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Citadel TUTORIAL (based on STadel) by Marlene Abriel March 1988 1) INTRODUCTION This tutorial is intended to make all those who call Citadel based Bulletin Boards * expert * users. Download it, peruse it, commit to memory and keep it at your fingertips.......just in case. I will attempt to take you through every step of a Citadel BBS, from a first time logon to a logoff. Now for a bit of background. The Citadel system was originally written in 1981 by CrT and very quickly gained popularity. An adventure game editor was the backbone for the idea. In the fall of 1984 Hue, Jr., worked on and released Citadel-86 for MS-DOS machines. Now it has been ported to the Atari ST by orc (David Parsons). Thanks orc. STadel has been well received by all and reports have reached orc that it is being used in Italy! The program is shareware, but don't let that scare you. It is one of the best that I have seen, not that I'm a well travelled modemer. Citadel is made up of rooms.....remember it was based on an adventure editor. They all have names and you can travel from room to room very easily. All rooms support messages and in addition some have upload and/or download capabilities (directory rooms). Rooms can be open to all users (public), hidden or accessed by invitation only. Some rooms will network with other BBS's. You can tell what type of room it is....but more on that later. Version 3.1g-2 of STadel also has FLOORS. The sysop usually groups related rooms on a floor. Citadel based BBS's also have the capability of networking with other similar BBS's. This means that you can leave a message on one BBS and have it appear on another. This feature has to be enabled by the sysop and s/he must give you net privileges in order for you to leave a "net message". 2) GETTING STARTED Well, let's get started. You call up a BBS and......"Oh, no! It's a Citadel!" Fasten you seatbelt, take a firm grip of your keyboard and let's plow straight on in! After the banner scrolls by, if there is one, you will see something like this: [L]ogin read [E]nter For the sake of simplicity everything you have to type will be contained in a set of brackets, like this [ ] and a carriage return will be represented by <CR>. Now type [L]ogin. You will be asked for password or a <CR> if you're a new user. Type a <CR> and answer all the prompts. Easy, so far, eh? Now you're logged on and your password has been saved for future use. If the sysop is allowing automatic access, you will now have on your screen something like this: [?]Menu [G]oto [R]ead [N]ew [E]nter [H]elp and a list of floors and roomnames. I'll refer to floornames as Fn and roomnames as Rn. The [G]oto will take you from room to room on the current floor only. Let's take a look at the rooms and learn how to tell what type they are. To call up a list of all known rooms (on the current floor) type [K] for Known rooms. It might look something like this: Mail> Music] Story) Test]* Sysop Stuff:* Notice the different brackets and the * after some? They all have meaning: > - an ordinary room with local message capabilities only ] - a local room with message capabilities + a directory ) - a networking room with message capabilities only : - a networking room with message capabilities + a directory * - the room is private The only way to get access to an * room is if the sysop or an Aide (co-sysop) invites you into the room. Usually these rooms are hidden and you won't even see them on your [K]nown rooms list. These rooms are usually used for private conversations. More about HIDDEN rooms. If a room is hidden and is not an invitation only room and you know the Rn, you can go to it by typing: [.G] + THE ENTIRE ROOMNAME (goto room). After you have gone to it, it will reappear on your [K]nown room list. This technique can be used to go to a room which you have forgotten for one reason or another. Maybe you don't like the topic...type: [Z] and the room will no longer appear on your [K]nown room list. Use this with caution because you have to type the entire Rn correctly in order to get access to that room again if you change your mind. To bring up a list of all the rooms you have forgotten type : [.Z]....voila! The MAIL room is the standard Email room and is VERY private. The mail can be read only be the sender and the recipient...the sysop or his Aide(s) canNOT read these messages unless, of course, they are left to them personally. You can even netsend mail to another system. You must be very carefully to type the recipients name correctly because there is no way of checking the other BBS's userlog list to see if you have used the correct name. When the system prompts you for the system to send mail to try typing [?] and you should get a list of all the systems that the BBS is networking with. A [?] will get you a menu from just about anywhere on the system. Use it often if need be. There are many ways to enter your commands, [.] commands to move from room to room and [;] to move between floors. Most of these commands can be shortened to one-keystroke commands. I'll briefly touch on them in this tutorial, but you should read the online help files for more detail. 