
     Ŀ
      ---===>>> Installing BoardMaster IV  <<<===--- 
     
                      By John Schachat

This demonstration package is fully functional with one exception.  It
will only allow you to enter 5 Message Boards.  Any more than that will
be deleted each time it is run.



  Files contained in this package:

  BRDMASTR.TPG - TDBS 1.2 BoardMaster Program.
  BRDBLDR.EXE  - DOS utility program used to create an initial message board
                 database from the TBBS Config.Ctl file and update previous
                 BoardMaster releases.
  FIDO.TPG     - Builds Information files and is run from BoardMaster.
  CONFIG.DBF   - Database that stores your Configuration options.
  CONFIG2.DBF  - Database that stores your Configuration options.
  BRDMASTR.DBF - Database that stores your Message Boards.
  COMBBRD.DBF  - Database that stores users' Personal Message Groups.
  USERCOLR.DBF - Database of User Color Selections
  DEFPMG.DBF   - Database which contains New User Default PMGs
  BRDKEY.DBF   - Database which contains your specific serial number
                 and BBS name.  This should never be modified or deleted.
  QSO.DBF      - Database which is used when building from QSO.Ctl
  CHANGES.DBF  - Database which holds Sysop editing changes.
  MENUADDR.SDL - Sample SDL of a Universal Mail Menu using the ADDRESS fields
  MENUNOTE.SDL - Sample SDL of a Universal Mail Menu using the NOTES field
  HELPL.TXT    - User Help Text File Menu.
  HELP1.TXT    - User Help Text for Individual Message Boards.
  HELP2.TXT    - User Help Text for Personal Message Groups.
  HELP3.TXT    - User Help Text for Integrated Mail Menus.
  HELP4.TXT    - User Help Text for Customizing Your Colors.
  HELP5.TXT    - User Help Text for Using QSO.
  BORD.DES     - Type 20 Description File for use with IMB Search.
  BORD.HDR     - Type 20 Header File for use with IMB Search.
  FASTSTRT.TXT - An install document with instructions to get you up fast
  BRDMASTR.TXT - Complete Installation Instructions.
  FLAGREST.QAL - A QAL which needs to be modified/compiled and is used
                 with BoardMaster's BounceBack Feature. See
                 instructions below.
  RULEFILE.TXT - Generic Rule File (Should be customized for your system)
  FIDONET.NA   - Sample FIDONET.NA file
  TIMS.CTL     - Sample TIMS.CTL file

  Sample External Menu Screens:
  MAIL.ASC  - IMB Menu for ascii users
  MAIL.ANS  - IMB Menu for ansi users
  MAIN.ANS  - Main Menu for ansi users
  MAIN.ASC  - Main Menu for ascii users
  GROUP.ASC - PMG menu for ascii users
  GROUP.ANS - PMG menu for ansi users


  Text Files which are created:

  BOARDS.TXT   - A text file which is created by pressing <B>uild on the
                 Sysop menu.  This file contains a listing of all your
                 boards in 3 column format.
  BORD.INX     - INX file created by BRDBLDR.EXE or the <B>uild command for
                 the IMB Search. Used with BORD.HDR and BORD.DES
  BOARDLST.TXT - A text file created by BRDBLDR.EXE which contains all
                 the boards defined in CEDIT, their Priv levels and Flags.
  QSOOUT.CTL   - Control File in QSO.CTL format
  AREASOUT.BBS - Control File in AREAS.BBS format
  TIMSOUT.CTL  - Control File in TIMS.CTL format




Ŀ
 Installation Instructions: 


  First, put all BoardMaster files in their own sub directory.

  If you want to get going right away, print the Fast Start document in this
  package, follow it's instructions, then return to this document.
  This is the recommended approach for installing BoardMaster.
  
  Building your Message Board Database for the first time:

  If you want to extract all the boards you have defined in your Config.Ctl or
  QSO.Ctl file run BRDBLDR.EXE. BRDBLDR will read your Config.Ctl file or
  QSO.Ctl file and create a database/Index containing all your message boards
  with their flags and the read priv level.  It will also create a text file
  with the same information called BOARDLST.TXT and an INX file called BORD.INX
  and a text file called BOARDS.TXT.  After you have run this utility you may
  run BoardMaster and edit the Board Descriptions.  They will originally be the
  same as the CEDIT board name, but may be changed.
  
Ŀ
 EasyMail Integration: 


If you have purchased EasyMail, place all your EasyMail files in the
BoardMaster directory.  Make sure to configure your BoardMaster
BounceBack flags and enable EasyMail from the Tailor Menus/Global
Commands menu pick on the Sysop menu.


