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1999-12-13
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Customization techniques and hints for Telegard
by Scott Adams
Telegard works perfectly right ouf ot eh box as is. But you
should customize your bbs so its nt a default setup. A unique
bbs system is one that gets the users and the repuation for
being unique. Customization is the key to getting to that unique
level. Don't be worried if you can't finish your customization
all at once. I've been up for over a decade and I'm still working
on making the bbs unique. This is because of all the changes that
Telegard and the new language strings that come out. So let's
start by some suggestions on customization.
1) Pick a theme for your bbs. What does your bbs specialize in.
Does it cater to programmers or gamers or is your board sports related.
Once you figure out a theme work with that theme through your bbs.
Say your bbs caters toward a Sports oriented theme with all sports
related doors and message areas. Then you might want to use a sports
related feel to the menus and ansis like a baseball diamond for
a door ansi to load doors.
2) Take a look at the numerous other Telegard bbses that are around
you. This will show (if they are customized) some dos and don'ts
of what you should do. Some actually go overboard and make their
bbs way to complex for the new user to use. If you gather ideas from
these other systems you will be able to design a game plan for your bbs.
3) Before you start look at the various Telegard files already out
there on the web/ftp site. Many include scripts, ansis and headers
that you can use as more ideas or just use those to customize your bbs.
4) Subdivide your operations in customization. Work on one area
of Telegard at one time like the files, message bases or language file.
Now I will give a general overview of all the various areas of
Telegard you should customize.
A. Mneus: The majority of any user spent on the bbs will be
watching menus. So menus are one of the most major areas to customize.
Telegard allows you to use Rip menus (though out of date in today's
world), Ascii (non color) and Ansi (color menus. Telegard has the
special process to store color and ascii into the same file. This
is done with a filename of an extension of .msg. If the user has
color defined for him then he will see color (through Telegard color
codes - `xx or |xx) or if the user is non-color then Telegard will only
display the file in ascii mode ignoring and stripping the color codes
out. You should use the menu editor to define your menu commands
through wording that is on theme that you have selected. You should
customize the ACS of each menu item and the menu itself to fit the
validation system and user levels you give users. Many Sysops ignore
the menus and just leave them default. But its to your advantage to
customize the menus with your own set of colors, menu items, ACS
and menu prompts. All of this can be edited and changed via the
menu editor. When in the editor and you are viewing menu commands
hit T to toggle the display to see more info on the menu like the
menu prompt (this is a area many sysops never find). You might
want to define the number of columns and the help topics as well.
You can create files for the user to display (ansis) or help files.
B. File System: You should setup the many file bases you expect
to use if you wish to have a large file system. Be as descriptive
as you can and colorful in the base titles since that is what users
see to figure out where files are located. A file base titled "comp."
might be hard to figure out but "compression programs (zip, etc.)" might
be more useful to the reader. Each file base can have its own file
base header (see file base editor and you will find the option to
add a file header). These headers let you tell the user information
like total number of files and even more details on that file base.
You could use one generic file like fileh.msg or a file for each
file base. That is up to you, but I recommend you customize at least
a generic file header using the MCI codes in \docs\mci.ref. You
should upload all the files you have currently and import their file
descriptions. To help users you might use some of the file tagging
programs and scripts out there or just use the default system with
some scripts you design on your own.
C. Message System: Figure out if you wish to carry networks like
Fidonet and then join them. Place online all the message bases
you want and think users will like. A good variety is always nice
but keep with the theme of your bbs. As with the file system keep
descriptive base titles. A message base titled "Fido TG" is hard
to figure out but "[FidoNet] Telegard Support" is easier to understand.
As with files message bases can have their own message base headers.
D. Grouping: Grouping or conferencing is a powerful customization
tool and should be used from day 1 or it will get harder in the
future. What I mean is put areas of the bbs into groups or conferences.
For message and file bases group them up into networks. The first
step it to make a Group (either message or file group) through the
group manager. Say you create a FidoNet group, a sci-fi group with
the group tags of F and S. You can then use the ACS system to
assign the file and/or message bases to their own groups. You should
also create a global or superconference where all users can find all
the file or message bases on the board at one time. Say this global
group is tag G. So let's say you have a Fido echo for Telegard
support, a Star Trek Echo from Fido they would have a ACS of
s50(CF|CG) which tells the user they can find/read/post in those echos
from the Fido or Global group. The sci-fi echo would have a ACS of
s50(CF|CS|CG). For more details you might consult the ACS article
I wrote that is in these newsletters or consult the \docs\acs.ref
file. With this grouping scheme I recommend you give descriptive
titles that include what group the bases are in. For example
use [Fido] in front of the base naem to tell it is from FidoNet.