2.1) TO GOTO A ROOM and GOTO A FLOOR Type: [.G] + Rn (goto roomname) The Rn is the roomname and must contain a unique letter combination to that room. For example, if there are two rooms named NSACUG Executive and NSACUG Use. If you picked a letter combination that appears in NSACUG, STadel will take you to the first room with NSACUG in it's Rn. To make sure you go to the Executive, for instance, type [exe] for the Rn and you will go there provided this letter combination is unique to only this room. Once in the room, the room prompt on your screen with change to the new room. Just remember that if you don't get to where you intend, then the letter combination was not unique and might be found in another room. Also keep in mind that if this is your first time in going to a hidden room or a room which you have forgotten you must type the entire roomname. This applies to the first time only. Type: [;G] + Fn (goto floorname) This command will take you to a floor that you specify and then you can use [.G] + Rn to go from room to room. This may seem tedious and you're probably thinking that you'll never remember all these commands. Well, have no fear because most times you'll only want to go to rooms will NEW messages and there's a very easy one-keystroke command to take care of that. Simply type a [G] and you will go to a room with new messages since you were last on. [G] will not take you off the current floor, you must type [;G] + Fn to move to the another floor of your choice or [;G] to go to the next floor with new messages. These commands give you a lot of control of where you are going on the BBS and allow you to move around and go where you want to go. 2.2) TO READ MESSAGES Reading messages can be done in a number of ways as well. I will list most of the common ways and you can pick the one you want and you can also get more help from the online help files which should be available on the BBS. By using the [.R] command you can control what type of messages you read and where. Here are the commands: ------------------------------------- [.RA] - read ALL the messages in the current room [.RR] - read all the messages in the room in reverse order [.RN] - read all NEW messages in the current room [.RG] - read global-new messages (the entire system) ------------------------------------- These commands will cause the messages to scroll one after another with no prompting. As one user put it, "How do I stop the scrolling monster?". It's very easy.....[P] will pause the message scrolling and any key will resume. "Well, that's just great!", you say, "but, how do I reply to messages? I want prompts between each message." It is possible. Single keystrokes can also be used; [R] for reverse, [N] for new, etc., but only in the room you are in. To get prompts for NEXT MESSAGE, REPLY and STOP READING you must insert an M in the commands......STadel systems only. Like this: [.RM] + [AGNOR] (M=more A=all G=global-new N=new O=old and R=reverse order) While reading messages there are 4 commands available to you: [J] will cause you to jump to the next paragraph of the message; [N] will skip the rest of this message and go onto the next one; [P] will pause the current message scroll and any key to continue; [S] will stop the message reading all together and return you to the room prompt. These commands can also be used when you are reading online textfiles. There may be a time when you want to log on and read the messages in a certain room. With a Citadel based BBS it is possible to do just that and retain any new messages in any other room as new for the next time you log on. Just log on, type [;G] + Fn then [.G] + Rn and read the messages in that room and log off. Any new messages in other rooms will retain their new status for you. If you're online and decide not to read a room, but wish to retain these messages as new type [.S] + Rn (skip roomname). New messages in the skipped rooms will remain new. If you are in the room type a [S] with no [.] even if you have read some or all of the new messages and haven't left the room yet. You may also use [U] for ungoto. Remember if you leave the room any other way there is no way to regain the new status of the messages. 2.3) TO ENTER MESSAGES There are a couple of ways to enter a message. One uses the [.E] and this can be shortened to just [E] if you'd like. The [.E] has other functions, but we'll get to those later one. For now let's just use the [E]. Type: [E] A message header will appear with the date and your name. STadel has the ability to allow the sysop to give the room automatic networking status. If this feature is active the header will also contain "@" and the name of the BBS which you are using. All you have to do now is type in your message. A couple of hints about formatting your messages. Citadel based BBS's will automatically format messages to the callers screen width. This can be frustrating for a first time user.....you've type in a beautifully formatted, paragraphed message and when you call back the message is a mess!!! Here's the secret. If you want to leave a blank line between paragraphs, you must fool the formatter. To get a blank line, space in a couple of times and hit <CR>. The formatter will now think there is something on this line. To begin a new paragraph do the same thing...space in a couple times before you begin to type. If you want to leave a graphic-type message - for instance a little box of *'s around a for sale ad - then you must indent each line at least once, if you don't it will be a mess. See the helpfile on the enter command. After you have typed in your message two <CR>'s will get you the "enter cmd:" prompt. Type a [?] here to bring up the menu. Type: [?] (at "enter cmd:" prompt) and you will see something like this: ------------------------------------- [A]bort [C]ontinue [H]old message for later [I]nsert paragraph break [N]et save [P]rint formatted (to screen) [R]eplace string [S]ave message ------------------------------------- These are you options for entering the message. I think they are all self-explanatory, except for a couple. [A]bort is just what it says. [C]ontinue will allow you to continue typing if you have stopped to make a correction with [R]eplace string or have had a look at the message with [P]rint formatted to make sure it looks okay. [H]old message for later is a unique feature of Citadel based BBS's. Personally, I love this feature. What it allows you to do is to type in a message and hold it in a temporary buffer without saving it. You will be returned to the Rn prompt. You may continue to use the BBS normally, reading/entering more messages. Usual use of this feature is to read more messages and update the message you're going to leave or to move into another room/floor because you think that the text of the message is more appropriate there. Only ONE