Step 1. Run BRDBLDR.EXE.
Select <1> if this is a new installation or <2> if you have been using an
earlier version of BoardMaster and you want to preserve/update your databases.

If you select <1> accept the Initialization defaults.  You will be
prompted for the complete path of your CONFIG.CTL\QSO.CTL\TIMS.CTL file.
If nothing is entered, the default, C:\TBBS\CONFIG.CTL, will be used.
You will also be prompted for board spacing.  This is used by
BoardMaster to create Board ID numbers.  A spacing of 10, the default,
will create ID numbers of 10, 20, 30, etc. If everything is correct,
type ENTER. BoardBuilder will build it's databases as well as a text
file called BOARDLST.TXT, an INX file called BORD.INX which is used for
BoardMaster's integrated Type 20 search, and a text file called
BOARDS.TXT which may be downloaded by your users for a complete listing
of your system's boards. It is a good idea to print out BOARDLST.TXT as
it will make it easier later as you Edit/Add Boards.

You will note on the BoardBuilder screen that there are several Initialize
options.  During normal operation, accept the default entries.  If, however,
you want to initialize your PMGs and Color Selections, say "Y" to the
prompts.

BoardBuilder may also be run as a nightly event to reconcile your PMGs.
to do this, run BoardBuilder with a -R paramater.  Reconciliation
insures that when you change Board ID numbers in the Main BoardMaster
database, that those changes are carried over to user's Personal Message
Groups.

   How it Works:

   Whenever you change a board's ID number, that change is stored in a
   database. When you invoke the reconciliation feature, those changes are
   compared against your users' PMGs and your new user default PMGs.  Any
   board that is found in a PMG which matches the ID number of a board which
   has been changed is updated to the new ID number you have assigned.  If you
   have deleted boards which were in a PMG, they will be permanently removed
   from that PMG.

   Reconciliation will process all editing changes you have made since it's
   last run. However, it should be run as soon as possible after ID number
   changes to insure consistency between PMGs and the main database.

   Failure to run Reconciliation will NOT result in anything catastrophic and
   will NOT affect the actual PMG functions.  BoardMaster is very forgiving in
   this way. When a user edits a PMG, however, he will still see the old ID
   number associated with the Board that you changed/deleted without that
   board's description.

  Now, add the TBBS Menu Command line for BoardMaster into one of your menus.

  Example:

Entry:
<M> Mail and Messaging System
Priv=0
A1=--------
A2=--------
A3=--------
A4=--------
Key=M
Type=200
Opt Data=C:\TBBS\BRDMASTR\BRDMASTR /Q && (Switches)

Switches are space separated and may be:

[4 CHARACTER TBBS MENU NAME]
[-CAT]
or
[-CAT -B:<Category Name>]
or
[-CAT -B:ALL]
or
[-CAT -C:<Partial Category Name>]

  Where: TBBS MENU NAME is the 4 character name of your TBBS universal message
  menu where the user will be sent to after he/she selects a board, IF YOU ARE
  NOT USING Internal Mail Commands.

You may also offer users a choice of Categories, under which you may
group message boards. You may have up to 999 categories defined. Direct
Category access is implemented by adding -CAT to the opt data line.
Like:

C:\TBBS\BRDMASTR\BRDMASTR /Q && -CAT

If BoardMaster detects this switch it will not display the main menu.
Instead it will display a list of Categories which you have defined.
When a user selects a category, only the boards identified with that
category will be displayed.

The second mode of category operation allows you to jump to the boards
in a specific category without the category listing.  To use this mode,
configure the opt data using -CAT and -B:. like:

C:\TBBS\BRDMASTR\BRDMASTR /Q && -CAT -B:<Category Name>

The actual Opt Data call might look like:

C:\TBBS\BRDMASTR\BRDMASTR /Q && -CAT -B:Adult Category

If you use the ALL keyword instead of a Category Name, then BoardMaster
will jump immediately to a listing of all boards, regardless of
category.  Like:

C:\TBBS\BRDMASTR\BRDMASTR /Q && -CAT -B:ALL

Finally, you may tell BoardMaster to do a partial match on the category
name.  And only display the categories which begin with that name.  So if
you have categories named:

Adult Chat
Adult Couples
Adult Swingers Only

BoardMaster will let you use the -C parameter to only display those
categories that begin with the word 'Adult'.  Like:

C:\TBBS\BRDMASTR\BRDMASTR /Q && -CAT -C:Adult

If no switches are detected, BoardMaster will bring the user directly to
it's main menu.


