Welcome to the voracity.net miniFAQ

Do you offer illegal files for download from this server?

No. This site runs a BitTorrent tracker as a convenience to its users. When a file is uploaded, nothing but its filename and a few KB of file hash data are stored on this server. If you use this service in conjunction with a BitTorrent client program to receive content, you are downloading from other users and not from this site. We have no control over what our members choose to make available.

I'm new to all this. How do I download with BitTorrent?

First download and install a BitTorrent client. For a Windows PCs we recommend Shad0w's BT client or burst, but you can also try Eike's experimental version, the official version, PTC, Azureus, Shareaza, etc. For Mac OS X try the official OS X build or Sarwat's OS X version.

You should also try to open the ports that BitTorrent uses (6881 through 6999) in your firewall, gateway, or router. If you have a NAT gateway where one or more computer shares a connection, you will also want to enable port forwarding. Instructions for some common NAT devices are available. See also the FAQs mentioned below.

Finally, after installing the client when you click on the name of a file the client should open and begin the transfer.

How do I upload a file?

Use a program such as MakeTorrent or TorrentSpy to create the .torrent file that holds the information about the file (or files) you want to share. Make sure that the "tracker announce URL" is set to http://voracity.net/announce.php when creating this file. Then follow the Upload link and locate this file on your computer using the Locate button (or enter its path and filename directly.) Enter a descriptive name and description into the fields provided and choose the category. After submitting the form you must then seed the file before it will be available to anyone. Do this by running your BitTorrent client as you normally would, except make sure to point it at the complete fileset when prompted. After checking the files, your client should report that the file is at 100% and it will remain connected as a seeder. Soon you should see other peers connecting, depending on the popularity of the file. Make sure to fully seed the file and don't disconnect prematurely. If you cannot make this commitment, do not upload the torrent. (See the FAQ links below for more details on seeding.)

Is there somewhere I can post requests or ask for a reseed?

To request files, please use this forum at Filesoup. You can also use that forum to request a reseed of a file that is stuck. Also check the "category" forums at Filesoup, if the torrent is listed there then the reseed request goes in that thread and not in the Requests forum. Finally, you can post a comment on this site for the torrent that you need a reseed of, and hopefully someone will help out.

Is there somewhere I can go to ask questions about voracity.net or get help with the site?

Please post all questions about voracity.net to this forum. If you are having a problem opening/converting/viewing/installing/using a file then try one of the Technical Discussions forums at Filesoup.

Is this site's code based on the old bytemonsoon.com code?

Yes. Continuous improvements will be made, and when the code matures it will be released to the public.

How can I modify the way the torrents are listed?

Click on a column's title to change the sort order to that field. Click again on an already selected column to reverse its sort order. Go to your preferences page (requires that you are logged in) and you can choose which columns to display, and how many rows to display per page.

Can I jump directly to a page number rather than using next, prev, first, last?

Yes. The little box that says "Page 3 of 5" (for example) is actually a form. Click on the page number, erase it and enter the page number to jump to, and hit enter to submit.

What happened to the 'Ratings' column?

I removed it as I never thought it was used very effectively.

What happened to the 'DL' (download link) column?

I made the file's name its download link, this makes much more intuitive sense to me. The '(details)' link now takes you to the details page of the torrent.

What's with all these rainbow colors? Why are there no images on these pages?

When coding this site I decided to use a color scheme to visually indicate categories rather than images. By reducing the number of images, the pages will load faster and the server will have fewer requests to process, should it get overloaded. I originally intended to do the site with no images, but I did allow myself the one voracity logo displayed on the main 'index' page.

Additionally, I like to use standards-compliant design. For example, notice that I did not specify absolute font sizes -- try your browsers "display text larger/smaller" controls, and notice how you can actually resize the entire site to fit your preference. (If you have a mouse with a scroll-wheel try holding control and turning the wheel to change the page size.)

Your color scheme sucks! I'd rather have the images.

Feel free to run your own site.

What do all the column names mean, exactly?

Type
This is the category that the torrent's owner selected for the file. (Hopefully it's in the proper place!)
Name
The short name of the content. Usually this will also be the same as the filename of the .torrent file.
Visible
When a file reaches 0 seeders (or has just been uploaded) it's not displayed by default.
Comments
The number of comments our users have added.
Age
The elapsed time since the owner of this file added it to our database.
Files
The number of files contained within the torrent. If more than a single file is present, they will download as a directory (folder) rather than a single file.
Size
The total size of the files contained in the torrent.
Views
The total number of times that visitors have clicked on the '(details)' link or otherwise viewed the details of the torrent.
Hits
The total number of times that visitors have downloaded the .torrent file from our site. Note that this only refers to the small "metadata" file used to start the transfer, not the actual file contents.
Completed
The total number of times the tracker has reported that someone has completed a full download of the torrent. This was called "Snatched" in some versions of the code.
Seeders
The number of peers connected that have the entire contents of the file and are now only uploading.
Leechers
The number of peers connected that have not yet completed the transfer and are both uploading and downloading pieces of the torrent.
Owner
The login ID of the person that added this torrent to our database. Click the name to search for other files in the database by that person.

What are the details of this server?

We are running this site on a dedicated 2.2GHz Celeron server with 512 MB DDR RAM and 80 GB HD space, running FreeBSD 4.8. The server is located in Hong Kong and is on an unmetered net connection. You can see details of our bandwidth utilization as well. Live statistics of hits and bandwidth are also available.

Does the site offer any protection features?

We have incorporated the PeerGuardian IP database into the server's firewall. No addresses listed in that database have any access to any of the contents of this server or site.

Will this site remain free?

Yes, the site will always remain free, however we will soon accept donations to pay the bills. Donating members will get a few extra perks, to be announced soon. Furthermore, all accounting of money will be done publicly, so that everyone will see exactly how much is taken in and how much the site is costing. More on this will be announced soon.

I have a question not answered above, any help?

Try the Filesoup FAQ, or make a post to their very newbie-friendly forums. You may also want to read the unofficial BitTorrent FAQ and Guide. For movie/codec issues, have a look at dvdrhelp.com, doom9, or digital-digest.com for assistance and software download links.

Who are you?

I am choosing to remain anonymous at this time. For questions or problems with the site, contact admin@voracity.net.