ftp.wwiv.com/ftp.wwiv.com.zip/ftp.wwiv.com/pub/BBS/CEL141.ZIP/CEL141B.ZIP/CEL_DOCS.ZIP/CELUSER.DOC

Text File | 1992-05-03 | 12KB | 227 lines

Celerity User Documentation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This file is a brief explanation of a few features of Celerity which would be
of value to any user of Celerity.  It should also help illuminate some of the
more complex features.


1.  Configuring your account.
2.  The command prompts.
3.  Color "pipe" commands.
4.  The QWK reader.
    Afterword


Configuring Your Account
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity BBS features a high level of configurability not only for sysops, but
for users as well.  From the configuration section, users can tailor the BBS'
interface to their specifications by enabling and disabling features, changing
colors, and selecting areas to scan for newscans.

The configuration section is made up of five distinctly seperate sections.
The general configuration screen, the personal data screen, the newscan
configuration screen, the feature toggles, and the file listing setup.

The General Configuration Screen is characterized by terminal-specific
functions.  At the upper left of the screen are sections for terminal
emulation (TTY (none), VT52, Atari VT52, VT100, ANSI, and Avatar are currently
supported), display length (24 or 49 lines standard), whether or not your
terminal requires linefeeds, and a toggle for the help level (explained
below).

Below this are selections for the eight colors used by Celerity.  The first
seven are usually some color (1-15) on black, and the eighth color is an
inverse color (non-black background).  There is no rule against having other
colors be inverse, however.  Note that for users of Hercules/MDA adapters will
find some color selections indicitive of underlining.  TTY and VT52 have no
color control, and Atari VT52 and VT100 have limited color control.

On the lower left of the general configuration screen are commands for linking
other configuration pages.

The Personal Data Screen allows users to edit their age, mailing address, user
note, signature, and password.  The user note is shown to other users on posts
from you, and in a listing of users.  The signature will be appended to posts
and email.

The Newscan Configuration Screen allows you to define two types of newscans:
the global newscan, which scans all selected message bases then all selected
file sections, and the detailed conference configuration.  The main screen for
this section lists both the message and transfer conferences, and allows you
to type a key (1-5) to include that conference in your global scan.  The [T]
key toggles between transfers and message conferences.

Typing [D] will take you to the detailed conference configuration.  This
enables you to specify the individual sub-boards in each message conference
that you wish to scan, and those you want to skip.  Note that when new subs
are added to the board, they are NOT scanned by default.

The feature toggles dialog contains a list of ten features which can be
adjusted to your preferences:

1:  Use Color.  If you use the VT100, ANSI, or Avatar terminal emulations, you
    can enjoy color in nearly all portions of the BBS.  For some people, the
    color is too garish.  For others, color slows the data transmission down
    too much.  Turning this option OFF will make the BBS function in a
    monochrome mode.

2:  Editor Type.  This option allows you to select between a normal line-based
    editor and a limited full screen editor.

3:  Prompt Format.  Prompts can be "normal", where they appear a line or two
    below the last bit of text displayed before the prompt, or they may be
    "floating".  A floating prompt always positions itself at the bottom of
    your screen.  Again, some users prefer floating prompts, some prefer non-
    floating.  Experiment to see which you prefer.

4:  Key input.  This option allows you to toggle between normal and "single-
    key" input.  See the section on "Command Prompts" below for more details.

5:  Linefeeds.  This duplicates the selection on the main configuration
    screen.

6:  Scan Network Subs.  If you are a user on multiple boards carrying
    CelerityNet, you probably only want to read messages on the one you call
    most frequently.  Although you may skip them individually by de-selecting
    them in the detailed scan, this is a quick and easy toggle to skip the
    networked subs in your newsans.

7:  Update QWK message pointers.  If you use the QWK message handler (see the
    section on it below), you may want messages exported to a QWK packet to be
    marked as "read" on the BBS.  To do so, you must enable this option.

8:  Multinode Chat Paging.  On systems with multiple nodes, there are times
    when other users incessantly page you for a chat.  If you do not want to
    acknowledge these chat requests, you can flip this option off and you will
    not see their chat requests.

9:  Use Yes/No prompts.  Celerity has a unique Yes/No toggle which can be
    selected by pressing Y, N, or the space bar.  This is a flashy feature
    which looks nice, but isn't enjoyed by all users.  This option will
    commute the flashy Yes/No prompts to a simple "Y/n"-type prompt.

