Product Approval Checklist for New Partners

Every publishing partner on a DriveThru site starts out as unverified. All unverified partners must use the "Request to Make Public" button to activate new titles through an approval process. For more information on Partner Verification, see see our Partner Verification FAQ article..

It typically takes 2-3 business days for us to approve unverified partners' new titles, as a Partner Relations Representative works through the queue. This process can sometimes take up to a week if the queue is very heavy, and this period can also be affected by staff travel and vacation schedules. 

Before requesting to make your title public, double check that it meets the following guidelines. This will increase your chances of a quick approval!

1. Cover Thumbnail

Make sure your cover thumbnail has your title's name and your name on it. This will help customers find your title easily, and will make a lasting first impression on them.

Please ensure your cover thumbnail is not just the first page of your product. For great examples of simple, but effective cover images, see our Creating a Great Product Description article.

Cover thumbnails should be 736 x 953 pixels.

2. Product Description

Product descriptions should be thorough, accurate, and clear to help customers understand what your title is all about. It should be complete—telling the customer everything they need to know about the product.

You can also add graphics, Youtube embeds, and external links to your product description to highlight outstanding aspects of your title or to link to related titles on our marketplace.

Please ensure your product description contains a few sentences, at least. For inspiration on what to include in your product description, see see our Product Standards Guidelines article..

3. Product Approval Limit

We ask partners to limit the amount of products submitted to 3 titles per 24 hour period. More than this and the wait time for approvals increases for all partners. Our homepage ribbons are limited to 3 new products per partner per 24 hour period, so submitting more than that also limits the amount of visibility your product will receive! We want as many eyes see your products as possible.

If you submit more than 3 titles for approval, your first 3 submissions will be reviewed. Then, you may submit another 3 titles in 24 hours.

4. Links to Outside Platforms

Only URLS to certain domains are permitted in your product description. All URLs are allowed within your title's download files (such as a PDF) or in the Purchase Note, which is delivered to customers upon purchasing your title. Please note, URLs linking to third-party marketplaces should not appear in the PDF Preview of your title. You can adjust your preview using our Manage previews of my titles tool.

For a list of allowed URLs, see our Allowed URLs article. You can also find this list on DriveThruRPG in two separate places:

1. Set up a new title or Edit a title listing > Product page text
2. Send email to customers tool

5. System Filters

The System Rules filters should only be used for products that specifically use those rules.

Products that are listed as Any System/System Agnostic will appear in all searches, therefore if you have selected this filter you do not need to add any additional filters. If you wish to target certain games but your product does not require those rules to use, be sure to mention those games in your product description!

Here are a few commonly misused filters. Be sure you haven't applied these to your title unintentionally:

• BRP (Basic Roleplaying) refers to the game engine created by Chaosium for their games Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Superworld, etc.
• The Storyteller / Storytelling systems are rulesets published by White Wolf for use in Chronicles of Darkness games.
• Map and art products should use the Any System/System Agnostic filter. Please select the correct Genre filters for your art products so customers can easily find them.

6. AI-Generated Art Creation Method Filter

If your title contains AI-generated art you are required to indicate this using the Creation Method filter.

In order to enable this filter, head to your Publish tab > Edit a title listing > Select a title. Scroll down to the Category Assignments section > Filters. Under Format near the bottom of the filters list, you'll see a box labeled Creation Method. Click the black triangle and it'll expand the dropdown list, where you can then select AI-Generated.

7. Community Content or DriveThruRPG?

Everyone who signs up with DriveThruRPG has a customer account, and with one you can purchase items from our marketplaces and participate in our Community Content Programs.

Community Content Programs (CCPs) are programs that allow you to create content using the intellectual property (IP) of some of your favorite games and settings. If you're trying to publish a title that uses copyrighted or trademarked material from a rules system, such as an adventure that takes place in the Forgotten Realms for Dungeons & Dragons, then you must upload it to the corresponding Community Content Program.

If you're publishing content that's original or published under a third party license, such as the 5e Open Game License or Creative Commons License, then publish your title to DriveThruRPG! To do so, you'll need a publishing partner account. Create an account on DriveThruRPG.

We have three standalone Community Content platforms:

• DMs Guild - Dungeons & Dragons
• Pathfinder & Starfinder Infinite - Pathfinder and Starfinder
• Storytellers Vault - Storyteller and Storytelling Systems

The rest of our Community Content Programs are hosted directly on DriveThruRPG, such as Miskatonic Repository and more. For a full list, see here.

To publish to a Community Content Program, navigate to your Account tab > My Content > Enter New Community Created Title, then select the appropriate program from the drop-down menu and enter your product information. Then use the Upload/Update Files under My Content to upload your PDF and submit it to the program. You won’t have to wait for approval for community content.

8. Previews

Full-Size Previews are a great way to show off your product to potential buyers. To enable a preview, use the Manage previews of my titles tool.

If all of your content is included in a ZIP file, you'll need to add your primary PDF as a download outside of your ZIP file. You can do so here using the Update digital download files for a title tool. Add your PDF as an additional download, and then adjust your previews using the Manage previews of my titles tool.

You'll need to ensure the Preview File selected is NOT a ZIP file. The preview file can be a JPG, PNG, or PDF file.