A place to start for noobs who want to discover BBS's reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2023-04-21 18:40 Hey Guys, I have recently discovered BBS's after watching the documentary "back to the bbs" and was thrilled to see that there are still bbs's online. Alhtough the documentaries explain WHAT a BBS is and where it comes from, hardly ANY explain HOW a bbs works? What are message boards, how do you read, respond, write new messages .. How do you download files etc etc. For people who've been into BBS's for years its obvious, but for newbies it would be great to have a tutorial that explains HOW to USE one properly. If you know any manuals, howto's or instructions on the basic functions all bbs's have in common , please share! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rlauzon · 2023-04-21 18:57 How a BBS works: You connect with a terminal-emulator program - just like people used before the personal computer era started. For modern systems, things programs like SyncTerm will work. Back in modem days, you dialed a phone number and the modem established the connection. Today, it's simpler. You can just use your computer's network connection. Details are based on the program that you use. What are message boards: Similar to Facebook. Someone posts a message. Other people respond to it with their own messages. The rest "how do you read, respond, write new messages .. How do you download files" is highly dependent on BBS and terminal software. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- staticv0id · 2023-04-21 19:44 Every type of board software was slightly different, but each one usually had a textual menu of options and a command prompt. A new user would usually be set up so the menus would display each time. The user might hit M for mail, B for message board, D for door games, and so on. Under each of those sections would be another set of menus. Under door games, you’d have a list of the games available; under the message board, a list of topics. Many systems would let the user remove the automatic display of the menu as they got proficient using the system, so they would just interact with the command prompt. https://youtu.be/lr8ZL7qLewA has a good demonstration. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2023-04-21 21:34 Check out both of these websites: The BBS Corner - [https://bbscorner.com](https://bbscorner.com) The Telnet BBS Guide - https;[//telnetbbsguide.com](//telnetbbsguide.com) Each BBS software is different, so there's not a single "how to" guide. However the best thing you should do is download Telnet software (Syncterm, NetRunner, mTelnet, etc.) and learn how to use those to access BBSes. [https://bbscorner.com/bbs-users-zone/access- bbs/](https://bbscorner.com/bbs-users-zone/access-bbs/) Hope this helps! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2023-04-22 05:47 Thank you for taking the time to answer my comment. The connection part, that's something I have down, but the thing I struggled with (and that I would like to teach new users too) is HOW a BBS works. What are message boards , what are games, what are downloads. I know all BBS's vary in layout and buildup, but the basic functions are the same. For example: None of the online manuals and howto's explain to me : How do you reply to a message on a board and quote the person you are talking to. Finding that key combo took ages. I think those are the tips i'm looking for. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- hedgecore77 · 2023-04-22 09:51 Depends on the BBS software. Renegade, PCboard, WWIV, all have help menus. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rlauzon · 2023-04-22 10:43 I think I'm understanding the question. For the answer, we need to go wayyyyy back in computer history: Before the personal computer. In those days, computers were large, usually taking up a whole floor of a building. In order to get access to them, people would use a terminal. A terminal looks like a computer (i.e. keyboard and screen), but whatever you type on keyboard gets sent to the computer, and whatever the computer send back gets displayed on the screen. A BBS is sort of like that old computer setup. You run software on your PC to make it pretend like it's a terminal. The BBS receives keystrokes from the terminal software you are running and what the BBS sends back gets displayed on your screen. So you are basically remoting into the BBS computer and interacting with the BBS software. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rlauzon · 2023-04-22 10:46 So after that explanation... Message boards are nothing more than messages that other people wrote that you can read. How to reply, though, remains specific to the BBS software you are interacting with. Games are simply nothing more than programs running on the BBS computer that you interact with using your PC-emulating-a-terminal. Downloads are just files on the BBS that you can have sent to your computer (with today's technology, though, this ranges from not working to other, much better ways to do it). IHMO: you can just ignore this area of the BBS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- opt_in_out_in_out · 2023-04-22 13:12 I'm afraid the 'they're all different' thing still stands. The key combinations to quoting a message are sometimes ctrl-q, sometimes ctrl-w, sometimes you had to answer a question before you got into the editor. For the most part, many editors have a help menu with ctrl-z, or ctrl-h. Like learning to use Windows, you need some basics, and everything builds on there. Many of the BBS howtos now assume you already have that foundational knowledge about navigating those text menus and how to call up contextual help. BBS's are also composed of many programs strung together, all with different authors and different ways of working. A sysop's job is to make it work, and make it coherent. Would it be helpful to you if there was a step-by-step for how to use one particular BBS, to build that foundational knowledge? And if so, do you have an opinion about the experience level it should be pitched at? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2023-04-22 15:25 Ah! This here is starting to be what I was aiming for. A simple tutorial that says - This is a board - These are the sections - This is how you read a message - This is how you post a message - This is how you reply to a message - This is how you browse a file - Thus is how you download a file I know they are very very simple things for ppl who are into a BBS but when you get started it's all pretty confusing. So I'm thinking : entry level manuals here (the same leves as those that tell you what BBS is and how to connect to one) I'm more then willing to pitch in and make a fancy PDF of it or something ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2023-04-22 21:01 For my BBS, I made a how-to with screen shots. Is this what you want? It's not complete but it's a start. [http://www.dmine.com/howtouse/](http://www.dmine.com/howtouse/) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2023-04-23 10:27 Absolute GEM! Whoa man :) This is exactly what I was looking for. Thats an absolute GEM! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- F_Sblendorio · 2023-04-23 11:07 Which computer are you using to connect? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2023-04-23 11:15 !spoilers! Quote someone else [link text](link url) INSTRUCTIONS-- I'm using a Linux Machine running Syncterm. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- F_Sblendorio · 2023-04-23 11:25 Try Retrocampus BBS. On SyncTERM: * Add an item to Directory with "INS" key * Name it **Retrocampus BBS** * Set **Connection Type** to **Telnet** * Set **Address** to [**bbs.retrocampus.com**](https://bbs.retrocampus.com) * Press F2 ("Edit") * Set **TCP Port** to **6510** * Set **Screen Mode** to **C64** * Exit from settings * Connect to Retrocampus BBS * Enjoy it :)