Publish a widget
In the creator space of PlayerVox OverCrow, at
creators.playervox.com, a widget reaches players in four steps:
you send its sources, they are checked automatically, PlayerVox reviews
them, then the version is published in the catalog. This page covers the
first two and the screen that sends a version to review; the
review and the listing have their
own pages.
Before you send
- Your widget's ID is reserved in the creator space
(getting started), and
manifest.jsonuses it. overcrow-widget checkpasses in the widget's folder.- The version in
manifest.jsonis newer than the last approved one:1.2.1or higher after1.2.0.
Send the sources
Open the widget in Widgets, then Submit a version.
- On a computer, drop the widget's folder on the page, or choose it. You
can also send a
.zipof the folder. - On a phone or a tablet, which cannot pick a folder, choose the
.zip.
The creator space reads a folder with the same rules as
overcrow-widget submit, on your computer, and sends the same files. It
leaves out hidden files and folders (.env, .git/…), node_modules/,
dist/, tests/output/, __MACOSX/, built packages, key files, system
files and names that are not portable ASCII; the page lists what it left
out. A .zip is sent as it is. The bounds and the refusals are those of
source archives: 32 MiB for the archive, 64 MiB and
2,000 files once uncompressed, 16 levels of folders, paths of 255 bytes at
most, no two names that differ only by case.
- A
.zipmade by Windows PowerShell 5.1 (Compress-Archive) separates folders with\and is refused at once: drop the folder instead. - A file or folder name with
\ : * ? " < > |is refused before anything is sent: Windows cannot use it. Rename it. - A browser reads the file a link points to, where the command-line tool leaves the link out. Keep links out of the widget's folder.
- Your sources stay private: only PlayerVox reviewers read them, sometimes with an AI's help unless you refuse, and every access shows in the creator space.
A publisher sends at most 20 submissions in 24 hours; the page says when the next one is possible. If the page is closed or the connection drops while sending, drop the same folder again: the submission resumes, and nothing is counted twice.
The checks
The checks take about a minute: the manifest, the version number, the code, the package build, the permissions, the size. You can leave the page: an e-mail tells you when they end.
- When a check fails, each problem is shown in your own files, with the line and the correction. Fix it and send again; nothing reaches the reviewers.
- "Problem on our side" means PlayerVox could not run the checks: your code is not the cause. PlayerVox is told and runs them again.
Submit for review
When the checks pass, the version page says what changes for players:
- Permissions. Explain why the widget needs each new or widened permission, in words players understand. A first version explains all of them.
- Privacy policy. Required as soon as the widget uses the network. The address typed here is saved into the listing too.
- Listing. A first version goes to review with its listing, which needs an English description, a license and a support contact.
- Release notes, shown to players: optional. English comes first; Add a language adds others, 16 at most. When you write any, write them in English too.
- Message for the review, read only by PlayerVox: a test account, useful context.
The page also says which review the version gets (quick or full) and what changed since the last approved version. Submit for review sends it.
Until one of your widgets is approved, you have one widget in review at a time: another widget waits until the first is approved, refused or withdrawn. Sending and checking it are not blocked, and a new version of the widget in review takes its place.
From a terminal or a CI job
overcrow-widget submit sends a version with a publish key, and stops at
the same screen when something is missing: see submit and
publish keys and CI.
After the review
PlayerVox aims to publish an approved version within 24 business hours. You can withdraw it with Withdraw this version, or the whole widget with Remove from the catalog, in Settings: it leaves the catalog at the next publication, and installed copies keep working. Until then you can cancel the withdrawal. See withdrawal.