What your interest are?
by: cr1mson@phatstar.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that you know what BBSing is and some of the technology behind it, what interest you the most when you call a new BBS? What is it that attracts you? If you don't have any knowledge of what a BBS is, I'll keep it simple and let you know that message areas are like social media, file transfers are like downloading files (except, with BBS, you can upload and share too!). Sharing photos is like Instragram, netmail is like private e-mail. That's just brushing the surface. So, what is it that keeps you calling back to BBS? Is it the fancy graphics, how slick it looks... the amount of files on a particular board... the SysOp and community... how reliable a BBS might be, always be able to connect without much disappointment. I suppose you could wrap all this up and get a really nice BBS that could have the potential to attact a lot of users. One other thing, do you like it complex or simple? Personally, I find too much on one screen to be overwhelming, but too simple doesn't quite have enough. So, like every- thing, we need a good balance. Menus of different sorts spread out through the whole board, with good hot-keys to make it easy to navigate to the part of the BBS you're wanting to get to. The easy the flow, the better the experience IMHO. Everyone is different though, that's what makes it interesting. Perhaps we could create themes for a handful of different types of styles to fit everyones budget, or have one to try to please everyone. If you've ever been on a BBS and been a user, you pretty know already what's available. Don't forget the games, there's games on about every BBS... everyone likes a little entertainment and relaxation. But don't overdue it. Make sure you participate in the messages and make some new friends, get to know each other as a community... relate to other what they go through, don't be closed minded to get a little advice or a light on how others do it differently. We all come from different parts of the ball park and we all have special gifts and talents. This is what makes a BBS strong is when we come together and make the BBS whole. A SysOp can't do it all. The SysOp runs the show while the users are the actors you might say, putting on one good play. Take that in good like. Think of it as your favorite film, everyone has a role and the producer sets the stage. When the curtains open, it's fair game for everyone. So don't hesitate to get on a BBS, take your time, feel free like your visiting someones home and get involved. Also, there are files, so don't forget to upload to share with others so the well doesn't run dry. Communicate in relay chat and talk amongst the groups, interact. BBSes are put here for you, the user to love and enjoy. So the question is, what do you like most about BBSing? What attracted you when you first started? Is there anything missing or is the fire still alive? I hope whatever it is you're looking for that you find it, but if you don't find it, create it! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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TextMode - A User's Point of View
by: cr1mson@phatstar.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- What does a user expect from a BBS? This might be a question that a SysOp might want to know to get and keep users calling out to their system. Let's face it, every user is different and expects something different. To break it down. Someone might want to see stock or a customized system. One might want a complex system or something simple. A SysOp has to have the eye of their users. What appeals to you when you call a system? Do you find something that you like especially more than the other in regards to what to expect? If you find something boring or uninteresting, would you put that on your system? It's likely that you wouldn't because it doesn't appeal to you, but it might appeal to someone else. A good option to have would be to have a multi-selection on what you, as a user would like to see on a BBS. Some are turned on by a lot of sexy graphics, while others like it plain and simple black and white. We could make it customized which flavor we'd like and a multitude of options to make it feel at home. It's like a business, but a business turned inside out just for the user. Perhaps, we could say a SysOp owns an apartment complex and within it are 8 different custom furnished apartments. A user could select which one to pick, yet speaking electronically, we could have the same apartment look and feel like another one as a neighbor. I'm not talking about running more than one BBS. I'm speaking of themes. Themes have been around awhile, yet I've yet to see a lot of variety of themes available for one particular BBS. As a user, I expect quality over quantity. I like things to look as perfect as possible, I don't like a lot of clutter. I can be turned off by a BBS that's incomplete. Like I've previously stated: Would you setup a BBS and watch it flourish from the ground up or build it first, making sure everything is working and running it properly before you decide to open it for business. Typically, with a business, the ground work is already done and you have a showcase to present to customers. On another hand, we have a community, like family. I love a good community-based system where there are active members involved with peace and harmony. What I like most is seeing participation as a community and on a common goal to keep the BBS scene alive and kicking. Passion will never be lost. Once you find something you love and enjoy, it's going to be just that; love and enjoyment. A user is a person on the outside looking in. They look through the windows to see what's available. If they don't like what they see, they're not going to stick around for long; maybe a feedback at most. So keep in contact with the community and find out what's shying people away if that's the case. Another note, is what is the reputation of the SysOp? Does he/she keep up with things on their system; is the SysOp motivated, hard-working, dependable, pleasant to be around, know how to treat their users? We all have different tastes and what appeals. Get to know the SysOp given the opportunity. Time is short my friend. My goal is to help out as much as I can with my capabilities and time. Keep all this in mind as a user. It's a constant battle of BBSes. Who attracts more, has the very best content, supplies the majority of their users what they want and what they enjoy. My suggestion as a user is to let the SysOp know what they're intending to see on the BBS. What they would like to see when they called back. What you see on the BBS is what you get. It's like a picture worth a thousand words. You can already get a feel of what's ahead when visiting. Keep calling, having them return from time to time is a SysOp's dream; how to run a successful BBS. Remember, it takes, sweat, blood and tears to get a really good BBS going. Let them know how much they are appreciated. That's my thought for this article. I hope you enjoyed it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tips For a Successful BBS