* Key Concept -> BoardMaster has 3 ways of dealing with mail commands.  It can
use it's own internal suite of commands which include ALL TBBS mail commands
or it can use one of your external menus after an Individual Message Board has
been selected. There is a setting in each board definition which defines which
method will be used.  The default is to use the Internal Command Set.  If you
are ONLY using the Internal Commands it is not necessary to include a TBBS
menu name in the Opt Data command line or the optional NOTES keyword.  If you
are mixing internal and external methods or if all your selections will use an
external menu you MUST include the TBBS Menu name.

The final way is to process all commands internally, but use external
text files as the display for those commands.  This option does not
rquire the Opt Data parameters and is configured internally with
BoardMaster.

 
  When you first run BoardMaster you will be brought to a main menu.
  BoardMaster comes configured with 'canned' prompts and colors which may
  be easily changed to match your system.  To access the sysop screen you will
  need a priv level of 255 which enables a SYSOP menu entry on the
  main menu.
  
  From the main menu type 'Z', which takes you to the Sysop screen.  Don't be
  intimidated!  There are a number of entries here which enable you to
  initially define the way BoardMaster looks and feels, and to
  define/manage your message boards.  Once they are configured, there is
  very little that needs to be modified in the future. Let's run through them.

Ŀ
 THE SYSOP INTERFACE 

  * Key Concept -> The word 'Board' is used to universally represent a
  Standard Board, Email Board, Topic Root or Sub-Topic

  * Key Concept -> All Boards have a unique 4 digit ID number you define as
  well as a 20 character description you enter.  The Board's Name (not
  description) must be the identical to the one defined in CEDIT or match a
  CEDIT Topic root and it's hierarchy.

  <L>ist\Edit\Add Message Boards - Shows a list of message boards that
  you have defined to BoardMaster.  Allows you Add, Edit or Delete
  boards

  <O> Ordered Combined Read - This is a toggle which allows you to change the
  way Combined Boards are accessed, either Ordered or Sequential.  It does not
  affect PMGs, only the Combined Functions accessed from the main menu.

  <M>enu to exit to after a User quits - Many times, when using an external
  SDL menu to drive a board's mail commands, the menu stack will repeatedly
  call that external menu. This command allows you to define the exit menu
  when a user quits from BoardMaster and should probably be the same as the
  menu that originally called BoardMaster.

  <C>hange Menu Banners - BoardMaster presents the user with a number of
  different menu banners depending on the screen they are on.  Although it
  comes with canned entries, you may change them to anything you want.  By
  executing this command you are presented with 5 different Banners which may
  be modified or left as is.

  <T>ailor User Prompts and Commands - Menus, prompts and commands within
  BoardMaster are Sysop configurable.  It comes with 'canned' prompts but
  they may be modified to suit your needs.  You will be brought to a menu
  which further defines which group of prompts you want to change.  This
  is an area you will defintiely want to modify to include/exclude
  PostMaster, QSO and EasyMail use, modify Priv levels, and alter the
  terminology of the prompts.

  <I>D Duplicate Checker - When manually entering Boards it is possible that
  you will make a mistake and define 2 different boards with the same ID
  number.  The duplicate checker will go through all your Board ID numbers and
  flag any duplicates for you.  If you find that you have entered duplicates
  you should delete/modify them and make sure you have unique numbers for each
  defined board.  ID numbers may be modified  'on-the-fly', but Reconciliation
  should be run if you do.

  <S>pecify Colors - BoardMaster allows you complete control over the colors
  it will use in Ansi mode.  It is defaulted to a black background but that may
  be easily changed.  Independent color selection may be made for virtually
  EVERYTHING the user sees.  You must specify both a foreground and background
  combination which is in xbase format, i.e. Foreground color + '/' +
  Background color.  All color combinations are possible and are defined on
  this menu.  You may also define the Bracket style you wish to use as
  well as your system's default fore/back colors which are used when
  BoardMaster shells out to TBBS.

  <F>lags and Priv Levels Master Switch - Each BoardMaster defined board may
  have it's own Flag and Priv level.  If you do not desire any additional
  security you should turn this option off.  This is also where you
  configure your BounceBack flags, which are discussed more at the end
  of this document.

  Note: BoardMaster security can seriously slow down your display of boards and
  is only recommended that it be applied for 'special' boards.  Turning this
  switch on does not inherently slow the display down.  It depends on the
  sub-switches located in each board's definition.

