4D-BBS was created with the intent to simplify the installation and maintenance of of a bulletin board system. From this, has stemmed many of the current capabilities and features of the software. User involvement has always been very important in the updating of 4D-BBS, and in a majority of updates, dictates the features which are added. This high level of user intervention has brought 4D-BBS to the heights it is currently at. Your involvement is critical to the future of 4D-BBS. If you have ideas or comments concerning 4D-BBS, please send them to the address on the inside front cover, or leave them in feedback on one of the CornerStone
Software Support BBS.
1.2.1 What 4D-BBS Can Do:
4D-BBS is a very flexible and powerful program. The main purpose of it is to allow users to call in to your computer, read and write mail, read and write public messages, and upload and download files. This is by far a simple overview, since 4D-BBS offers this, plus many other features.
Some of the other major parts of 4D-BBS is a full ARexx command port, complete setup, configuration, and maintenance programs, Fido-Net post reading and writing, Paragon door support, and complete multitasking. Modem setup and configuration allows you to completely setup your modem including support for high speed modems, and fax send and receive. Window controls include iconify, definable bitplanes, and user
status window sizing.
One of the more useful features of 4D-BBS is that the SysOp can work on the system configuration, edit a user, edit file catalogs, change menus and text files, without disturbing the on-line user. With one of the several dos utilities 4D-BBS supports, complete remote access to the CPU, drives, and memory is possible.
1.3.1 What 4D-BBS Can Not Do:
Although 4D-BBS is a very versatile bulletin board system, there is a couple of things which it does not do. First of all, although 4D-BBS does read and write Fido-Net style .msg messages, it does not have the capabilities to toss/pack/route these messages, nor does it have the capability to act as a Fido-Net compatible front end system. There is a number of Fido-Net utilities which you can freely choose from to accomplish this. See appendix C for additional information on compatible Fido-Net software.
Secondly, Use Net support has not been directly incorporated, although a minimal read only feature has been put into 4D-BBS. Full UseNet newsgroup and net-mail access is planned for a future release, but as of V2.0, the only means of full Use-Net access is via an external door.
Another item planned for a future upgrade is the capability to have more than one user on-line at once. Although 4D-BBS allows you to run more than one copy with shared directories, this is not recommended, as not all modules can currently handle shared file situations properly.
1.4.1 About This Manual
This manual was written with the assumption that you are familiar with AmigaDos and can perform basic AmigaDos functions. Although some AmigaDos commands are explained with relativity to 4D-BBS, you should consult your AmigaDos reference guide for a more complete explanation of the commands.
A text editor will be required to modify some of the BBS files. There is a wide variety of text editors available, which include ED, Memacs, Edit, QED, CygnusEd, and Turbotext. You should be able to load, edit, copy, cut, paste, and save files in your preferred text editor.
The first part of this manual gives a quick step by step guide to getting 4D-BBS up and running with minimal effort. Following these, each chapter covers a certain aspect of the BBS. It is suggested you read this entire manual to better aquaint yourself with the power and flexibilty of 4D-BBS.
To understand more about the user view of the commands, please consult the acommpanied 4D-BBS user manual.