by: cr1mson@phatstar.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before opening up a box of a popular BBS software you've been wanting to run, keep in mind the responsibilities it takes to keep it going. It's difficult this day and age to keep users calling back. It requires a lot of time and determination. It's best to put it on a dedicated machine. It's very important that the resources on that machine is solely being used by the BBS. You wouldn't believe running the BBS in the background while you are doing other things might slow down the machine while a caller on-line. It can be annoying to the user with a fluctuating connection, possibly slowing things down drastically... it should be a steady, smooth sailing cruise for them to get what their looking for and possibly increasing the chance for them to find a little extra that they weren't expecting that they might enjoy. Don't let your BBS become stale. Keep things very exciting and enjoyable for the user. I suggest creating a customized system and not one out of the box. Consider when buying your car, how you want it to run, how it looks for others to look at, how fast it runs, all that... You'll need to setup things like port forwarding for your BBS. This might sound complicated at first and might not understand it. It really isn't all that difficult. You have ports inside your gateway or router. I'm not talking about the ports that you plug in, but internal customized ports ranging anywhere around 1 to 65535 for modern equipment; also known as the firmware. Say you a user to connect to your BBS on port 1337, you go into your gateway/router's configuration and look for port forwarding, sometimes in the security area. It's possible to forward ALL ports from your machine for others outside your local network to connect to using DMZ, but it's suggested that you only forward what you need. Don't worry, depending on the software you're running you might forward 1 port up to maybe 20 or 30. These ports have to be hand programmed in. Simply put, enter in your local IP address and the port number to be forwarded. If you don't know your local IP address, you can check it using ipconfig or ifconfig. Google is your friend, there's plenty of answers out there about that. Try not to overwhelm your users with a lot of nonsense networks (or dead networks). These networks can be messages/files and even door game servers. There's plenty to explore. You just basically have to get your feet wet and jump right into it with both feet once you're serious about it. Finding the right BBS software for your users depends on your taste and style. Look around on other BBSes and see what they run; your favorites. You might see a lot of flashy ANSI graphics you wish you had on your BBS. That'll come with time and providing proof that your serious about the BBS scene and all that it has to offer. Think through what you'd like on your BBS and what you want your users to see. After all, it's like having guests in your house, so you need to design your home and keep it clutter-free when you have visits. Think of things that are unique about your new BBS. Something you won't find a lot of on most BBSes. Reach out to other BBS SysOps. Also, spice things up a bit, alternate your screens around at random could provide it being more interesting. Some like change and some like things the same as they are. Like, if it's broke, don't try to fix it. Don't to ask others too much for help as this is a distraction and an indication that you're being lazy. There's plenty of information on the web about vintage and modern BBS software (whichever direction you want to go). Now days, software has pretty much all the foundation and ground work already in place. If you're up for a challenge, try using older software on an older machine and see if you can get others to connect; such as Amiga or Atari. It takes a serious person about their property (your BBS) to attract others. Also, you want it to always be Have very limited amount of downtime. Always keep your system running. If you need to, customize and configure your BBS before going public with it. It just depends on how quick you want to get in the pool and starting to learn (if you haven't ever been a SysOp before). Don't give up on your first, second, who knows how many tries. The goal here is one common purpose and that's to keep it alive. You know the most successful people have had the most failures because they kept at what they were trying to accomplished until it clicked. Once you get it, you get it. It might not happen overnight and you know that Rome wasn't built in day. Build and they will come they say. Keep in mind, a business has no business if it's closed. I hope you find this article to your liking and gives you an idea of how to start one. I haven't covered everything. There is so much more that you can do for your new system. Try learning a new programming such as MPL, PHP, JavaScript among a lot other languages. Talk to other users, find out what they like. Don't be pushy on others as they have just as many rights as you do. If you don't get what you want when you want, it's most likely whoever you're trying to contact is busy and/or might not have the time for a quick response. Please have patience as this is a computer tech hobby. Well, with that, it's a wrap. ;) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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August 2019
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