Soft Span BBS (C) 1989 Mark Wolfskehl User Documentation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ See the file 'Addendum' for information on versions since 1.0 and information on the upcoming VERSION 2.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hello and welcome to Soft Span BBS. This documentation will be brief and to the point. But first, some business: Soft-Span is distributed as shareware. Copy this program and share it with your friends. If you like it and use it to put up a bulletin board of your own, I request that you send me a very nominal fee of $25. Send your check or money order to: Mark Wolfskehl 5 Hazelwood Avenue Livingston, NJ 07039 (201) 994-9592 Again, this is a very nominal fee considering the amount of work that went into the program's development. It will also support continued development work. In addition, the registration fee will qualify you for a special price of Version 2.0 when released. (Probably the regular price - $25) You can also reach me via Usenet. Address your mail to: wolfskeh@acf9.nyu.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OK- now, down to business. First, these are the files on the disk: In the root directory: Addendum - Updated material for new versions ReadMe - This file Execute.Me - A file containing necessary assign statements bbsport - This is the Soft Span BBS program Here are the other directories: data - Contains settings and other general data for the BBS log - Where the user log goes text - Various text files and help files bases - Where the message base files are located dl - Contains the download directories ul - The upload directory In: soft_span:data access - Info on "standard" access levels bases - Info describing the message bases dloads - Info describing the download and upload directories general - Some general settings modem - Description of modem messages, etc... Set for Hayes compat. Be sure to read these files thoroughly and edit them to customize the BBS for yourself. The documentation for these files is contained within the files themselves. In: soft_span:text Bulletin.txt - The current bulletin to users DescMenu.txt - Descriptive menu. Called up by MENU command LogOut.txt - Message displayed at logoff MailMenu.txt - Menu within the mail read system Main.txt - The BBS's main menu NewInfo.txt - Displayed after a new user gives his info NewWelcome.txt - Displayed to new users before giving info ReadSys.txt - Menu displayed when '?' chosen from the read system Tty_ed.txt - Displayed within the editor if '/?' is entered Upload.txt - Displayed before someone uploads a file Welcome.txt - Displayed right after copyright notice Be sure to edit these files to suit your own BBS In: soft_span:text/help (General help files) general.hlp - General description of Soft Span's operation morehelp.hlp - Description of the HELP command to get help on commands MsgSystem.hlp - Explanation of the message base system tty_edit.hlp - Help on using the tty(line) editor xfer.hlp - Explanation of file transfers In: soft_span:text/cmd (Command help files) Each file in this directory is a help file on a specific command. The name of each file is .hlp Where is the name of the primary command. In: soft_span:bases Each file corresponds to a mesage base (or Email, or feedback). The name of each file is .base Where name is the name given to the base. EMAIL.base - The Email file FBACK.base - The feedback file ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The software's files are set up so that you can start running the software right away from the distribution disk. Just issue the following CLI commands: execute execute.me run bbsport Make sure your modem is on, and then click the requestor away. You can now log in locally by hitting F1 Choose Quit from the intuition menu or AMIGA-Q to exit the program ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Necessary ASSIGNS: If you install the BBS on a hard disk or in a RAM disk, you will need to assign the following logical device names: bbs_data: -- This is where the configuration files go bbs_log: -- This is where the user log will go bbs_text: -- This is where the general text files/ help directory goes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The operation of the system is pretty much completely described in the help files. However, here is some general information anyway: Most listings/menus can be paused with CTRL-S and aborted with any other key. If you abort, the character you hit is placed in a buffer and immediately fed into the next input routine. The main promt always displays the current message base and directory, if any. For instance, if the current base is AMIGA: AMIGA> If the current directory is GAMES: !GAMES> If the current base is AMIGA and the current directory is GAMES: AMIGA!GAMES> The directory name is always preceeded by an eclamation point. Don't be too confused by this system. It is pretty similar to the CLI's command system. Once you get used to it, it will become much more intuitive than the "dumb menu" system used by other programs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes about uploads and downloads: File descriptions are stored in the filenote for each download file. To set a description name, use the FILENOTE command from the CLI. Uploaded files also have the computer type in the filenote. Use LIST from the CLI to see it. When files are uploaded, you'll have to move them into the appropriate download directory at the CLI by using the COPY or RENAME commands. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The USERED and DEL commands do not have help files: DEL deletes specified message(s) in the current message base For instance : DEL 5 Deletes message number five. DEL 2-4 Deletes messages 2, 3, and 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- USERED is the user editor: Choose N to edit new users Choose H to edit a specific user Choose U to get a user listing When editing users, enter the letter or number corresponding to the field you want to change. Or, choose the number corresponding to a standard access level. Choose '6' do delete the user. Choose '0' when you're done. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here's some information about CHAT The user's handle, name, baud rate and a "chat reason" is displayed at top. When a user chooses 'CHAT', he is asked why he wishes to chat. That reason is then displayed at top until he/she logs off. When the user selects CHAT, the sysop will be paged by a beeping noise. The local sysop hits F2 to enter chat or F10 to deny a chat request. The request will also be denied if the sysop doesn't respond. In chat, the user and sysop can have a conversation. ========================================================================= Hitting F3 will bring up the user's information which can be edited as with USERED. ========================================================================= Hitting F10 exits chat and returns the user to the BBS In addition, you can break into chat in several places: 1) Before log-on, at the "Enter your handle" prompt 2) At the "Enter your password" prompt 3) At the main menu You can do this by pressing the F2 function key. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Setting up Soft-Span ==================== As there is currently no setup utility, you will have to log on as a new user. To give yourself full sysop access: Log on as a new user, giving all the required information enter CHAT enter any reason for chatting Hit F2 You are now in chat Hit F3 - you will be in the user editor Give yourself access When you're done enter '0' and 'Y' to save your information You're back in chat hit F10 to exit chat -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Again, be sure to look over the files in the data directory, and in the text directory. Once you log on, you can learn to use the system through the HELP system. The HELP files are extensive, and a careful reading of them should elucidate the operation of the system. I'm sorry that the documentation for setting up the system is kind of scanty, but I just don't have the time to write extensive documentation right now. My primary goal was to make the program available to the public right away, and better documentation will be forthcoming. P.S. You'll need a text editor. I use MicroEmacs, the version supplied with the 1.3 system software, but you can use any you like. Also, you'll need a working knowledge of the CLI in order to get things running.