specification is available in the XML format:
Changes from the previous version (version 3.11 to version 4.0)