+++ /dev/null
- New User's Introduction to the site
-
- This is an introduction to the Citadel BBS concept. It is intended
-for new users so that they can more easily become acquainted to using
-Citadel when accessing it in the form of a text-based BBS. Of
-course, old users might learn something new each time they read
-through it.
-
- Full help for the BBS commands can be obtained by typing <.H>elp SUMMARY
-
- The CITADEL BBS room concept
- ----------------------------
- The term BBS stands for "Bulletin Board System". The analogy is
-appropriate: one posts messages so that others may read them. In
-order to organize the posts, people can post in different areas of the
-BBS, called rooms.
- In order to post in a certain room, you need to be "in" that room.
-Your current prompt is usually the room that you are in, followed the
-greater-than-sign, such as:
-
- Lobby>
-
- The easiest way to traverse the room structure is with the "Goto"
-command, on the "G" key. Pressing "G" will take you to the next room
-in the "march list" (see below) that has new messages in it. You can
-read these new messages with the "N" key.
- Once you've "Gotoed" every room in the system (or all of the ones
-you choose to read) you return to the "Lobby," the first and last room
-in the system. If new messages get posted to rooms you've already
-read during your session you will be brought BACK to those rooms so
-you can read them.
-
- March List
- ----------
- All the room names are stored in a march list, which is just a
-list containing all the room names. When you <G>oto or <S>kip a
-room, you are placed in the next room in your march list THAT HAS NEW
-MESSAGES. If you have no new messages in any of the rooms on your
-march list, you will keep going to the Lobby>. You can choose not to
-read certain rooms (that don't interest you) by "Z"apping them. When
-you <Z>ap a room, you are merely deleting it from your march list (but
-not from anybody else's).
-
- You can use the <.G>oto (note the period before the G. You can also use
-<J>ump on some systems) to go to any room in the
-system. You don't have to type in the complete name of a room to
-"jump" to it; you merely need to type in enough to distinguish it from
-the other rooms. Left-aligned matches carry a heavier weight, so if you
-typed (for example) ".Goto TECH", you might be taken to a room called
-"Tech Area>" even if it found a room called "Biotech/Ethics>" first.
-
- To return to a room you have previously <Z>apped, use the <.G>oto command
-to enter it, and it will be re-inserted into your march list. In the case
-of returning to Zapped rooms, you must type the room name in its entirety.
-REMEMBER, rooms with no new messages will not show on your
-march list! You must <.G>oto to a room with no new messages.
-Incidentally, you cannot change the order of the rooms on your march list.
-It's the same for everybody.
-
- Special rooms
- -------------
- There are two special rooms on a Citadel that you should know about.
-
- The first is the Lobby>. It's used for system announcements and other
-such administrativia. You cannot <Z>ap the Lobby>. Each time you first
-login, you will be placed in the Lobby>.
-
- The second is Mail>. In Mail>, when you post a messages, you are
-prompted to enter the screen name of the person who you want to send the
-message to. Only the person who you send the message to can read the
-message. NO ONE else can read it, not even the admins. Mail> is the
-first room on the march list, and is un-<Z>appable, so you can be sure
-that the person will get the message.
-
- System admins
- -------------
- These people, along with the room admins, keep the site running smoothly.
-
- Among the many things that admins do are: create rooms, delete
-rooms, set access levels, invite users, check registration, grant
-room admin status, and countless other things. They have access to the
-Aide> room, a special room only for admins.
-
- If you enter a mail message to "Sysop" it will be placed in the
-Aide> room so that the next admin online will read it and deal with it.
-Admins cannot <Z>ap rooms. All the rooms are always on each admin's
-march list. Admins can read *any* and *every* room, but they *CAN* *NOT*
-read other users' Mail!
-
- Room admins
- -----------
- Room admins are granted special privileges in specific rooms.
-They are *NOT* true system admins; their power extends only over the
-rooms that they control, and they answer to the system admins.
-
- A room admin's job is to keep the topic of the their room on track,
-with nudges in the right direction now and then. A room admin can also
-move an off topic post to another room, or delete a post, if he/she
-feels it is necessary.
-
- Currently, very few rooms have room admins. Most rooms do not need
-their own specific room admin. Being a room admin requires a certain
-amount of trust, due to the additional privileges granted.
-
- Citadel messages
- ----------------
- Most of the time, the BBS code does not print a lot of messages
-to your screen. This is a great benefit once you become familiar
-with the system, because you do not have endless menus and screens
-to navigate through. nevertheless, there are some messages which you
-might see from time to time.
-
- "There were messages posted while you were entering."
-
- This is also known as "simulposting." When you start entering a
-message, the system knows where you last left off. When you save
-your message, the system checks to see if any messages were entered
-while you were typing. This is so that you know whether you need
-to go back and re-read the last few messages. This message may appear
-in any room.
-
- "*** You have new mail"
-
- This message is essentially the same as the above message, but can
-appear at any time. It simply means that new mail has arrived for you while
-you are logged in. Simply go to the Mail> room to read it.
-
- Who list
- --------
- The <W>ho command shows you the names of all users who are currently
-online. It also shows you the name of the room they are currently in. If
-they are in any type of private room, however, the room name will simply
-display as "<private room>". Along with this information is displayed the
-name of the host computer the user is logged in from.
-
projects / citadel.git / blobdiff