10: Help Level.  Celerity caters to users of varying degrees of familiarity
    and skill with the software.  At the "Expert" level, users are presented
    with bare prompts, and must type a question mark (?) to see a menu or an
    area/conference list.  At the "Intermediate" level, users are shown area
    lists when they change xfer or message areas, or when they change
    conferences.  They must still type a question mark (?) to see a full menu.
    At the "Novice" level, users are given area lists, and are given a list of
    available key commands available at a certain prompt.  A question mark
    brings up the normal menu.  If a user selects the "Beginner" level, a
    full (or abreviated beginner) menu is displayed at every prompt, and area
    lists are always given.  The higher help levels (Novice and Beginner) can
    be helpful to users who are just starting to use the software, but can
    become an annoyance rapidly.  Make sure you know how to change the help
    level.

The final configuration screen is the file list configuration.  This was
another unique Celerity feature which has since spread to many other software
packages due to its intrinsic value.  This feature allows users to select
which data they wish to see in file listings, as there is more data than can
be displayed in a single line.  Users may select file name, extension, program
name (very helpful for multiple-file uploads of the same program), file size,
file download cost, date uploaded, who uploaded it, the disk numbers (ie: disk
1 of 4), how many times it has been downloaded, and finally a description.
You will be required to select your file format before entering the file
section.



The Command Prompt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Entry at command prompts can be in one of three forms.  T

he first is "single key" input mode, configured from the user configuration
screen (see "Configuring Your Account" above).  In this mode, you do not need
to press [Enter] after typing your command, save for slash (/) commands.

The second mode is "normal" data entry, selected by turning the "single key"
mode off.  You enter data, then press the [Enter] key when finished.  Most

users prefer this mode.

The third mode is an extension of the second, and is called the "command
stack" method.  Utilizing this feature, a user can enter a number of commands
at once, and sit back while Celerity executes them.  Individual commands are
seperated by a semicolon (;), and up to 80 characters can be entered.  For
example, a user has just read mail from the sysop asking him to post some
information about a recent upload on the fifth sub.  The user types
"Q;M;1;B5;P;Upload Information;;" and presses enter.  This gives Celerity the
commands to quit the mail menu, enter the message bases, select conference #1,
change to the fifth sub, post a message, title it "Upload Information", and
add two additional [Enter]s (specified by the semicolons without associated
commands).  This feature is used often by more experienced users, but can be
frustrating for beginning users who do not know the full layout of the BBS.

At nearly any menu prompt, a user can use the following commands:

/VER   -  Display version of Celerity running.
/OFF   -  Instantly log off system.
/O     -  Same as /OFF above.
/CHAT  -  Call the sysop for a chat.
/PAGE  -  Emergency chat call.  Requires a sysop-defined password.


Color Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity features a set of "pipe" commands which allow users to insert color
in their posts, automessages, and electronic mail (some users incorrectly
refer to these as "MCI codes" after the term used in the Telegard package).
Color codes are always two-digit codes beginning with a dos pipe character
(| ), which will not show up in this file if you are viewing it from within
Celerity.  The second digit refers to the desired color.

|1 to |8 (one through eight) specify the user's defined color #.  Letters may
also be used to specify absolute colors, with uppercase characters specifying
high intensity.

|b - blue      |B - High Intensity Blue
|g - green     |G - High Intensity Green
|c - cyan      |C - High Intensity Cyan
|r - red       |R - High Intensity Red
|m - magenta   |M - High Intensity Magenta
|y - brown     |Y - Yellow
|w - white     |W - High Intensity White
|d - dark grey


The QWK Reader
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity is fully compatible with QWK-format offline readers.  An offline
reader (such as Offline Express / Silly Little Mail Reader, KingQWK, Qmail
Deluxe, and many others) enables you to read posts and view file upload lists
without being connected to the BBS, thus saving phone costs and freeing up the
board for other users.

To build a packet, you should select the QWK packet menu (normally [Q] from
the main menu), and G)enerate a packet.  You will be asked if you would like
to get all new (unread) posts, all posts/file listings from a certain date, or
20% of the posts from each sub-board.  Note that only conferences and subs
which you have specified in your global newscan will be included.

Celerity will then proceed to assemble your packet and allow you to download
it.  The packet will be named "CEL_0501.QWK", for example, for a packet
downloaded from the Celerity support board on 05/01.  Assuming that you have
already downloaded and installed a QWK offline reader, you simply run the
reader after logging off the BBS.  The reader will allow you to read messages
and respond to them, and will create a Reply packet (CEL_0501.REP).  On your
next call to the board, you should once again enter the QWK section, and
upload your reply packet.  Celerity will decode it and post your messages on
the appropriate subs.

Use of the QWK packet can stimulate conversation tremendously, as users can
download a large number of messages and upload a number of replies in a
fraction of the time (and cost) it would take to read and post online.


Afterword
~~~~~~~~~
This file is rather sparse, and will probably be updated in the future.  Users
who are Celerity experts are welcome to write sections of their own and upload
them to the Celerity Support Board @310-693-8651 for inclusion in future
versions of this file.