This article was nominated for deletion on 24 October 2023. The result of the discussion was keep.

This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

Computing: Software Low‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Computing, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of computers, computing, and information technology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ComputingWikipedia:WikiProject ComputingTemplate:WikiProject ComputingComputing articles Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. This article is supported by WikiProject Software (assessed as Mid-importance). Internet Mid‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Internet, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the Internet on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.InternetWikipedia:WikiProject InternetTemplate:WikiProject InternetInternet articles Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

• Backus-Naur Form may be useful, or it may make the page unnecessarily complicated.
• Explain the file format.
• Explain the extensions.

TomFitzhenry ( talk) 03:38, 21 October 2009 (UTC) reply

• Explain the fiel format:

File format is as far as I'm aware of, in pure ascii format (Windows-1252). Browsers (javascript) normally standard sends data back in utf-8, which the clients do not support for torrent files. 216.172.73.123 ( talk) 08:08, 9 August 2023 (UTC) reply

Is it best to explain the extensions (DHT, multiple trackers, etc.) when describing the file format (i.e. the elements of the bencoded dictionary)? Pro:

• One place to look for a description of the elements of the becoded dictionary

Con:

• Would reduce the focus on the core ideas (i.e. the name, pieces and length keys in the dictionary)
• Many of the extensions haven't actually been accepted and are still in draft phase: http://www.bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0000.html

TomFitzhenry ( talk) 03:38, 21 October 2009 (UTC) reply

I came here because I read an on-line article that said someone has collected profile info on 171 million Facebook users, and posted it all on a "torrent file." So I came here to see what a torrent file is. I've read this. And I still have no idea what a torrent file is. As with so many things that computer people write, the information is written for people who already know the answer. 96.255.246.30 ( talk) 10:29, 30 July 2010 (UTC)Stephen Kosciesza reply

I agree I read the whole thing and can't remember any of it. Too technical, please just explain what it is, whether it is good or bad for your computer, and how to use it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.140.104.240 ( talk) 18:20, 28 May 2013 (UTC) reply

Ditto Stephen Kosciesza's last sentence. I came here because I wanted to find out the usefulness and weaknesses of using sites that offer "torrent files" (which I'm somewhat certain is a misnomer), but didn't really know what a torrent was, so I thought I'd start by trying to define the terms. I haven't had any computer science courses, so would someone please post a "layman's definition" for people like us? -- Dymaxion ( talk) 05:55, 18 November 2010 (UTC) reply

I had the same question. I found a video at www.bittorrent.com that explains it in layman's terms. Barnaby the Scrivener ( talk) 17:16, 5 August 2012 (UTC) reply

i like to download things so i visited the wikipedia to lear what was a torrent exactly, this article is too technical i couldnt figure it out, please make it more "everybody" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.171.230.132 ( talk) 19:12, 9 February 2011‎

I agree I read the whole thing and can't remember any of it. Too technical, please just explain what it is, whether it is good or bad for your computer, and how to use it. 63.140.104.240 ( talk) 18:20, 28 May 2013 (UTC) reply

Is anybody watching this article? Because for all the good it does, there might as well be a blank page. I use Wikipedia everyday and have to say that this is the worse article I have seen. I am seriously considering nominating it for deletion. What is required is a step by step guide to downloading using torrents. I think 1 month should be sufficient for an editor to start re-writing. If nothing happens in that time then the article should go. -- Kiltpin ( talk) 11:28, 28 January 2015 (UTC) reply

Are we reading the same article? I'd hardly call it a mess. The title of the article is Torrent File, and it does a great job explaining the function and format of the file. I do agree that it currently very technical and might benefit from some non-primary sources for relevance to a wider audience, but that might be more appropriate for the BitTorrent article which discusses the protocol itself. Also, do note that Wikipedia is not a how-to guide; Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Instructional content might be better suited to Wikibooks or another website. Lastly I'd refrain from overzealously threatening deletion of articles that are good but might be lacking in some area. There's no rush and you can either help fix the issues, place appropriate tags on the page, or bring up the issues on the talk page as you did here. Opencooper ( talk) 09:43, 9 July 2015 (UTC) reply

Rather than nominated it for deletion, I think the page just needs to be reformated. Some kind of consolidating of information so it's easier to add, subtract, find and sort the info

Today I learned that "torrent protocol v2" apparently does away with the list of piece hashes in the torrent file, replacing them with a Merkle hash of the whole thing when considered built with 16k pieces. The size of pieces on the wire is then negotiated between peers, who share the hashes of the pieces at whatever piece size they prefer. Have I got that right? 172.56.11.243 ( talk) 06:41, 6 July 2019 (UTC) reply

uTorrent, BitTorrent, tTorrent.... And their working principal and differences should be added Shuvagata Shuvo ( talk) 12:31, 9 May 2020 (UTC) reply

This Wikipedia article covers a topic of general importance and relevance. Yet the writing is amazingly poor. Presumably this is a result of corporate suppression of the technology.

"Torrent files themselves and the method of using torrent files have been created to ease the load on central servers, as instead of sending a file to for request, it can crowd-source the bandwidth needed for the file transfer, and reduce the time needed to download large files. Many free/freeware programs and operating systems, such as the various Linux distributions offer a torrent download option for users seeking the aforementioned benefits. Other large downloads, such as media files, are often torrented as well."

I'm unable to determine what it meant by "as instead of sending a file to for request." Was the author drinking? And "it can crowd-source the bandwidth needed for the file transfer"? Is this comprehensible to anyone? What is "it"?

This article needs to be written by a computer scientist, preferably one fluent in English.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Tmst8 ( talk • contribs)

Isn't a Kilobyte spelled kB? I'll look ahead for any misspelled abbreviations, but I want you to know why I edited this and know your preference of the spelling. =ˆUwUˆ= ( talk) 13:53, 2 March 2023 (UTC) reply

Ionic Ludicrous Nah, nerds call the "1000" thing kilobyte (KB) and the "1024" thing kibibyte (KiB). -- Artoria 2e5 🌉 11:48, 8 March 2023 (UTC) reply

I'll be clarifying the text, rewriting some of the facts for better understanding, and trying to help those who need it. =ˆUwUˆ= ( talk) 13:58, 2 March 2023 (UTC) reply