  If you are using QSO/TIMS 1.1 this is also where you will
  define the flags for the BounceBack feature.  More on this later.

  <N>ew User Default PMG - Each user may define their own Personal Message
  Groups.  You, however, must set up a default group(s) as their first entry.
  They can always modify or delete them later on.  The default groups should
  have your most popular or essential boards in them.  This entry will be added
  to each new user's PMG selection list and will only be activated one time
  for each new user as they select PMG.  This is one of the first things you
  should do.  You may define up to 54 PMGs which will be used as new user
  defaults.

  <B>uild a Text file listing of all your Boards - You can provide your users
  with a BoardMaster phone book of all the message Boards that are available on
  your system.  This will build a text file with the BoardMaster 3 across
  format of all your boards.  The file is named BOARDS.TXT. This command
  also builds the BORD.INX file used in the IMB type 20 search.  This
  function also allows you to incorporate 'Information files' which
  provide further on each Board.


Additional installation instructions for the Info Files.

The information files provide your users with the ability to request
additional information about a particular board.  Incorporating this
information may be accomplished in several ways.

 1. It can be a completely manual process where you edit each board and
 add the new information.

 2. You may use either a FIDONET.NA file or prepare a text file with the
 information offline and import it into the BoardMaster database.

 3. You may use a combination of 1 and 2.

About the FIDONET.NA file:

 This file is distributed through FidoNet on a regular basis and
 contains echo names and a brief description about each.  You may use
 either this file or any text file which is formatted in the following
 manner:

 <Fido Echo Name>  <64 char. max Description>

 Example:

EMAIL               Send and Receive Personal Electronic Mail
AVIATION            INTERNATIONAL AVIATION ECHO
AVICULTURE          Captive Propagation of Birds
A_CAD               International AutoCAD/CAD Conference
A_THEIST            A_Theism Education and Enlightenment Echo
BAMA                Odyssey Fringe Science Echo
BASIC7              PDS and VB/DOS Discussions
BATPOWER            Batch Languages Programming

This file must reside in the BoardMaster directory and must be named
FIDONET.NA.  This lets you create your own list of descriptive
information for all your boards offline which may then be easily
incorportated into BoardMaster while it is online.

The second piece is that there must be a TIMS.CTL file, OR a file that
contains MSGAREA information that BoardMaster can access.  This is used
by BoardMaster to translate FIDO echo information into CEDIT Board
Names.

It is formatted as follows:

<MSGAREA> <Fido Echo Name>  <CEDIT Board Name enclosed in double quotes>

Example:

MSGAREA EMAIL           "EMAIL"
MSGAREA CONNEX          "Connex"
MSGAREA TBBS_DEV        "Developers Net"
MSGAREA TBBS            "TBBS SysOps Net
MSGAREA TBBSTECH        "TBBS Technical"
MSGAREA TDBSTECH        "TDBS Technical"
MSGAREA PROMENU         "ProMenu Support"
MSGAREA GWSOFT          "Software Support"
MSGAREA HOME_REPAIR     "Home Repair"
MSGAREA INTCHNG         "InterChange"
MSGAREA PROBETA         "ProMenu Beta"
MSGAREA SNAPSUPP        "SNAP Support"
MSGAREA NAPLPS_GRAPHICS "NAPLPS Echo"

If you are not using FIDONET or a message board does not appear in your
TIMS.CTL file, simply create a text file with similar information and
use that instead.  An example of a board that might not appear in
TIMS.CTL would be EMAIL.  Note that the same name appears as both the
FIDO name and the CEDIT name.  The cedit name must be exactly the same
as it appears in CEDIT.

Adding Board Descriptions:

OK, the hard part is over.  Now, run BoardMaster and go into the Sysop
functions.  Press the <B>uild key.  You will be prompted for the <T>ype
20 build or the <F>idoNet Build.  Select <F>idoNet.  You will now be
prompted for the location of the TIMS.CTL file.  Enter that path\name
or, if you have made a hybrid file containing the MSGAREA information,
enter the name of that file.


Example:

Enter Path\name of TIMS.CTL file: C:\TBBS\TIMS.CTL

  This will replace all existing Description Information in the
  BoardMaster database with that contained in the FIDONET.NA file.


About the -U switch  (Update)

An optional switch may also be added which provides an Update only.
This will only incorporate information for boards that are not already
in the database.  The first time you add information, do not use the -U
switch.  In other words, Let's say you've incorporated the FIDONET.NA
file once without the switch. You've then gone in and modified some of
the descriptions through the board editor.  Later, you decide to receive
a couple of new echoes.  In order to preserve the changes that you made
using the board editor, you would use the -U switch.  This would only
ADD new items that weren't already in the BoardMaster Database and would
NOT change any existing items.

