vdhri.net

Note: This guide is essentially the same as the create a torrent using MakeTorrent and the JMStacey.net tracker, except this features updated versions of the software involved and the tracker interface is slightly different.

Step 1:
Download and install the tools listed above and sign up (create an account to upload torrents) at the PunkHC tracker.
Find the item you wish to distribute and, if you can, make a copy of it - this preserves your version incase something goes wrong later on.

Step 2:
Start MakeTorrent, it should have placed a shortcut to it in the Programs section of your start menu.
a) I like to use "Classic" mode, so switch to that
b) Click on the "(dir)" button, then browse to the directory which you are wanting to distribute. If you want to torrent a single file then click the (file) button instead and select that file. When you have browsed to the directory or file you want to torrent, press the ok button and it will fill in the path in the "Filename or Pathname" box in MakeTorrent.

Step 2 is shown here:

Step 3:
a) Double check the directory displayed in the box is the right one.
b) Now you have to find the announce URL of the tracker, this is displayed at the top of the "Upload" page, and unless it has changed is it:
http://punkhc.dyndns.org/announce.php
c) When you find this URL, copy it to the clipboard and paste it in the box marked "Tracker:" in MakeTorrent
You can leave the other settings as they are until you learn more about bittorrent and want to do more with it.

Step 3 is shown below:

Step 4:
a) Make sure that the files in the folder are not being used (eg you're not playing one of the mp3s in winamp), it doesn't like that.
b) Click the "Create .torrent now!" button near the bottom right of the MakeTorrent window.
c) It will then prompt you for a directory to save the .torrent file in, choose somewhere you'll remember and press "Save."
d) It opens a popup with two progress bars, the top one is the progress of the file it is currently working on, the one below it is the overall progress. When the overall progress bar reaches the end, it will allow you to click "Finish" so do so.
e) You have now made your .torrent file! Close MakeTorrent.

Step 4 is shown below:

Step 5:
a) Now you have made the .torrent file, but it's no use just being on your computer, you need to upload it to the tracker you're using. To do this, go to the Upload page on the tracker's website. on the PunkHC Tracker, this is: http://punkhc.dyndns.org/upload.php
b) The "Torrent file" box is to select the torrent file you are uploading, click on the browse button next to the box and browse to the .torrent file you have created, select it and click "Open" in the popup box. It should then put the path to that file in the text box.
c) Fill in the "Torrent name" field with an informative name and the "Description" field with - for example - a track listing, information about the artist, quality of the rip, etc. Then select the correct type for the torrent.
d) Click on the "Do it!" button to upload the torrent file to the tracker.

Step 5 is shown here:

Step 6:
a) Now that you've uploaded your .torrent file to the tracker (errors will hopefully be self explanatory and rare) you have to start seeding it. Open your bittorrent client - this example uses BitTornado, you can open this by finding the folder it created in the start menu on installing it. BitTornado opens a box asking you to select a .torrent file, if your client doesn't do this you can either browse to the file in Windows Explorer, then right click on it and choose "Open With" -> (choose your torrent program) or look for a button on your client to add the torrent.
If the dialogue box was displayed browse to your torrent and press "Open"
b) Now BitTornado asks where you want to save the files to. As we already have the files we must browse to that folder - make sure that you select the same folder as you used to make the torrent! When you've selected that folder in the browser, click "Ok."
BitTornado then inspects all the files in the torrent, decides that you have the full versions of all of them and displays a download window, but showing the download as complete. There's a button showing "finish" but don't click this until you're sure that other people have the whole file and are seeding it.

Step 7:
You're now seeding your torrent file. An optional mode on BitTornado and some other clients is the "SUPER-SEED" mode. This can help to distribute files more evenly amongst the people downloading from you, which can help to distribute the file quicker. You should only use this if you are the only seeder, you can switch this on by selecting "SUPER-SEED" from the "Settings for" list box near the bottom left of the download window.

Now that you have created a .torrent you're gonna want to tell people about it, right? Well due to the nature of the PunkHC tracker, you must link people to the tracker site so they can register before they are able to download from the torrent. This means it is not suitable for sites such as suprnova. However this is possible on forum style sites, such as punktorrents.com.

To submit your torrent on punktorrents.com:

A) Go to punktorrents.com in your browser and login or signup if you have yet to do so. Navigate to the correct forum, this will either be Punk, Ska, Hardcore, Local Bands or Videos within the Downloads category.

B) When you are in the correct forum, press the "New Topic" button:

C) Fill in the fields it presents to you:
Topic Title: Should be the name of the album you're posting with maybe the year or quality/format, keep it short and descriptive.
Topic Description: Any additional information or comments you have can go here.
Enter Your Post: This is the main post text, here it is always appreciated if you put some information about what your torrent. You should explain how the tracker works to people viewing your post, as I have done below:

For example:
Bouncing Souls - Anchors Aweigh
Tracklist:
01 - Apartment 5F
02 - Anchors Aweigh
(...)

Quality: 192kpbs mp3
This torrent is on the PunkHC tracker, which requires you to sign up before you can download to help prevent leeching. If you haven't signed up, go to http://punkhc.dyndns.org to do so then download the torrent from the tracker.
Link to torrent on tracker: [url=http://punkhc.dyndns.org/details.php?id=197&hit=1]http://punkhc.dyndns.org/details.php?id=197&hit=1[/url]

I also like to ask people to say thanks for downloading and request they don't leech. Also if you are distributing a group release which came with a .nfo file, you could simply paste that in this box, although enclose it in [ code]..[/code] brackets to keep the formatting.

That's all the fields that have to be filled out, although you can choose a post icon if you want.

D) There is a box to attach a file to your post, however do not attach the .torrent file as the PunkHC tracker requires that people download it from their site.

E) Check what you've entered above, and click on "Post New Topic" at the bottom.

That's it! You can keep an eye on your thread for problems and people requiring reseeds, etc. Thanks for contributing!

Thanks for following this guide through.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and no files were actually distributed to other people creating it. Sharing files that you don't own the rights to is illegal.