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From: shawn@marilyn.UUCP (Shawn P. Stanley)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.apple2
Subject: Litfal BBS
Message-ID: <103@marilyn.UUCP>
Date: 23 Nov 90 08:02:03 GMT
Organization: Litfal
Lines: 41

Well, I soon learned that many people wanted to try the BBS from a
single-floppy environment.  Although it once started out in that
environment, certain changes (such as loading tools) have been made
which changed the process.

The BBS can not be run from the boot disk; it must reside on a
separate disk.  The reason is that the System.Disk, as shipped,
has very little room left for anything else, and even a pared down
boot disk isn't enough.

The solution is to place the BBS on a separate 3.5" disk, where it
will ask for the disks it needs during startup.  I've moved the
tool loading calls together so the boot disk is only asked for once
after the BBS has been loaded and executed.

I've also made some other changes, notably in the file module.  I've
made it a bit easier to manage file areas, but I'm not done with it,
to be sure.  In the main module, there is a new "feature" option for
topics so you can define which topics are automatically selected for
new users.  Also, new users get a "--MORE--" message after the new
user text output, so they have time to read it if they don't know how
to pause yet.

There are a few undocumented features that you might find useful.
Using Command-I (Open-Apple-I) while a user is online will toggle a
flag that, when set, will cause the BBS to return to the main menu.
An audible signal will sound when this happens.  This is so you can
login (or whatever) immediately after the current user is finished.

Also, Command-S toggles the "sysop abilities" flag.  With the "sysop
abilities" flag set, you can perform sysop-only operations, even while
logged in under another name.  Since I use SYSOP for most syop-only
operations but maintain another name for normal BBS use, I find this
useful for when I need to do some "sysop thing" but don't want to
logout and login again to do it, or put it off only to forget to do it
later.  Also, this ability can be used to validate an online user that
has just joined.  (Don't forget to toggle it off before leaving them to
their own devices!)
--
Shawn P. Stanley         shawn@marilyn.marilyn.mn.org
bungia!marilyn!shawn     {rosevax,crash}!orbit!marilyn!shawn