Example:

Enter Path\name of TIMS.CTL file: C:\TBBS\TIMS.CTL -U

  This will only add new information to the BoardMaster database from
  the FIDONET.NA file because of the -U switch.

Once this is done, you then need to rebuild the Type 20 index file to
incorporate the new information.  Press <B> from the Sysop menu and
select <T>ype 20.


  <P>ack the database - This will pack and re-index all your BoardMaster
  databases.

  <R>eturn to the BoardMaster User Screens - Brings you back to the
  BoardMaster Main Menu.

  <Q>uit BoardMaster - Returns you to the TBBS menu that called BoardMaster.

  * Key Concept -> If you ever hopelessly destroy your system settings,
  just drop the original CONFIG.DBF file that was contained in the BoardMaster
  package onto the one in your BoardMaster Directory.  It will not interfere
  with your Board definitions, or user PMGs, only your command prompts, colors
  and menu selections, which will be returned to the original defaults.

Ŀ
THE USER INTERFACE 

BoardMaster allows users to use any type of TBBS Message Board or to 'Group'
boards for reads, scans, etc.

On the main menu you will see several key functions:

Individual Message Boards

Personal Message Groups (PMGs)

PostMaster Access

QSO - Optional

TIMS - Optional and limited to users with a priv of 255

Combined Board Operations

Open Unread Mail

Select a Personal Color Scheme - Optional

Help


Individual Message Boards:

Every system has a number of different Message Boards (Bases, Conferences,
Echoes, etc). When you select <I>ndividual Message Boards, these are displayed
for you and you have the opportunity to select one to read, enter a message
into, etc.  After you have selected a board by typing in it's ID number (the
4 digit number to the left of the board's name) and hitting the ENTER key, you
will be brought to a menu of functions you may perform on that particular
Message Board.  You may read messages, Enter a message, Delete one of the
messages you have sent, reset your 'Last Message Read' Pointer or exit back to
the Message Board Display.  Upon exiting you will be returned to the display
of available Message boards where you may select another or <Q>uit back to the
Main Menu.

Categories:

Categories are a powerful capability which allows you to group boards by
a specific category.  Users may then vselect a specific category and
view/access al the boards within that category.  Categories are defined
in each board definition and invoked either from the main menu or by
using one of the category switches on the Opt Data line when BoardMaster
is run.


Personal Message Groups:

One of BoardMaster's most unique features is it's ability to allow users
to 'Group Together' up to 42 individual Message boards that may be read
all at once without having to return to the selection menu.  AND each
user may have up to 54 such groups! Most people will group together boards
that have something in common or that are most frequently accessed. For
example, he might group together the LOUNGE, EMAIL, GAME DISCUSSIONS,
C++ PROGRAMMING....Anything the user wants. Then, when your user
selects a Group, he will be taken to a menu which will allow him to perform
mail functions (read, scan, etc.) on all the message boards he specified
without having to return to a menu.

Using Personal Message Groups (PMG):

After selecting PMG from the main menu the user will be taken to a display
which allows him to <A>dd a PMG, <R>emove one, <E>dit an existing Group,
<L>ist all available boards which could be added to a group, or select
an ID number for message processing.

 Adding a PMG:
 Hit the <A>dd key and then ENTER.  You will be prompted for a name for this
 group and an ID number.  The name may be up to 20 characters in length and
 the ID number may be from 1 to 9999.  Before you assign an ID number you
 should look at your existing PMGs and make sure that you are not duplicating
 one that already exists.

 After hitting ENTER you will be brought to a display which allows you to
 enter the boards that you want in this group.  To see a listing of the
 available boards, just type <L>ist.  Once you have decided which boards you
 want, just type <A>dd and the board's ID number, hitting ENTER after each one.
 If you make a mistake, no problem.  Just <R>emove it. As you add boards they
 will automatically fill any vacant slots that appear.

 You may always return later and modify your selections by selecting the
 <E>dit a Group option from the main PMG display.

 After you're done defining your Group, you're ready to go! You may <Q>uit
 from the Group editor back to the PMG display where you will see the group
 you have just defined.  You may then select it by typing in it's number and
 hitting ENTER, after which you will be brought to a menu of message commands
 you may perform on that PMG.

