BBS Toolkit/BBS Toolkit.iso/wildcat/wbull22.zip/WILDSTYL.DOC

Text File | 1992-08-22 | 6KB | 119 lines

-== WildStyle! ==-

WildStyle is a utility/companion program for WildBull/News that allows you to
create your own styles for use with these programs.  You are only limited to
what you can create by your own imagination!

[ How it Works! ]

Place this in the directory with WildBull and WildNews.

From the DOS command line enter:  WILDSTYL <Enter>

At the opening screen, press Enter for the Main Menu.  The Main Menu has,
at this time, three options:

Create Style, About, Exit

[ Create Style ]
This is the 'biggie'!  Use the cursor keys to move the highlight bar to this
option and press the Enter key to activate it.  You are then presented with
a menu of 5 choices which are the number of frames you want to include in
the style you are creating (up to a maximum of 5).  Frames are imbedded boxes
or other characters you wish to use to create your style.  Select the one you
want by using the cursor keys and press Enter.

You are then asked for a name for your style.  Any VALID DOS NAME is
acceptable.  Pick a name, enter it, and you will be taken to the FRAME
creation screen.  At this screen, press F2 for an ASCII chart (F1 for
HELP!) and select from the presented characters to design your frame.

*NOTE* ANY ASCII character is accepted, but there can be problems with
certain characters!  Use of Characters 7, 8 and 13 will REALLY zonk your
display file!  Avoid these at ALL costs!  I have used most of the others
with no problems, so give 'em a try.  The chart does not contain all of
the complete ASCII chart, but does include the ones most of us SysOps are
inclined to use.

Pick from the chart the number that corresponds to the character you wish
displayed at the coordinate the prompt asks for.  You may define each of
the corners, top/bottom, and right/left vertical lines of the display. Enter
what you wish for each and you are asked if you wish to make changes (default
is "N" for NO).  Change this to a "Y" if you do want to make a change (you
are given the option of making changes now before you save your style) or
just hit Enter to press on to designing the next frame if you have selected
to create a style with more than one frame in it.

After you have designed your frame(s), now it's time to colorize them. The
next screen is the Style Blackboard where you will select the color you
want for each area of the style.  It works just like WildBull/News, so it
should be pretty easy for you to use.

When you first get to the blackboard,  your frame is not displayed because
you have selected no colors for it.  As soon as you select a color, that
coordinate will be displayed in the color you have selected,  along with
all the rest as selected.

*IMPORTANT NOTE!*
Make SURE that you select a color for EACH AREA OF EACH FRAME!  If you don't
want a particular coordinate to be displayed by WildCat, select a Black
foreground and background for it, but you MUST select some color for it!
Don't forget to select a TEXT COLOR for your display style!  There is so
much going on here that it's easy to forget to select a text color, but
make sure you do or your text will not appear correctly in your file that
you generate from WildBull/News.

You may move from one frame to the other in a multiple frame style by selecting
from the menu the number of the frame you wish to colorize.  In other words,
if you are working on Frame 1 and finish it, select Frame 2 from the menu to
move to the next one.  You can move at any time, EVEN BEFORE you finish the
current frame, but please remember to complete each frame before saving your
style.

On the last frame of every menu you are presented with the option END.  This
will give you two options: Modify Frames and Save It.

[ Modify Frames ]

Select this option to go back and modify the characters you have used to
create a frame.  You won't lose the colors you have selected or anything else.
It will just let you change the character(s) you want for the frame border(s).

[ Save It ]

This option will save your finished work and return you to the Main Menu.

[ About ]

This option of the Main Menu will just tell you a little bit about the
WildStyle program.

[ Exit ]

This option will return you to DOS.


[ Now and the Future ]

I know that WildStyle is tedious!  The current version is my prototype that
I used to develop some of the internal styles and to play with <grin>.  I'm
working on a vastly improved version that will make it much easier for you
to design your styles with more flexibility and expanded capabilities.  The
reason this version was released was to give you more capabilities than
WildBull/News had with the internal styles only.  A future version will
have a style editor in it, as well, so that you may make changes to the
styles you have created.

Still, even with it's faults, there's nothing out there that can do what it
does (or WildBull/News for that matter!).  I want to give you a product that
is easy to use (I HATE manuals for something that shouldn't need one!) and
that does what it advertises.  I think you will find that the WildStuff
utilities that I've written do both and this is due to the feedback that
I've received from those of you using these products. THANKS!  ANY comments
or suggestions are greatly appreciated and I'll do what I can to make the
WildStuff programs products you are happy with and like using.  Just give me
your feedback!

  Howard Blake - SysOp - Green Acres! BBS - [phone] 1200-9600 Baud