How to plan your bbs...

How to plan your BBS...
by: cr1mson@phatstar.org
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You've probably it's good to plan, to think ahead.  That's what we need to
do when we create a BBS.  Think of a theme, something original that's
different than everyone else.  Provide something unique that will bring
people back and calling again.

This task isn't easy.  It takes a lot of thought.  So, you have a thought
in mind.  Design off of that.  You'll also want to plan on which BBS
software you want to run.  Take a look around at other BBSes and see which
one you feel that would make you happy to have as your own, while keeping
your own ideas for your own system.

You've selected the BBS software to run.  Nowdays, a BBS usually runs on
a stock theme.  Some people like stock and some people want to get as far
from stock and make it custom as much as they can and maybe even a little
in between.

Do you want it to look cluttered on your menus?  Probably not.  You know,
like your home, the more space you have to move around, most likely you'll
feel comfortable.  That's how we want these users that call your system to
feel when they visit.  You don't want to make them feel overwhelmed.  For
each menu, make it fit the room in your house.  Such as a living room, you
might want that for entertainment and leisure, a place to hang out.  Then
on another room or menu, you might want to provide something like files
and another with messages.

The art you may have seen on BBSes is usually called ANSI (color coded text)
that is usually built with blocks and sometimes there's ASCII which is just
plain text using characters on your keyboard.  ANSI takes a special tool
called an editor.  There's several out there from TheDraw, ACiDDraw or even
a greater one call Moebius.  Try to create your own screens then take time
to put them in your system.

Always, always read the documentation of your system.  Nothing is more
irritating then asking SysOps so many questions because you're doing
something wrong.  BBS documentation is overfilled with information that
usually has everything you need to know to run a successful BBS.  Try thing
on your own.

Plan ahead, chose a design, a BBS name, your own SysOp alias (a nickname
usually related to the name or design of your BBS).

Also, you may want to add message networks which requires a little bit from
your end as well as the person providing a network.  There's a large variety
of networks out there, try to find a few that fit your taste and look well
and feel well on your system.  This also goes with file distribution
networks.  FDN that provide files as they come in that are hatched out to
everyone that is participating and having those FDNs linked to your system.

Don't get me wrong, it's not to ask questions.  No question is a bad
question.  It's one way to learn right?  Try your best to do as much on your
own as you can.  People notice you right away as being unique if you don't
take other peoples ideas and invent your own style.  Everyone loves a good
style.  The more user-friendly your system is, the more likely your people
that call your system will be able to navigate through your system to find
what they're looking for.  The best idea, is to have them stumble onto
something they haven't seen before and be like, this is awesome, I'll be
back to check this out.

Remember, your BBS is like your home.  Make them feel welcome, offer them
accomidations that is to their liking.  Remember to protect your system by
setting security levels and providing those levels from new user all the
way up to your best friends or other SysOps.  You own your BBS, have
confidence that it will do well.  Keep it fresh, keep things rolling.
People tend to like new content before things get stale.

These are just a few ideas so stylize your BBS.  Make it your own.  Own it.

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