Ŀ
BoardMaster Sysop Notes 

  You can use any ID number you want from 1 to 9999 for any board(s) and there
  is no prescribed order to the way you add Board numbers.  They will be sorted
  automatically for you in ascending order.  They may also be changed at any
  time. If you want to take a board off-line, delete it or give it a
  very high priv level.  The board will remain in the database but will not
  be visible to users.  If it has been deleted, it may be undeleted at any
  time, unless you pack the database or run Reconciliation, in which case any
  deleted boards will be permanently removed.

  Defining Boards is very simple.  Just use the <A>dd function and give the
  board an ID number.  Next, type in a description of the Board, which may be
  anything you want and type in the Board's CEDIT name and/or topic path.
  Now determine if the board will use BoardMaster's Internal mail commands
  (recommended) or go to an external SDL menu.  Also determine if you will use
  Security for that board, or rely on CEDIT security.

* Key Concept --> It is advised that you only use BoardMaster security for
  Special Boards. Doing security checks on a lot of boards can slow down
  BoardMaster's IMB Display considerably. TBBS security, as defined in
  Board Definitions in CEDIT, is always enforced regardless of this setting
  and, in fact, takes precedence over this setting if TBBS has a higher
  security level than you have defined in BoardMaster.

  BoardMaster also has the ability to provide a menu item which allows the
  display of a unique 'Rules and Regulations' Text File for each defined
  Message Board. This menu item will appear in the Individual Message Board
  Command Menu if it is active.

  If you select to have this item you may then enter the path/name of a text
  file which contains rules and regulations for that conference.  If you
  leave the name file name field blank, BoardMaster will display a generic
  file, located in it's home directory, called RULEFILE.TXT
  
  Finally, you may add any switch information that is appropriate for that
  Board.  These switches are only active if the board is using BoardMaster's
  internal Mail Commands.

  For Example:
  You want to set up a MSG to SYSOP Board but you do not want the user to
  logoff after he has sent a message, which your normal MSG to SYSOP board is
  configured for.  First, define the board in CEDIT and give it a read priv
  of 255 and a write priv of 0. You would then set up the Board in
  BoardMaster as follows:

  Board ID Number : 100           (Can be anything you want)
          Category: Local Mail    (Associates the board with a category)
  Board Description: MSG to SYSOP (Can be anything you want)
  Board Name/Topic Path: SYSMAIL    (CEDIT Email Board Name you just defined)
  Use Integrated Mail (y/n): Y    (For use with Integrated Mail Commands)
  Use Flags & Privileges (y/n): N (Not using BoardMaster Security)
  Privilege Level: 0
           A1 Flag: --------
           A2 Flag: --------
           A3 Flag: --------
           A4 Flag: --------
  Do you want Rules for this Conference (y/n): N
  Rules File Name (Empty for Generic Rules):

   Switches for Reading Msgs:
  Switches for Entering Msgs: /F:"SYSOP"  (Force the mail to the Sysop)
  Switches for Scanning Msgs:
  Switches for Deleting Msgs:

  BoardMaster PhoneBook:
  When BoardBuilder created your database of boards it also Built a
  file called Boards.TXT.  Now, do a local upload to one of your DIRs,
  but don't move the file.  This will allow your users to grab a formatted
  listing of your boards and their ID Numbers for easy navigation.  By not
  moving it, in the future all you have to do is use the Build option to
  rebuild that file and make it automatically available without having to
  upload it again.  Whenever you change your Boards, you should hit the
  <B>uild key on the Sysop menu.

  
  SDL & Topics :
  One of BoardMaster's strengths is that, once installed, you NEVER have to
  change your SDL files again when you Add/Delete/or Change a Board.  The only
  changes that are ever needed are in CEDIT to define a board or a topic root
  and adding an entry in BoardMaster.  In fact, for topics, once the root is
  established in CEDIT, you can add subtopics in BoardMaster at will.  If you
  use this method, you, the SYSOP, will have to be the first to use the Topic
  in order to establish the Hierarchy.

  * Key Concept -->  When Defining a topic in BoardMaster, it is usuall
  necessary to add the /S switch when the switches prompt appears or
  when running BRDBLDR.

  Topic Size Limitation using Internal Mail Commands:
  There is one circumstance where you may HAVE to use an external menu for your
  mail commands.  It will only occur with extremely large Topic Hierarchies.
  TDBS is only able to pass a 64 character parameter to TBBS when you use one of
  the mail commands (read, scan, etc).  If you have a topic hierarchy which is
  longer than 64 characters you will have to use an external mail menu and the
  ADDR fields in the Userlog to store the board's name and topic hierarchy.  The
  NOTES field may not be used since it, too, is limited to a size of 64
  characters.  The actual field size in BoardMaster is 128 bytes long and a
  marker is placed at the 64 character limit in the Edit/Add display for your
  convenience.
  
