Back in the olden days, even before the steam-powered
locomputer, all the real heroes were explorers who
blazed trails and sent their ships over the far
horizon (and didn't fall off), then came back with
spices and postcards and mugs that said, "My friend
visited the New World, and All I Got Was This Mug!"
  
GEnie has pretty well been explored and settled by
now, but there are probably a great many places that
you haven't seen. So, this month, let's spend some
time talking about exploring and navigating GEnie.
  
Keywords
  
One of the most popular questions we handle in
GENIEus, the GEnie Users' RoundTable, always starts
out with, "Hey, how do I get to...?" Sometimes folks
have actually been there at least once, but have
forgotten where they saw a particular Bulletin Board
discussion, Library file or menu item. They're often
surprised to find that simply typing a keyword will
whisk them past all of the many levels of menus to
the main door of a RoundTable or product. But it's
usually just that simple.
   
Try it sometime when you're online. If you want to
visit the Amiga area, you don't HAVE to know its
GEnie page number. You don't have to descend through
several levels of menus from Page 1 to the Computing
section and so on. You can just type the keyword
AMIGA.
  
To make this process even easier, GEnie is adding the
capability of associating multiple names or
(key)words with various RoundTables and online
products. So, even if you don't pick "the" word
associated with a RoundTable, you have a much better
chance of picking "a" word associated with it.
  
For example, you can reach the Macintosh RoundTable
by typing either the keyword MAC or the keyword
POWERBOOK at any GEnie prompt. Still, not every word
you might associate with a place is going to work.
While FABIO may be what you think of when it comes to
Romance novels, it may not be designated as keyword
for online navigation just yet. Try ROMANCE, GOTHIC
or PUBLISH and see what happens.
  
Move Using Page Numbers
  
Now, if you DO know what GEnie Page number something
is on, you're even better off. GEnie has standardized
most of the menus for RoundTables. Menu item 1 is
always the Bulletin Board. Menu item 2 gets you into
the Real-Time Conference area, and menu item 3 takes
you into the Library. From there you're on your own.
  
Chat Lines is set up a little differently, but if
someone says, "They're talking about it in the Auto
RoundTable's Bulletin Board," and you know that the
Auto RoundTable is on GEnie Page 755, you can type
M755;1 (the M stands for Move) and not only be taken
to the Auto RoundTable, as you would if you'd typed
its keyword, but straight into its Bulletin Board
(menu item 1) by typing that single command. Type
M440;3 and you'll find yourself in the WRITERS
RoundTable Library the same way.
  
You don't HAVE to know GEnie Page numbers in order to
get around on GEnie, but if you do, it can save you a
lot of time (and money) instead of ever-nested menu
items. Everything on GEnie appears on a menu,
someplace, but you don't have to stick to menus if
you know where you want to go.

Slash Commands
  
These commands should get you from wherever you are,
to wherever you need to be without any trouble. The
only exceptions to that are gateway menus, such as
OAG or Dow Jones, and when you're moving from within
a Real-Time Conference area or Chat Lines.
  
Remember that all commands in Conferences and Chat
Lines start with a slash, first, as a means of
indicating to GEnie that what you're typing is in
fact a command, and not text. That is, if Larry is
leaving the Conference and you type BYE, then Larry
will think you're bidding him goodbye. If, however,
you type the slash command /BYE then GEnie will close
out that online session for you, and take you
offline.
  
  
Just as with the early settlers, you may find that
exploring GEnie is easier, safer and more comfortable
at first if you stick to the trails that are provided
-- the menus. But don't be afraid to strike out on
your own from time to time, too. There's a whole
world out there on GEnie just waiting for you to
explore.
  
And I'm sure your friends would like one of those
mugs!