- Ability to list a question's stats. only after the question is voted on.
- Set Security Level for Ballot Box
- Set Access Level for Ballot Box
- Set the Security Level and Access Letter for each question
- Delete Questions
- Modify Questions with out changing percentages
- You can set the Security Level for a Sysop
- You can set the minimum Security Level to Add a question
- Two options pertain to a user with the above mentioned Security
Level, Manual or Auto release.
- Set the logon option to either force the users to vote if they have
questions they have not voted on, they cannot
quit until all questions have been voted on, or give the user the
choice to answer the new questions if they
wish to or give the users no notification of new questions.
Additions of Version 1.1:
-2 Lines per Question.
-Output Question stats to Text File. Either manually or at a specified
time.
-Log more stuff in the Hermes Logs.
-Controllable option for screen clears when Ballot Box is accessed.
-Added help file for users.
-Fixed bug in selecting question w/access letter.
-V now only works from the main menu.
Additions of Version 1.1.x:
-Fixed Logon Problem with the Notify Option Set. Now only asks once.
-Fixed logging of **Ballot Box v1.1.1** accessed in todays log.
-Changed Omit option slightly. Now on logon it displays the question numbers that you have not voted on yet.
Additions of Version 1.2:
-Added ability to output the results of a question to a text file or a
tab delimited file.
-Ballot Box will now create the needed folder.
-Cleaned up code.
Installation:
1. Quit Hermes.
2. Place the file Ballot Box v1.2 into the Externals folder.
3. In the Externals folder create a empty folder and name it
Ballot Folder. If you fail to make a folder or type the name of the folder incorrectly the program will not work.
4. Run Hermes.
5. Logon as the Sysop. There will be a pause after the
automessage and you will be notified that Ballot Box is
creating a user file.
The installation process is complete. All necessary files have
been created and placed into the folder you created named
Ballot Folder. If you have any problems you probably named
the folder incorrectly. Now refer to the Setup section for
further operations.
Setup:
Once the Sysop is logged onto the BBS, Ballot Box can be configured. The program can either be accessed by typing V at the main menu prompt or by selecting the external in the externals menu.
You may then select the option C to enter the configure menu. This is what you will see.
<--------------------- Configure Menu ------------------------------->
< A > Add a Question
< M > Modify a Question or Answer
< D > Delete a Question
< V > Min. SL for Ballot Box 0
< L > Access Letter for Ballot Box No Access Letter
< S > SL for Configure Menu 255
< P > SL to Add Question 255
< R > User Question Release Manual
< F > Set Logon Option Omit
< C > Screen Clear On Logon Yes
< O > Output Question To Text File
< W > Output User Votes to Text File
< E > Register Ballot Box
< Q > Quit Configure Menu
Selection :
These are the available options in Ballot Box. I will now discuss each option.
Option A:
Using this option you can add a question. You are first prompted to enter the question, you have an available space of 160 characters. You have 2 lines of text available. The text will not wrap. When you get to the end of the first line you need to hit CR and then you can begin typing the second line. If you question is only one line long just hit CR twice. Hitting <CR> at this prompt with no text typed, will quit the Add sequence and return you to the Configure menu.
After typing in the question you will be asked to enter the answers. You have room for 15 answers each with an available space of 45 characters. When you are done entering your answers simply hit <CR> on a blank line to proceed to the next option.
You are then prompted to enter a Security level for the
question. Striking <CR> at this point will result in setting the Security level to 1 for this question.
The next prompt is for an access letter for the question. Striking <CR> at this point will result in setting the access letter to nothing.
You have now entered a question and users can vote on it.
Option M:
Selecting M will first bring up a list of the current questions. A star next to the question number simply means you have not voted on it. A question mark next to the question number means a question has not been released yet.
Select the question you want to modify. You are then able to modify anything about the question. Note: You cannot add an answer or remove one. If you wish to do so you must delete the question and retype it.
Again if you hit <CR> when you select the Access Letter for the question Ballot Box will set the Access Letter to nothing.
The released option is simply a toggle. Released: Yes means that a question is available to be voted on by any user who meets the SL and Access Letter required by it.
Option D:
Use this option to delete a question. Once a question is deleted it cannot be recovered. NOTE: This operation may take a second due to the fact that all of the users records are adjusted. With a user list of 917 this process takes approximately 3 seconds.
Option V:
This option sets the minimum security level that a user must have to access Ballot Box through the main menu or the externals menu. The current setting is depicted on screen.
Option L:
This option sets the access letter that a user must have to access Ballot Box through the main menu or the externals menu. The current setting is depicted on screen.
Option S:
This option sets the minimum security level for the configure menu. This is a security level you could use for co-sysop's. The current setting is depicted on screen.
Option P:
This is the minimum security level required to add a question. This allows you to let the users (if they so choose) to enter their own questions. An option that goes hand in hand with this option is Option R. Please refer to this description for
further information. The current setting is depicted on screen.
