home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
BBS Toolkit
/
BBS Toolkit.iso
/
wildcat
/
wnews20.zip
/
WILDNEWS.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-08-15
|
14KB
|
322 lines
The ULTIMATE WildCat BBS Newsletter Generator!
-== Blake Software ==-
(c) 1992
[ What is WildNews? ]
WildNews is simply the hottest newsletter generator that exists for
WildCat SysOps! Your newsletter can now take on the appearance and
style that a true WildCatter can appreciate! After all, WildCat is
the "Ferrari" of the BBS programs available. Why settle for a "VW"
for a newsletter generator?
With all the newsletter creation programs that exist, why was WildNews
written? After trying lots of the programs that exist on the market,
NONE of them gave me what I really wanted: a sharp newsletter that
could be changed on the fly. I'm not knocking the ones out there;
some are very good, but just not up to what I was after. I developed
WildNews to fill the gap left by the other programs and wound up
really liking to use it myself! I hope you will, too!
[ How To Install WildNews ]
*PLEASE!*
If there is a README.1ST included in your archive, READ IT FIRST! It will
contain any last minute important instructions for installing this version!
Step 1.
After you download this from your favorite BBS or get it from a
friend, unzip/arj/pak (whatever) it into your bbs utilities directory
or make a new directory for it and put it there (you can run this
from a floppy, but why would anyone want to?).
Step 2.
Type WildNews and press the Enter key. The opening screen will pop up
and, if you haven't registered the program, a 20 second delay will
occur with my "beg" screen asking you to please register (This goes
away after registration). Press a key to remove this window and
enter the Main Menu.
Step 3.
At the Main Menu, press the left or right arrow keys to move the
window slider to the Config option. Press Enter to activate the
pull-down CONFIG menu. Use the arrow keys to move to the
"Configure WildNews" option on the CONFIG menu and press Enter to
activate it. At this point you will be prompted to enter your BBS
name. My BBS name pops up as the default option on a new copy of
WildNews. Press Ctrl-END to erase the line and enter your
information (enter it EXACTLY as you want it to appear in your
newsletter!
-== WildNews! ==- [2]
HINT: You can change this line to display ANY text in the Framed Box
generated by WildNews. For example, you need to display additional
information than is possible in just the headline alone. Go to CONFIG
and change the BBS Name to the text you want displayed and you are
good to go!).
Step 4.
The next option asks for the name of the SysOp (your name). Enter it
exactly as you want it to appear in your newsletter.
Step 5.
Next, you are asked to enter the Path\Filename of your newsletter. The
default is \WC30\DISP\NEWSLTR.BBS. If your BBS is on a different drive
or in a different directory from the above, press Ctrl-END (or use
the cursor keys to move to the area requiring change - press INS or
Insert to start INSERT mode) and enter the correct path\filename for
your newsletter.
You are next asked if you want a pause every XX number of lines. If
you do, enter the number, otherwise enter a 0 for no pause.
The next option only works for registered users. You are asked if
you want a pause at the end of the file. If you do, enter Y, else
enter N. Unregistered copies pause at the end of file no matter
what you enter here.
You are then asked if you are happy with the choices you have made.
If you are not, press N (if it beeps at you, turn Insert off) to
correct or Y to accept your choices. These will be written to disk
as your new defaults.
Step 6.
After you have you have finished this task, you need to configure
for the TEXT EDITOR you will use to create your newsletter.
*RECOMMENDATION* If you do not have or use WildEdit, I STRONGLY
recommend you try it!
Select CONFIG and then select Configure WildNews. The pulldown
window will have the option Select Editor. Select this feature and
enter the path\filename.ext of your editor. For example:
C:\WILDSTUF\WILDEDIT.EXE
The default that pops up is simply WILDEDIT.EXE.
*NOTE* Your editor MUST be able to accept a filename from the command
line prompt! WildNews calls your editor and the file NEWSWORK.LTR to
allow you to enter your newsletter. If your editor can't support a call
like WILDEDIT NEWSWORK.LTR, then you will have to change editors or do
not use the NEWSLETTER feature of the Main Menu. Use your TEXT editor and
create/edit the file NEWSWORK.LTR from DOS.
