UMF (Universal Mod Format) is the format used by UMM (Universal Mod Manager) for mods to be shipped in and installed from. "Mods" in this case aren't neccesarily just game mods, but can also be plugins for any other program which has a well known mod/plugin system, whether that be developer or community made. UMF specifies the location of metadata files in an archive, but does not specify the type of archive itself. UMM uses libname
to mount all archives and so supports any archive which is also supported by libname
.
Mod (plugin, shader, loader): A file which changes the behavior or appearance of a program when installed.
Program (prog, game): The program which is changed by the mod. Games are programs too.
Archive (zip, 7zip, rar): A file which contains other files. A zip file is an example of an archive.
Root (top folder, root dir): The top level of a directory tree. This is the folder that contains all other folders. For example, when you open a zip file, the firs