Here are the answers to the more common questions we’ve been asked by Exchange Apps publishers:
1. General Product Information
• 2. Technology
• 3. Licensing, Pricing and Upgrades
• 4. Product Types and Versions
Please email [email protected] if you have any questions not anwered here.
General Product Information
How do I submit a product to the Autodesk Exchange Apps store (the “Store”)?
Answer: Refer to the detailed information and instructions in the App Submission Process Overview.
What products can I publish?
Answer: As long as your product is relevant to the Autodesk product for which there is an Exchange store, there are no strict limitations. To view the available Exchange stores go to http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com and click on “Select a store to begin”. Review the detailed Autodesk Exchange Apps Product Guidelines that you can access from the “Publish Your Own Applications in Autodesk Exchange Apps!” page that appears when you click on the ‘Exchange App Developers!’ link, as well as from the “Product Guidelines” link in the Publisher Agreement. These guidelines also explain the approval process. You can submit plug-ins, standalone applications, content (e.g. Block Libraries), training materials, or e-books. If you’re not sure if your product is suitable, please email [email protected] for advice.
What materials / information will I need to submit?
Answer: Along with preparing your product for submission to the Store, you’ll want to have marketing material ready to submit to help promote your product on Autodesk Exchange, including thumbnail image, getting started documentation, and screenshot(s). Use the App Submission form Word template to gather all the information you will need to provide and then copy/paste to the online submission form.
As part of the submission process, you will be prompted to provide information to automatically generate a standard format HTML help page. This help page will be included with the download of your product and is intended as a “Quick Start” for customers. Any documentation you provide is in addition to this generated helpfile and is optional. You may also post supplementary documentation on your own website and refer to it from the standard HTML help page. For some Autodesk products additional information can be posted on the Autodesk Wiki.
How are payments handled for fee-based Apps?
Autodesk Exchange Apps uses PayPalÔ as its payment vendor. You will need a PayPal account if you will be selling products on Autodesk Exchange Apps, but not if you’ll just be providing Free and Trial Products. It is important that you set up your PayPal account to meet the required settings for Autodesk Exchange Apps. Refer to the PayPal account set up documentation for full details.
Is there a limit to how many products I can put in the Store?
Answer: No. However, each product you post should be unique.
Is there a cost to participate in the Store?
Answer: For now there is no fee to have your products published on Autodesk Exchange, although that could change in the future. In the Publishers Agreement you will see (sections 1.8 and 4.3) reference to "Commission". At some point in the future Autodesk may take a commission that could be up to 30% - but for now zero commission is being taken by Autodesk on the sales of your products using Autodesk Exchange Apps.
What customer data do I receive when my app is downloaded?
Answer: Whether the app is free, trial or paid, publishers receive an email for each download by a customer (sent to the contact email address you use as Publisher Contact during the submission process). Additionally, publishers can access download data in CSV file format through “My Uploads”. Click on the number indicated in the downloads count. For paid Apps publishers also receive notification and payment data directly from PayPal.
Technology
How do I edit/update products or information?
Answer: The process to update/edit an App is described in the App Submission Process Overview. See “Editing an existing app”.
Is there a standard installer format I must use?
Answer: If your product follows our guidelines for content and plug-ins, we will create the installer for you. For details on the format needed to use the standard installer template please see the guidelines and requirements described in the applicable product information document - AutoCAD and verticals, Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Inventor and Vault. Autodesk will create the installer for you and will contact you if there are any issues or questions.
How do I delete a product?
Answer: Click on the ‘Delete’ link next to the product you wish to delete in your My Uploads dashboard..
Licensing, Pricing and Upgrades
Does Autodesk provide copy protection or licensing systems for my product?
Answer: No. Copy protection or license management is the responsibility of the Publisher. This applies to both trial versions and purchased products. Whatever system the publisher uses (if any), products in the Exchange Apps must be immediately usable by the Customer upon installation. If the product requires the customer to request a license that is not immediately delivered (e.g. if license requests are manually processed and not immediately generated via email or through an online system then the product must remain fully functional for a ‘grace period’ long enough to ensure that the product can be activated before the grace period expires.
Can I use my own end user license agreement for my product?
Answer: Autodesk provides a standard End User License Agreement (EULA) for products submitted by Publishers to Autodesk Exchange. You do not need to have your own EULA for the Store, but if you do, do not specify any terms and conditions that are inconsistent with the standard EULA for products you publish to Autodesk Exchange. Also, you are required to include the minimum terms and conditions listed in Exhibit A to your Publisher Agreement. If you must have additional terms (for example, if there are conditions on the use of free trials), then please be sure to document the fact clearly in the product description (on the product download page) or in the helpfile documentation. There is no mechanism to display custom EULAs in the standard installer dialog. We recommend that your app display your EULA in a dialog that appears the first time it is run.
How is (will) volume pricing be handled?
Answer: Autodesk Exchange does not handle volume pricing directly, but there are two ways in which you can work with customers on volume:
(i) Publish "packs" of your product to sell specific volume quantities. For example:
- 5 pack
- 25 pack
- 50 pack, etc.
You will need to submit each "pack" as a separate product and put information on installation and licensing in the help file.
(ii) Provide information on the Product Download Page and/or help documentation inviting customers to contact you if they would like volume pricing.
Can I sell subscription/maintenance contracts for my product(s)?
Answer: You can offer subsciption/maintenance your product(s) in Exchange Apps. However, you will need to provide good documentation on what customers will receive from the purchase of subscription/maintenance.
(Note: Subscription/maintenance mentioned above means your own subscription/maintenance system. Exchange Apps does not provide a mechanism for you to tie your product to an Autodesk subscription account).
Can I sell upgrades through Autodesk Exchange?
Answer: Exchange Apps doesn’t allow you to charge a special upgrade price for your product at this time. However, this functionality may be added in the future.
Product Types and Versions
Can I sell products that work with older versions of an Autodesk product?
Answer: Your product must be compatible with the current product versions supported by Exchange Apps. You may additionally include versions of your product that are compatible with earlier versions than this, but there is no mechanism for you advertise this capability other than via a comment in the product description or in its helpfile.
Where do I indicate my product version?
Answer: There are two places to specify product version information:
- Via the form used to submit a new product for publication.
- When using the autoloader ‘bundle’ format, in the PackageContents.xml metadata file that is included in the bundle. (We can help you create that).
Can I publish local language versions?
Answer: We plan to create localized versions of Exchange Apps in the future. For the time being, your product must support English and your product description must be in English. That said, you are welcome to add support for other languages within the app itself as long as it also supports English.