Module Maintenance

Many CPAN authors are in the bad habit of simply forwarding the acknowl 

edgement e mail from PAUSE to various mailing lists. This isn't much of an 

enticement to download unless you already happen to be a user of the module. 

I recommend you post a stripped down version of your README along with 

download instructions and the most recent snippet of your change log. If you've 

included patches from other developers, be sure to list them in the announcement 

crediting your contributors will help encourage them to keep contributing and 

might even inspire others to join their lauded company.

freshmeat

freshmeat is a Web site dedicated to collecting release announcements of open 

source projects. Thousands of potential users read through the announcement list 

every day looking for new and interesting projects. Registering your modules at 

freshmeat is easy; just visit the site, which is at http://freshmeat.net, and read the 

instructions there.

Usenet

The comp.lang.perl.announce mailing list was set up specifically as a place to post 

announcements of Perl related projects. Your CPAN modules, no matter how 

bizarre, certainly qualify.

Summary

Maintaining a module on CPAN is a challenging but rewarding occupation. I've 

given you the tools to maintain your modules and cultivate your user commu 

nities to the limit of your modules' potential. Now it's your job to go out and create 

the next CPAN hit. But what makes a module into a huge success? I'll address that 

question in the next chapter, where I'll examine the most successful CPAN modules.

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