  If you are not using Internal Mail Commands:
  Two samples of SDL that make a Universal Message Menu are included and
  provide all Mail Functions for any Board that is selected in BoardMaster.
  The ADDR1 field is used to pass the CEDIT board name to the mail commands or
  the Topic Root + Subtopic path.  The Addr2 field contains the name of the
  Board you defined in BoardMaster as the description of the Board and is what
  the user selected.  It serves to remind the user of what board they selected
  in BoardMaster.  This menu is the one defined in the BoardMaster Command
  line when invoking the program.  If you are using the NOTES field
  for board storage, only the board's CEDIT name, or topic hierarchy
  is passed to the menu, not the Board's Description.

  If you are Using Internal Mail Commands No additional menus are necessary
  and you will not use any userlog fields.  This is the recommended
  approach.
  

 About Menu and Color Customization:

 BoardMaster let's you customize it's colors, menu entries,
 prompts and bracket styles.  These functions are all located on the
 SYSOP menu and are located in 3 menu entries:

 Select System Colors - Allows you to modify BoardMaster Colors,
 Bracket Style and your system's default colors.

 Tailor Menus, Prompts and Commands - Allows you to customize menu
 text and commands as well as determine if the TIMS and QSO entries
 will be available.  TIMS is never available to users with a priv.
 level less than 255.  The user's ability to modify his color scheme
 is also determined here.

 Change Menu Banners - BoardMaster will display 5 Banners, depending
 on the screen the user is on.  This entry will display each and
 allow you to customize the text that is displayed, i.e. you might
 want to add your BBS name to the main menu Banner, use a different language,
 etc.

System Colors:

BoardMaster deals with colors in 2 ways.  You are able to set-up the
system's default colors and bracket styles and the user is then able
to customize them. The user will originally see your default
selections.  If he then changes them, they are saved and will be used
for his display from that time forward, regardless of any changes you
might make in the future.  The user does, however, have the ability to
reset his color selections to the system defaults, as defined by you,
at any time.  You also have the ability to change any user's color
selections by selecting that option from the main BoardMaster menu and
typing in the user's name.

Bracket Style is also defined in this area.
You may choose any of 5 different styles or no brackets at all.  When
the Sysop picks this selection, he is allowed to change any individual
user's color selections as well as his own.

Tailoring Menus:

BoardMaster lets you choose menu text as well as prompts and command
keys for any of its menus and displays.

The format for menus is:

Command Key - Description. For example:

CMD  Description
 I   Individual Message Boards

On the Main menu this would appear as:

<I> Individual Message Boards

The command you choose is the key you expect the user to press to
invoke that function and will be surrounded by the bracket style you
choose.

On the main menu you may also determine if there is to be a QSO entry,
TIMS entry (sysop only) and user color selections.  For QSO and TIMS
this is toggled with an on/off switch. For User Color Selections,
leaving the description blank will remove it from the main menu.

On the PMG and Individual Board displays, commands are handled a little
differently.  Here, you enter the complete command line that will be
seen at the bottom of the display and the command keys that correspond
to the functions.  The command functions are pre-defined but the
command line wording and actual command keys may be anything you want.
For example, you could change <Q>uit to [E]xit by changing the command
line text and the corresponding command key.

Global Commands:

These are the commands/descriptions that will appear on the PMG,
IMB and Combined Board integrated mail screens.  They are defined
in the same manner as the main menu commands with 2 exceptions.

The Enter a Message and Delete a Message commands are sensitive to user
Privilege level.  For example, you might not want unregistered users to
be able to enter messages, only to read them.  So, when you define the Enter
Message Command, assign a privilege level that is higher than an unregistered
user. The Enter Message Prompt and Command will then not even appear to any user
with a priv level less than what you have assigned.  Likewise for Delete
Messages.  You might only want yourself and co-sysops to be able to delete
messages from your conferences.  By assigning a high privilege level, the
Delete menu item will only appear to users with a Priv Level >= the level you
define.

Ŀ
Using BoardMaster's BounceBack Feature when running QSO, TIMS 1.1,    
PostMaster or EasyMail:                                               

If you are NOT using QSO or TIMS 1.1, PostMaster or EasyMail this is the
end of the installation instructions. Otherwise, please proceed.

