Subj : Re: Design and Theming
To   : Lord Gareth
From : Jikey
Date : Tue May 26 2020 13:16:19

 
 LG> Hi SysOps,
 LG> 
 LG> I'm new at running a BBS.  Running into general setup issues and
 LG> learning how the system works has been a lot of fun!

Hello and welcome to the hobby.

 LG> The problem I'm having now is thinking more about design and theme.  I
 LG> have a framework of a board in place and have it connected to fsxNet.  I
 LG> do plan on putting some DOOR games in place and even added a Gopher
 LG> client.  However, I haven't figured out what the PURPOSE of the board is
 LG> and what the cohesive experience is for users.

How common this is.  I remember putting together my first BBS around
1989/1990, I had a ton of ideas but couldn't really decide on anything in
particular.  In those days I concentrated on having the latest files
available, mainly BBS related and overall utility related.  I also made use
of the macros in a big way so as to give the appearance of a dynamic
interface, rather than static.  After a while I removed the echo/netmail from
the board and went direct BBS dialup rather than through FrontDoor.  Every
sysop and their dog had echomail and nobody was reading it on my BBS.

 LG> Also, did you do the ANSI theme design yourself or did you use a group
 LG> like ANSIGARDEN? What tutorials or information on ANSI art design did
 LG> you use to help get started?

Personally I did my own ANSI stuff but not pictures.  I like pictures don't
get me wrong, but getting out to find them back then was not as easy as now. 
So I did boxes, menus, etc, in addition to the display macros and it looked
pretty good in the end.

I'm not sure if you're a web designer or have done basic web pages in the
past, but I was on a BBS recently where the sysop mentioned that 80% of his
calls are via his web interface, so catering to the different types of
customers I would say is fairly important.

I'd be interested in seeing what you come up with in the end.

Thanks,
Dean.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Windows/32)
 * Origin: Buckeye Telegraph (21:3/108)

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