Option R:
This option has two choices, Auto or Manual. These have to do with the users entering questions. If you wish to allow your users to enter questions you have two choices of how to do this. If you select auto then the questions entered by the users are automatically released for the users to vote on. The minimum security level to vote and access letter are set to the minimum security level for Ballot Box and access letter for Ballot Box (see options V and L).
If you select Manual then the questions have to be released by you or a co-sysop. When a user adds a question and this option is set to Manual a message is outputted to a user recommending him/her that they send Feedback to you notifying you that a new question has been entered. All questions entered with the option set to Manual will be un- viewable by all users until released by you. A question is depicted as pending by having a question mark to the left of the question number. To release a question to the users see Option M.
The current setting is depicted on screen.
Option F:
This option is the action that Ballot Box will take upon Logon by a user, there are three possible options: Omit, Notify and Force.
Using option Omit. This will not ask or make the user vote on
any new questions. Ballot Box will output the numbers of the
questions that they have not voted on.
Using option Notify. This will tell a user upon logon that there are new questions they have not voted on and give them a choice wether to vote or not. If they say yes, the user is able to quit out of the voting external if they so desire without having to answer the question.
Using option Force. When there are new questions and a user logs on they are unable to exit the external until all of the questions have been voted on.
The current setting is depicted on screen.
Option C:
This option toggles the screen clears when a user access Ballot Box. Put in mainly for the Force option so that the user is still able to read the Auto Message.
Option O:
Selecting this puts you into the Text Output Menu. Which looks like:
Output Question to Text Menu
1. Question #1 Yes
2. Question #2 No
Auto Create: Yes
Time Ballot Box Creates Lists: 0400
[#] of Question, [A]uto Create, [T]ime, [Q]uit:
Selecting A will toggle the auto create option. This option is used to determine if Ballot Box should Auto Create lists. If the option is no Ballot Box will not create any lists. Selecting T allows you to specify the time that you want Ballot Box to auto create the lists.
If you look at the question you will notice that at the right hand side of the screen there is a Yes on one line and a No on another. This gives you at a glance which questions will be Auto Created. You have the option to decide which specific questions you want auto created. To change this option type in the number of the question you wish to change. You will then get a menu that looks like:
Question #1
Auto Create This List: Yes
Current Path: Hard Disk 163:Hermes II:Hermes Files:
[A]uto Create, [C]hange Path, [M]ake Text Now, [Q]uit:
Selecting A will toggle the Auto Create for this specific list. Selecting C will allow you to type in the path of where you want this specific list created to (The GFiles would be a good example.). Selecting M is your way of manually creating this specific list, this is done immediately.
Option W:
This option allow the Sysop to output the data of each question
to a text file. The data is in the form of the User Number, User
Name and choice on answer. If the choice is 0 then the user
has not voted on that question.
Option E:
This is the registration option. Use this option to register your external. To obtain a Registration Number see the Registration Information section of this document.
To Update from 1.0.2 to 1.1:
You need to trash all of your files located in the Ballot Folder. Then replace Ballot Box v1.0.2 with Ballot Box v1.1. Registered users will need to re-enter their serial number and bbs name.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
This external will work for seven days. If you wish to continue using the external you will need to register it. The cost to register this external is $10. To register with a Credit Card (MasterCard or Visa) you can do so online at Olympus BBS. The phone number is 206-643-2874. You will need to include the following information in the E-Mail sent to user number 1.
- Notify you wish to register Ballot Box.
- Your BBS name as you want depicted through Ballot Box (64 characters max.).
- Your credit dard number.
- Your credit card's expiration date.
Otherwise you can print out the registration application at the end of this document and send it to Computer Classifieds. Make all checks payable to Computer Classifieds. Once processed your registration number will be E-mailed to you on Olympus.
NOTE: With this one time registration you will receive all upgrades of this external for free.
A little info about Ballot Box v1.1 and the author:
I (David Woodall) began writing this external a few weeks after graduating from college. I worked with Lloyd Woodall in hopes to make a quality voting external available to sysop's using the Hermes program. I believe I have succeded in doing so. If anyone has any questions, suggestions or ideas for externals I can be reached on Olympus BBS, user number 212. Enjoy.
Other Externals Available:
TopDL 1.0.2
DISCLAIMER:
I hold no responsibility if this external crashes your Hermes application or computer. In using this external you are doing so at your own risk and I am not accountable for any problems that this external may cause with you use of it.
Ballot Box v1.2 Registration Form
Computer Classifieds
12819 S.E. 38th #101
Bellevue, WA 98006
Your Full Name : ____________________________________________________
BBS Name (As to appear in External. 64 chars. max.) :_____________________________________________
Olympus BBS User Number :_____________
Home Phone Number :_______________________________ Amount Enclosed : $ 10.00 (US Funds)