The NEWSLETTER feature of the Main Menu shells and loads your editor
and the file NEWSWORK.LTR.
After you have finished all of this, you are now ready to create your
first newsletter. Select NEWSLETTER from the Main Menu and your editor
will call up the NEWSWORK.LTR file. Type in your newsletter and, when
finished, save it the way you normally would using the SAVE command
built into your editor (Ctrl-K X for WildEdit). After you exit your
editor, you will be returned to WildNews.
-== WildNews! ==- [3]
WildNews will ask you if you wish to generate your newsletter at this
point. Press Y and hit Enter to go ahead and generate, or press N
(Enter) to change colors or make other changes. If INSERT mode is
active, you will not be able to type over to change from N to Y.
You will have to press the DELETE key to delete the N letter and then
enter Y, or press INS to toggle overwrite mode and you can then type
over the current character.
Next, move the slider (use the left/right cursor keys) to the Colors
feature of the Main Menu. Use the color selection menu to configure
WildNews for the colors you desire.
*NOTE* You can change these colors for each addition to your newsletter
as well. The WildCat color codes are used.
When you are all set to generate your newsletter, select Generate from
the Main Menu. You will be asked if you wish the date/time to be placed
in your headline (the date, your headline, then the time is placed in
the newsletter at generation time). Enter "Y" for this option, or press
Enter or "N" (default) for no date/time display. Your are then presented
with a footer with the message "From Your SysOp: Your Name". Enter "Y"
to have this displayed or press Enter or "N" (default) to use the
currently defined footer (or none at all). Next you will be asked if you
wish to change headline/footer. Make any desired changes and hit Enter.
You are then presented with a pulldown menu of style selections. Select
the style you want and hit enter. WildNews will then ask you if you want
to overwrite the old newsletter or add to it. Select Overwrite to create a
new newsletter or move the highlight bar down once to add this text to the
existing newsletter your system is currently displaying.
[ A Note About Styles ]
Each of the frame styles available has it's own text line length
limitations!
Style Name Max Chars Per Line Style Name Max Chars
=======================================================================
BLOCK - 79 CatStyle - 79
COMPUTER PAPER - 69 Triple - 73
SHADOW - 76 Jagged - 77
DOUBLE - 75 Smiley - 77
SINGLE - 75 Hearts - 77
THICK - 75
THICK/THIN - 75
DUAL FRAME - 73
CINEMA - 71
ROMAN - 67
=======================================================================
If your newsletter text exceeds the max line length accepted by the
style you select, any text over the maximum will be truncated!
*NOTE*
If you use WildEdit (or other editor if this feature is available),
set the right margin for the maximum width allowed for the style
you are generating as defined above (Ctrl-O R in WildEdit). Toggle
word wrap on and it makes a quick and easy job of typing your text.
That's all there is to it! It's easy to use and does a heck of a
job! I hope you like it and will look for the next release. All
registered users will get the next AND ALL FUTURE releases FREE!
I'm already planning and building in a new group of styles for the
next release!
-== WildNews! ==- [4]
[ Hint for WildCat 3.5 SysOp's ]
With the release of WildCat 3.5, Mustang really helped us poor old SysOp's
out with the addition of the @IFSEC=PROFILE@ macro. If you want to create
one newsletter file that contains different information for display to
different security levels, try the following:
Run up WildNews and create your newsletter text. Generate a newsletter
using whatever style and other options you prefer. Pop back into the
NEWSLETTER feature of the Main Menu so that you are editing the text of
the newsletter text you just generated and change the verbage to match
the next security level's information you want displayed. Save it, then
select GENERATE. Select the "Add to current newsletter" instead of
Overwrite and generate the text you just entered/changed. Do this as many
times as necessary for the different messages you want displayed, then
exit WildNews. USING YOUR TEXT EDITOR FROM DOS, edit the newsletter file
you have just created and add the @IFSEC=PROFILE@ macros to suit you.
