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If you've created an application, script, or library for use on the Stack Exchange network, that's fantastic!

Now publicize it by creating a question with the correct tag:

https://stackapps.com/questions/ask?tags=app

https://stackapps.com/questions/ask?tags=library

https://stackapps.com/questions/ask?tags=script

Generally, you should only publicize your app if it can actually be used, but to develop a write-access app, you will need to set up a placeholder post first.

These questions provide a default template for you to work with. Please follow this rough template; it's presented below for reference.

<!-- thumbnail: http://example.com/some-image.png -->
<!-- version: 1.0 -->
<!-- tag: a-tag-on-the-post -->
<!-- excerpt: Up to 200 characters of excerpt -->

### About: (required)

Tell us about your app/library/wrapper/script.  
Why did you create it? Who is it for?   
How does it work? What problem does it solve?

### Screenshot / Code Snippet:  (highly recommended)

Insert a reasonably sized screenshot (or code snippet) of your 
app/wrapper/library/script here, so we can get a quick look at it and 
an idea of how it works and what it might do for us.

### Download / Install: (required)

Provide links for us to obtain your app/library/wrapper/script.  
For websites or service, provide link to the main or home page.  
A user should be able to jump to this section and dive right into your app.

### Platform: (recommended)

What platform or browser is your app/library/wrapper/script for?   
Android? PC? Mac? Apple Newton? Firefox? Opera? Lynx? 

### Contact: (optional)

Who created this app? Who are the key contributors? 
How do we get in touch with them or find them?

### License: (optional)

What license is your app/library/wrapper/script released under, if any? 
Or if it is paid, how much does it cost and how do we buy it?

### Code: (recommended)

What language, frameworks, and tools were used to write this?
Where can we get the code?
How can we contribute to the code?

Metadata

Thumbnails should be 144 pixels wide, and 119 pixels tall and a PNG file (with extension). If no thumbnail is provided, one will be generated from the first image in the question if possible; a default will be used if nothing is provided.

The designated tag will be the "+1 tag" that is shown in addition to the ,, or tags. If it is not specified explicitly, the most popular tag on the post will be used instead. If a tag is explicitly designated, it must exist on the post to take effect.

The version number will not be displayed if omitted.

The excerpt cannot contain any HTML or markup. If it is omitted, the first ~200 characters of the About section will be included. If there is no About section, the first ~200 characters of the post itself will be used.

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  • 27
    This information was really hard to find! Shouldn't it be linked to the front page or FAQ, and if it is and I didn't see it, shouldn't it be emphasized more?
    – hippietrail
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 10:56

2 Answers 2

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Remember, you should only publicize your app if it can actually be used!

I'm working on an idea for an app.

In true "customer development" fashion, I'd like to publish the idea, with a screenshot of what it will look like, to see what kind of reaction it gets and what features people want it to have. It's not difficult to implement, but I'd rather not rush into it without having some kind of idea whether anyone is interested.

Is it OK to publish without an implementation, to get a sense of what people expect from my app before the first version?

Answer:

Publish using the (new) tag.
See "My app has to be published first? But it's still under development".

Improve this answer
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  • If its not very complicated to implement, then better just to do it and see what people think. If no-one is interested then you won't have wasted much time anyway.
    – N Reed
    Commented Jun 4, 2010 at 4:08
  • 5
    Maybe you can just leave the app tag. Then your question doesn't get listed in the app tab, so it's clear that it's not yet a working app.
    – eflorico
    Commented Jul 4, 2010 at 13:40
  • 1
    this should be posted as a separate question. Anyway, good point for early prototyping. :)
    – Gan
    Commented Dec 6, 2010 at 4:07
  • 1
    I just released my first official Stackapps script, but for before implementing it I posted the idea on Meta Stack Overflow as a feature request. So that's one way to go about it.
    – hippietrail
    Commented Oct 4, 2012 at 10:49
  • what kind of reaction it gets Few people will care about an unimplemented idea. what features people want it to have You need to think about what features you want it to have instead of lazily asking others to do your work. having some kind of idea whether anyone is interested If you're not interested, then don't bother. If you are interested, then write it.
    – BryanH
    Commented May 15, 2015 at 14:53
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I have written a chat bot. Do I need to announce its existence on Stack Apps?

No, it is not mandatory to announce your chat bot with a post on Stack Apps.

It is appreciated if you do, specially if your bot is present in public chat rooms and users stumble upon it. See your post as a service to (potential) users in case of questions / issues / bugs or complaints about your bot.

You can choose to either post under your own account or that of your bot account. In either case make clear you are the owner and therefore responsible for its (re)actions.

Use the tag if your chatbot operates headless, on a server. Use the tag if your bot is a userscript that relies on a browser and a script manager. Add the tag as well.

From Etiquette of Screen-scraping Stack Overflow?

Identify yourself. Add something useful to the user-agent (ideally, a link to an URL, or something informational) so we can see your bot as something other than "generic unknown anonymous scraper."

Proper User-Agents are for example:

Improve this answer
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  • For example, can I add my other profile's (which is not a bot) link also in user agent like you've added yours?
    – Rosie
    Commented Jun 12, 2021 at 9:18
  • 3
    @Rosie yes, you can
    – rene ♦
    Commented Jun 12, 2021 at 9:59

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