E. Doors: The eternal question of a sysop seems to be which doors
or online games do users prefer? There is no easy answer but it depends
on the region and culture. With the theme of your bbs you might only
want Sports related doors. A good variety is always best though
to have some war, rpg, and general doors of all types. Paying for
door codes is a factor in this decision. You should register at least
a few of your doors on your own otherwise users might not use the
full capability of the doors. A good rule of thumb is to create
voting scripts or booth questions so you can ask the users what they
would like to see. Get feedback from your users and they will tell
you what they want.
F. Bulletins: This is one of the more ignored areas of the bbs
by most Sysops today. The System bulletins are S from the main menu.
Using the default bulletins are fine but I would recommend you make
many bulletins to spell out to the users what you expect from them
in return for the bbs (ie rules, tournament rules, donation texts).
You might want to display users at every logon or not but the
bulletins are your online library for the users to find out as much
information they might need. You could include fun stuff like
game score bulletins or help texts like terms of Cyberspace.
G. Scripts: Scripts are the hot area of Telegard now. With the
powerful scripting language you should customize your system with
ease. You can save many hours of work on a menu just by doing a simple
script. You might want to create questionaires for users to fill
out like the various Visiting sysop or Network application scripts
that are out there now. This is a fast way to get feedback from
your users.
H. MCI Codes: The MCI code system is the core of any true method
of customization. With these codes (see \docs\mci.ref) you can
shorten lengths of strings to add more color. Using these codes you
can flesh out better information to the users. So use these codes
to your benefit.
I. Language file: The language file like the default english.txt
one in \language is the heart of your Telegard system. You should
review it and edit the strings to fit your native language or theme
of the bbs. If you are confused consult my language reference file
in the \docs directory or the faq.doc file which gives some help
in those areas. I outlined in one file virtually what every line
means. You might want to have several language files for your users.
You should rename the english.txt to original.txt and use it for
thsoe who just want the core TG default. Then customize english.txt
to fit your colors and individual needs. Instead of one line items
you could even use scripts for full multi-line/screen strings. Don't
be afraid to modify the language file but its to your benefit to do so.
There are a few language files out there already - one for spanish
that is semi-incomplete last I saw, graphics - color graphics and
a customized one another sysop did.
J. Ansi screens: So do you use the default menus or not? Well
The unique bbs uses their own Ansis and screens. A ansi is just a
file with the extension of .ans that is colorful and specially made.
Instead of blocky commands you could use special symbols and designs
for your menus. For example your door ansi might look like a diamond
if sports related or your bulletins might be a bookshelf since its
reference texts for users. This adds spice to your overall look of
the bbs. You will need to use a program like Thedraw, AcidDraw or
TG-studio (to name a few) to draw these files and its fairly easy to
do, however you will need some creativity. You should use ansi
menus for all areas (files, message bases, main menu, doors, bulletins
etc.) to help users get around faster and with ease. Remeber there
are many files in \text which you should customize as well and
tend to end with the .txt entension.
K. Other: So what is left? Well there are odd and end places of
Telegard left to customize like the bbs list and automessage. You
should also look in every configuration screen to figure out which
options you will define like the login sequence what should be asked
of users (ask for data phone number or not?).
I will include custom.zip with this article which contains some
files that have been released which might help you in ideas of
your customization. I will even include some files I use on my
BBS. In conclusion creativity is required to customize your bbs
so sit and plan this out awhile before you begin. Good luck with
your customization of your bbs. Just remeber that the bbs is for
you as well as for your users. So do things you like first then
figure out what the users might like from that.
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To contact me for feedback on the article or questions/comments:
BBS: 904-733-1721 Fringe BBS-EWOG II (guest account avaliable)
Email: longshot@darktech.org ICQ #: 24436933
website: http://users.cybermax.net/~longshot
Netmail: FidoNet 1:112/91 Fido TG Echo: Tg_support
I welcome any comments or questions ohe articles. If enough
feedback is given I can do article follow-ups. I suggest you also
send feedback to the the other article authors of this newsletter
for without feedback the desire to continue is difficult.
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