Here's an example of what I mean:
@IFSEC=NEWUSER@
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*Add this line to your newsletter file as the first line
*The next block is the newsletter generated by WildNews
@CLS@
@4E@ ««- Hot Off The Keyboard! -»»
@0F@╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
@0F@║@0B@ Your access level is NEWUSER. Welcome to our humble BBS! ║
@0F@║@0B@ ║
@0F@║@0B@ Thank you for trying WildNews! ║
@0F@║@0B@ The HOT new newsletter generator for WildCat 3.x BBS's! ║
@0F@║@0B@Be on the lookout for WildBull! WildCat 3.x Bulletin creator! ║
@0F@║@0B@ AND...Other -== Blake Software ==- Products coming your way! ║
@0F@╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
@4E@ [ > WildNews < ]
@PAUSE@
@ENDIF@
^^^^^^^
*Add this line to tell WildCat that the preceding block of information that
has been sent to the security level defined in the @IFSEC=NEWUSER@ macro
is complete.
@IFSEC=FULLUSER@
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*Add this line in between the newsletter file you have generated from
WildNews.
@CLS@
@4E@ ««- Hot Off The Keyboard! -»»
@0F@╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
@0F@║@0B@ Your access level is FULLUSER. Welcome to our humble BBS! ║
@0F@║@0B@ ║
@0F@║@0B@ Thank you for trying WildNews! ║
@0F@║@0B@ The HOT new newsletter generator for WildCat 3.x BBS's! ║
@0F@║@0B@Be on the lookout for WildBull! WildCat 3.x Bulletin creator! ║
@0F@║@0B@ AND...Other -== Blake Software ==- Products coming your way! ║
@0F@╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
@4E@ [ > WildNews < ]
@PAUSE@
@ENDIF@
-== WildNews! ==- [5]
By doing this, you have just created one file that will display certain
information to your caller based on their security level AND YOU ONLY NEED
ONE FILE TO DO IT! You can add as many security levels to the one file as
you need. You will want to add a @PAUSE@ statement within the IF block as
necessary if you don't have WildNews configured to place it automatically.
*The above display files were actually created with WildNews, but have been
modified to make them fit on my 80 column screen (and your printer!). The
actual file you edit will look slightly different from the above (it will
have more WC3.x color macros in it and will be wider).
One last thing...This version is *NOT* crippleware! EVERY feature works
but two (the end of file @PAUSE@ option does not work on the unregistered
version and you can only have 2 style names active.I've got to generate a
little annoyance or no one would register!).
You can generate newsletters to your hearts content in any of the offered
styles. Every future release will have ALL internal styles available (I
don't believe in crippling a product you want people to register. You
can't test if it don't work in the first place!). I leave it up to your
honor to register WildNews and I hope that if you like it and use it you
will. I'm an Air Force NCO with 4 kids and can use the bucks <grin>!
-== WildNews! ==- [6]
Other programs available:
The Myths & Legends Door - for ANY BBS $15.00
BBS Lister (BBS Data entry Door) for ANY BBS $FREE$
The WIT Door - Graffitti door for ANY BBS $FREE$
2 Cents - Quote door for ANY BBS $FREE$
WildNews - WildCat Newsletter Generator for WildCat! 3.x $10.00
WildBull - WildCat Bulletin Generator for WildCat! 3.x $10.00
WildEdit - Hot new Text Editor! $20.00
WildStyl - WildNews/Bull style generator $ 5.00
[ Home Board ]
Green Acres! BBS - (505) 763-5129 12-9600 Baud WildCat 3.51
[ Support BBS's ]
Ken Squyres and Rex Osborn have graciously made space available on their
boards for my software. THANKS to both of these SUPER individuals! Both
are avid supporters of the SHAREWARE concept & you can always get the latest
releases from either of these fantastic BBS's. If you want to drop me a
suggestion or a comment and can't get on my board, you can leave me mail
on either board, as well.
The Data Shop BBS - SysOp - Ken Squyres - (501) 234-5064
Computer Touch BBS - SysOp - Rex Osborn - (505) 762-0116