The following are lessons I learned when deploying my first app for Office in the Seller Dashboard. My app was an Office app (but, it looks like the steps are similar for SharePoint). I wish I would have known more about the logos I needed, screenshots, support websites, etc… when I started. So, these are really notes for me for future apps that might help others out too.
Apps are deployed through the Seller Dashboard at https://sellerdashboard.microsoft.com.
- Account Approval
- It can take around a week (at the time of writing this) to get an account approved. I had all my code ready to go for app approval and didn’t realize I had to wait to get my account approved.
- Is this a company or individual account? http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/jj657972.aspx
- Do you have an icon (96 x 96 pixels)?
- Do you have a good description ready?
- Do you have a website to explain your company or yourself?
- App preparation
- What kind of app is this?
SharePoint, PowerPoint, Excel, Excel Embedded, Word, ProjectNote: You can have a single app that is in a Task Pane (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Project). But, Excel Embedded and SharePoint have to be created with seperate manifests.
- Where are you going to host your app? Apps are just html5 webpages. I suggest Azure if you don’t have a website ready. http://www.windowsazure.com
- Is your site https? Azure has https by default ready.
- Make sure the app package has the same provider name in the manifest as submitted via your account on the Seller Dashboard.
- What kind of app is this?
- App deployment
- App must be approved. Account for some time for this.
- Do you have an icon (96 x 96 pixels)?
- Have a good description ready?
- Do you know your price point?
- Have your app package ready (xml file from compiled solution).
- Do you have screenshots ready (514 x 384 pixels)?
- Do you have a support document website for the app?
Lastly, please understand the approval process: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/apps/jj591603