BoardMaster BounceBack lets a user select QSO from your Main menu, or
you can select TIMS, and upon completion of QSO/TIMS activities,
returns them to the BoardMaster Main menu.

To use this feature, BoardMaster will need to use one of your flags.
In this example, we'll assume you have designated A4(4) as the flag
that BoardMaster will use.

There are three things you must do in order to use this feature in
addition to creating your normal BoardMaster menu entry:

1. In BoardMaster, go to the Sysop screen. Hit <F>.
You will see, at the bottom, the flag setting which will trip an
autoexecute that we'll talk about next.  Right now, they should all be
set to "-".  Change A4(4) to "X".

2. Put an auto-execute in the same Menu/Macro that calls BoardMaster.

Entry: Transfer control to a Dummy menu to clear the autoexecute stack.
Key = ^@
Type= 5
PRIV= 0
A1 = --------
A2 = --------
A3 = --------
A4 = ---X----
OPT DATA = dumy (this is the name of a dummy menu you need to create)

3. Change the QAL that was supplied in this package, FLAGREST.QAL,
so that  CHANGE: A4 = ---.---- Compile it and put the QAF file in any menu
that precedes the menu that calls BoardMaster. MENU0000 is a good choice.
This QAL is just a precaution and is only activated if the user went
to QSO from BoardMaster, then used <G>oodbye from QSO and was immediately
logged off.  If the user exits this way, BoardMaster never has a chance to reset
his flag, so the QAL will do it the next time he logs on to prevent
the autoexec in step 2. from activating.

The menu that calls the QAL should look like:

Entry: Activates a QAL to reset a user flag if he logged off within QSO
Key = ^@
Type= 32
PRIV= 0
A1 = --------
A2 = --------
A3 = --------
A4 = ---X----
OPT DATA = C:\tbbs\BoardMaster\FLAGREST

4. Now create a dummy menu in you SDL file.  It will only have 1 entry
and will be totally invisible (This is a necessary step! Don't leave
it out.).  It should look like this:

Menu: Dumy
Entry: Autoexecute to return to the BoardMaster menu
Key = ^@
Type= 12
PRIV= 0
A1 = --------
A2 = --------
A3 = --------
A4 = ---X----
OPT DATA = 1
Endmenu:


How it Works:

Scenario 1
The user goes through your menus and selects BoardMaster.  Once in BoardMaster,
the user selects QSO.  BoardMaster changes the A4(4) flag to "X" and runs QSO.
After running QSO, the user exits using <Q>uit on the QSO menu.
This returns the user to the menu that originally called BoardMaster.  When the
user returns to that menu, the autoexec you placed there is tripped, due to
the state of the user's A4(4) flag setting, invokes the Dummy menu,
returns and runs BoardMaster again.  As the user enters BoardMaster, the
 state of his A4(4) flag is sensed and BoardMaster returns it to ".",
the normal state.  Unless the user runs QSO again, in which case the same
sequence is repeated, neither the QAL or the autoexec will be activated again.

Scenario 2
The user goes through your menus and selects BoardMaster.  Once in BoardMaster,
the user selects QSO.  BoardMaster changes the A4(4) flag to "X" and runs QSO.
After using QSO, the user exits using <G>oodbye on the QSO menu
and is logged off.  At this point his A4(4) flag is still set to "X"
The next day the user logs on again. At the first menu, he hits the
autoexec QAL entry.  Since his flag was never able to be reset by BoardMaster,
because he logged off directly from QSO, the autoexec is tripped and
the QAL changes the A4(4) flag back to the normal state, "."

That's it.  Really simple to implement and works for both TIMS and
QSO. Nothing else is needed.

There are other ways to do it if you are using BoardMaster in a global macro:

Take the autoexec menu entry that calls BoardMaster and the autoexec
that sends you to the dummy menu and put them in your Global macro.

Leave the autoexec that calls the QAL in your top menu, before the
global macro is hit.

How it works:

The User activates the Global menu and is taken to BoardMaster. He then
selects QSO, flags are changed and QSO is run.  The User exits QSO using
<Q>uit, the autoexec in the global macro is activated, the user is
sent to the dummy menu, returned, and BoardMaster is run.
Flags are changed back to the 'normal' state so after exiting BoardMaster
normally the autoexec in your global menu is not activated.
   or
Same thing, except the user quits QSO, using <G>oodbye.  Next time the
user logs on he hits the Autoexec QAL which changes his flag to
'normal' and prevents the autoexec in the global macro from
activating.

  ----------------->   End of Installation Document   <------------------