message can be held at a time. When you want to continue with the held message all you type is the extended [.EH] command (enter held- message) and continue adding to the message or hit two <CR> and save, edit or abort it. Whatever your little heart desires. [I]nsert paragraph breaks will allow you to format your message into paragraphs, if you haven't already done so. You will be prompted for a string. Make sure you type in the first couple of words of the first sentence of the paragraph. Make sure it doesn't appear somewhere else in the message or you could have undesireable effects. I'm sure you'll figure it out, once you've made a few goofs and have to redo your message. [N]et save will allow you to save your message as a net message IF this room is a netted room. "Why?", you say. Remember, the sysop doesn't have to make a room autonet. S/he can allow net messages, however. You must have net privs given to you by the sysop in order to use this command. [P]rint formatted (to screen). This command allows you to peruse you're message, formatted to your screen width. You get a look at what your message will look like. Then you can continue, abort or save it. [R]eplace string. This is an editing feature. It is sort of like a search and replace. Type in the string you wish to replace and you will then be prompted for the new string. Once again make sure this is a unique string. [S]ave is self-explanatory. Now that you have the message system all figured out. Let's take a brief look at directory rooms and file transfers. I hope you're still with me! 3) DIRECTORY ROOMS Remember the brackets ] (local room) and : (networking room). These rooms have upload and/or download capabilities. To read the directory of the room there are two commands and both use the [.R] extended command: Type: [.RD] read directory [.RE] read extended directory The [.RD] command will list the filenames and their sizes. When a file is uploaded there is a prompt to enter a brief description. The [.RE] command will list the filename, size, date of upload and the descriptions. You can specify certain file types with wild cards. For instance type [.RD*.DOC] and only the files with .DOC as extenders will be listed. Use this with either command. You can even read the contents of an ARCfile. Type: [.RH] (read archived directory) You will be prompted to enter the archive header. This is the entire filename, including the .ARC. It will list the files in the archive file. There may be times when you want to read a textfile online. This is done very easily. Type: [.RF] (read ascii file) [.RTF] (will attempt to format text to your screen width) Sometimes, the [.RTF] doesn't appear to work on 40 column screens. It all depends on how the textfile was saved. There is nothing wrong with the formatter. Directory rooms are a snap, right? Now, let's attempt a file transfer. 3.1) FILE TRANSFERS First off, you must be in a directory room in order to initiate a file transfer. In my last Tutorial, I stated that I didn't know anything about WC protocol (Ward Christensen protocol)...well, guess what? I do know and so do you. It's standard Xmodem! STadel now supports Ymodem and WXmodem as well. In order to use either of these protocols you must have a terminal package which will support this. The options that are available to you are: ------------------------------------- [.RXF] (read Xmodem single file) [.RYF] (read Ymodem single file) [.RWF] (read WXmodem single file) [.RVF] (a straight ascii transfer terminated by two ^X (ctrl X)) (When uploading with V you MUST terminate the upload with two ^X or the BBS will not accept the upload.) ------------------------------------- Notice that I have said single file. This is where the difference lies in STadel 3.1g-2 and earlier versions. You no longer type [B] for binary file. [B] now stands for BATCH. You MUST have a terminal package which will support a BATCH file transfer. ------------------------------------- [.RXB] (read Xmodem BATCH file) is actually Ymodem with 128K blocks. [.RYB] (read Ymodem BATCH file) is normal Ymodem. ------------------------------------- To upload a file use the same protocols as above except use [.E] instead of [.R]. If you use [.EF] STadel will assume that you intend to do an Xmodem upload. STadel does not allow Ymodem batch uploads. There is another [.E] command that I should mention. It's the command to upload a message that you have prepared off line. Type: [.EXM] (upload message Xmodem) [.EYM] (upload message Ymodem) [.EWM] (upload message WXmodem) Once uploaded the message can be edited, aborted or saved. I think this just about covers the basics of file transfers. 4) FORGET ROOMS/FLOORS There are commands to forget individual rooms or entire floors of rooms. [Z] while in a room will cause you to forget that room. It removes the Rn from your list of [K]nown rooms and you will not go there. Why would you want to forget a room? Well, there might be a room created for the discussion of Chippendale men.......now, if you're a man you wouldn't want to be bothered....I hope!! To get a list of all the rooms you have forgotten just type [.Z] and there they are. In order to regain access to a forgotten room you must type [.G] + ENTIRE Rn. You will go to the room and it will once again appear on your [K]nown room list. If you want to forget an entire floor, type: [;Z] + Fn. Now for a few rules. You can forget any room, except the Mail and the Lobby room. The Lobby is the first room that you are in when you log on. The [.Z] will list only the public rooms that you have forgotten. If you are going to forget a private room, better jot the Rn down, so you don't forget it, in case you want to go back there; because the [.Z] commmand will not list the forgotten private rooms. 5) LOGGING OFF THE SYSTEM You're all done and now you want ot go home, right? Type: [T] (terminate) Bye, bye! You're gone. 6) FINALE There are usually help files available be read online if you need them. To get a list of them type: [.HHELP] or try [.HTOPICS].