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On this third edition of how-to's for my mother, I will explain how to give back to the community (or even just share with friends) by creating your own torrent files.

The following assumes you have read Bittorrent for my Mother and you have tried your utmost to become Clever like my Mother. I will also assume you are using Bittornado. If you are on a Mac (or are using Azureus) I suggest checking out IndieTorrent's own Seeding Guide.

But why would I want to create my own torrent files?
Think about everything you have (or will) download using bittorrent. The only reason those files are made available are because of kind people who take the time to create a torrent file, and seed (aka upload) them to other users. It makes you feel good that you can give back as much as you take (or more if possible). Also, it's a great way to distribute files in general, while saving your website bandwidth. Wanna make a mix-tape of mp3s and share it, but don't want it to bring your website down? Create a torrent!

Is this more dangerous, legally, than just downloading?
Assuming we're talking about illegal material here (think RIAA), no it is not any *more* dangerous because even whil you are downloading, you are uploading. There is no getting around sharing with bittorrent, so if you are concerned, don't download copyrighted material (or atleast consult the RIAA Radar for the big ones)

Getting your files together
You can share absolutely *any* type of file through bittorrent. Pictures, movies, music, program files, anything. Get whatever you plan on sharing out and put it in a folder on your desktop. Do *not* zip or compress the file. Many trackers disallow zip files. Name it something descriptive. If you want to create one from a CD you own, consult bestmp3guide.com for tips on how to get high-quality mp3s. It doesn't matter a whole lot what you name the mp3 files, but *please* make sure they have full ID3 Tags (like tracknumber, title, artist, year, album etc). I use Eags On! for tagging files because it is easy, simple, and you can even look up track names automatically. There are definitely better, more robust solutions but Eags On is a good starter. (It also allows you to rename files based on ID3 tags very easily)

Creating the Torrent file
1) Download MakeTorrent v2, Install, and Run.
2) Go to the Settings Tab, and click Classic under Startup Mode (its easier)
3) Make sure all boxes are checked except the "Do NOT" one.
4) Now it's time to add a tracker...

Finding a tracker
The tracker (aka website you download bittorrent files at) information is embedded into the torrent file. This means that each torrent file you create is specific for *one* site. Every tracker will have an "Announce URL" which you will most likely find in the upload section.

VIP-Torrents and TorrentSpy are aggregated trackers (meaning they pull their links from multiple sites, which also means you cannot upload specifically to either of those). A long list of announce urls can be found over at beehive. Some torrents require registration before they work, so keep that in mind.

OwnTracker.com lets you create your very own tracker, and upload torrents to it. That is very cool. The main drawback is that not many people will see it, so your generally better off sticking to a larger tracker, but if you just want to upload your own mixtapes or files for family members etc, it is a fantastic solution.

I found a tracker, and MakeTorrent is still open
You should still be on the Settings tab. Enter a name (whatever you want), the announce url, and the main website url (usually just take off the 'announce.php' part). Click Add. Save now. You can add as many as you like for future use. You will have to restart MakeTorrent before you continue (so the custom trackers you just added show up on the main list).

Okay already, lets go..
1) Go back to the Create Torrent tab (make sure Classic is clicked).
2) Click [dir]. Find the folder, and click ok
3) Select your tracker (It comes preloaded with a list, your custom ones will be at the bottom)
4) Leave everything else alone and click CREATE
5) Save to desktop
6) Close MakeTorrent

Okay, I have my .torrent file, now what?
Now go to the tracker upload page and fill in the info.
You will need to fill in the Artist, Title, Year for your album (presumebly music) so have that handy. Format is mp3, Bitrate is whatever you ripped it at. Note: Must be 192kbps or higher for most music sites. Check the Included Tracklist box. I usually try to include an album review in the description box (aka google for album title review). Choose the genre and click "Do It!".

Okay, submitted, now am I done?
Not quite. Now double click the torrent file sitting on your desktop (making sure you havent moved the original directory of music). It should fill to 100% (and turn white) almost immediately. Then it will be 'seeding'. Now just minimize it forget about it while people download it.

It's up, I'm seeding, but nothings happening?
First, give it a few minutes. Sometimes it takes a bit for your computer to talk to the tracker (which is running thousands of torrents at once) so be patient. Now this is an important bit: You must seed till there is atleast one other seed.

That should be it. Don't forget that every tracker has its own rules. I highly recommend that you read them before you post music, and always do a search beforehand to make sure it's not already up. Some requires an NFO file to be included (which is just a text file with a tracklisting).

Any other questions just let me know.