you do realise XML is like the most human hostile config format out there..?
I plan on making a resource publisher that will generate the XML for you.
how to post a resource, what format?
Post it to the Models, Icons, Skins, Spells, or Packs section. Upload a zip file instead of a map.
do they all need to be THW threads 1 per resource?
Not threads, but 1 resource per thing, yes. You can technically combine resources into packs, like lots of little libs together ; ). The XML configuration is pretty flexible.
how do you detect the resources? require them all to be links to threads and just DL all the .zip files linked?
The exe will go right on to the THW website and browse those sections. All links with zipped archies (.7z, .rar, zip, etc) uploaded to them will be included in the browser. There will be descriptions, pictures, ratings, sorting, and an Install or Installed button. You'll also be able to configure the resource with a built-in installer.
will there be a way to request for resources by name/version(/author?)
They can be requested by version if the versions are all included in the resource. You could configure the XML file to have 100 different versions if you wanted and then have the user select one : ). Resources will also request by version. Versions will be managed via timestamps in the publisher. When retrieving required resources, the correct versions will automatically be selected unless there are conflicts. As for the other stuff, look at the top left of the UI : ).
command line interface, will it be a thing? will it be a first-class thing?
I haven't thought about a CLI. I'd sooner do a dll.
Will it support workflows where some/most/all of some types of resources are stored externally from the map? (scripts matter a lot to be, but the other bits i care about too..)
Scripts are being stored externally. Models and what not can't be stored externally sadly : (. Those will be injected into the map. Any objects will also be injected. There's no way to not do this unless you do a full IDE, which I'm not going to do : P.
what would the capabilities of the conf be? will it just be an overcompilicated requirements.txt?
I'll post more on that later. Optional requirements, file paths, hard requirements, and a way to configure the resource. I'm thinking of something like <input></input>. The input will be mapped into things like object generation and the input will be displayed to the user within the installer ; ). I haven't figured that part out yet. I know I am not going to support custom scripts, lol. I personally don't want a random stranger's custom script running on my machine : P.
syntax/preprocessor? Any will work. This is configured for vJASS though, but as long as it has a //! import directive, it'll work. I can set it up for several languages =).
There is no installer script that runs. There is a special installer thing embedded in this exe that will look at your xml file and do all of the appropriate steps. This is coded in c#, so I can freely use the wc3 map editing dlls. I also have unfettered easy access to the Windows API : ). Also, by installer, I mean a literal installer, where you go through the window and click "next" and stuff. It'll be pretty nice.