Packaging
Packages provide you a powerful way to distribute your applications on-demand to The AppExchange. Packages are like suitcases that can contain your components, code, or apps. You can use a package to bundle something as small as an individual component or as large as a set of related apps.
Packages come in two forms, managed and unmanaged. Unmanaged packages can be used for a one time distribution (to one or more clients), like a template. Managed packages are ideal when building an app with plans to upgrade. You can continue to upgrade the managed package after they've been deployed.
Private and Public Packages
Packages can be distributed privately amongst a community, or listed publicly on the Force.com AppExchange, the worlds on-demand applications marketplace. To publicly list your package in AppExchange, you need to create your listing the store front of your application.
The listing can be enhanced with test drives,which are functional read only Developer Edition orgs loaded with your application and optionally sample data. These are great for giving your prospects an opportunity to kick the tires before they decide to invest.
The following resources should provide all you need to get started creating your own package and getting them listed on AppExchange.
Resources
- How to Create and Register a Package - Walks you through the process of creating, uploading and registering a package
- Listing Technical Resources - Explains how to submit your application for publication review, track the status of the application and list your application on AppExchange
- Publisher's Toolkit - Contains resources that will help you market your app on the Force.com AppExchange
- Creating Test Drives - Details how to create a test drive for your package (PDF)
Discussion Board
- App Exchange and Packaging Directory - A discussion board for packaging, which you can mine for useful information and where you can post questions of your own