1. Get a client and install it
If you haven't already, get a BitTorrent client, and install it. We recommend the open-source client Azureus. There are numerous other clients around, it's basically a matter of taste.
2. Create a .torrent
In second step, you'll have to create a small .torrent file to distribute. A torrent-file is small because it only contains the necessary data for other users to connect to each other. Look for something like 'Create Torrent' in the menu of your client (see image below for how this looks in the Azureus client)
Your client will ask you which file or which folder you want to share with the torrent.
As a rule, always use a directory/folder if you intend to share more than 1 file. As another rule, do not pack your files into an archive (unless it drastically reduces the size, which it rarely does when media files are involved). Sharing .rar or .zip will keep peers from sharing/seeding the torrent for longer periods, one reason being they can't select individual files from your torrent, for example if you share several episodes of a show.
The clients also requires your to enter an "announce URL". Since you're going to use our tracker, enter http://onebigtorrent.org/announce.php
The client will now create a tiny file with the extension '.torrent', usually in the same location as the file you specified for sharing.
3. Upload the .torrent to the tracker
Go HERE, select the little .torrent file for upload, and fill in the form (name, description, category..). Don't forget to log in first, as this gives you some more options. Submit the form. Don't worry about any warnings (torrent not seeded) at this point. Your upload should now show up on the list.
4. Start seeding
As soon as you've created the torrent and uploaded it to the tracker it's time to start seeding, i.e. connecting with peers through the tracker and uploading to them the actual file you're sharing. This is called seeding.
Some clients do this automatically after you've created the .torrent in step 2. You can tell by checking whether the client window shows has your torrent in the list, and tells you it's seeding. If it's not, do the following:
Open the .torrent that you created in your BitTorrent client. You will be asked to specify a location for the file you're sharing. Make sure it's exactly the location you picked when you created the torrent. After you picked the right location, the client may perform a hash-check of the file, which may take a minute.
You can check whether you're seeding the torrent by having a look at the number of seeds on the details page of your torrent on our site. If it shows 1 seed (and your avatar/IP in the "Peers" table if you're logged in), everything's fine. If not, there's something wrong.
Set the client to maximal uploads and if it's not too much of a hassle, try to reserve a good portion of your bandwidth for this torrent. When the torrent is listed, soon downloaders ("leechers") will pop up and download from you. Keep uploading until at least one of the peers has finished downloading the file, preferably for a longer period of time, to make up for 'hit-and-runners'. Make a habit of leaving it on during the night.
Optional Step: Raise some more attention for your Torrent
You should strongly consider uploading the torrent to a few listing/index sites. Index/listing sites share one property: when you upload a .torrent, it will get its '15 minutes of fame', that is, it is listed among the new torrents of the day, often visible on the front page, which means a great deal of publicity, which in turn leads to more peers, better download speeds, and last but not least a wider distribution of the content!
There are ways of making this procedure more comfortable and efficient. In a browser like Firefox, you can get all the upload forms as tabs in one browser window, which vastly speeds up the procedure of submitting .torrents. Just bookmark the following urls and put them in one
bookmark folder. When you open the folder in your bookmarks, just select "open in tabs" right below the last url and, voilá, you've got them lined up, ready to copy&paste description, title etc.
Torrent index and search sites that worked for us are:
http://www.torrentspy.com/uploadtorrent.asp (free upload)
http://www.bitenova.org/index.php?idx=upload (free upload)
http://www.mininova.org/upload/ (free upload)
http://www.torrentportal.com/torrents-upload.php (free upload)
http://www.torrent-addiction.com/upload.php (free upload)
http://www.torrentreactor.to/torrents/add (reg. required)
You might find more upload sites here:
http://chomskytorrents.org/phpBB2/viewt ... =1448#1448
That's it for now.
Written by Martin. Edited by Aldrian. Re-edited by Martin. If you got questions, critics, or suggestions, feel free to send a PM or discuss it in the forums. This is a guide to help you, if you feel you'r not helped by it, let us know!