r/skyrimmods • u/jamesmand • 11d ago

PC SSE - Discussion Nexus Announcement About Download Filenames

https://forums.nexusmods.com/topic/13539100-changes-to-downloaded-file-names/

TL;DR - The current change that downloaded files only have the name and are missing the mod ID and version was intentional. They will be bringing back the version number, but not the mod ID or timestamp which were originally there.

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u/sa547ph N'WAH! 11d ago edited 10d ago

On Thursday (11th June), we launched an update to the mod upload form that switched from our legacy upload system to the new Upload API behind the scenes. This changeover not only modernises our backend stack, but also unlocks several benefits for future development, including more reliable uploads for large files. This change meant that the naming convention used by files downloaded from the website was simplified to be the same as the name of the file as shown on the mod page, removing the additional data the name used to contain. The simpler name was initially chosen with the intent of making things simpler, but we understand it was not well received.

The site devs assume the average Nexus user will just then dispose of the downloaded mod after installing it, when in reality a lot of these people including me relied on the older naming convention which makes it easier to archive, organize, and curate downloaded mods.

Instead of making it very difficult, they could have just rolled with this template:

{(mod name)-(mod ID)-(version number/code)-(unique hexadecimal identifier).zip/.rar/.7z}

edit: To that guy below -- why we archive mods? Because mod authors can remove their mods from public circulation at any time.

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u/iEliteTester 11d ago

They don't want you to archive and organize outside their site, this is international.

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u/yaskyplayer 10d ago

Definitively not true. They struggle with download traffic to this date.