Ok guys, (and Lady`s) Here`s what ya need to do First. If you don't have a copy of FD202, call your favorite BBS and D/L it. The items that I`m about to mention may not be the best, or the worst to use, and I don't want to get into discussions on "This is better than that" kinds of stuff. These items do the best jobs for me, so I use them. Here`s a checklist of some of the other things you'll need. 1. A Fossil Driver. I use X00, but BNU will work also. Keep in mind that either one, may not work on your system. I have a friend who can't use X00, but BNU works fine on his system. Personally, I can use both, I just prefer X00. 2. A Mail Tosser/Scanner I really like GEcho. It's small, fast, and the price is right. (FREE), if you can't afford to pay for it. (according to the GEcho docs). 3. TriDog (compatible with whatever ver. of TriBBS you run). Tridog is a Fido/TriBBS message converter. 4. A Nodelist A Nodelist is basically Front Doors dialing directory. It's how Frodo knows who to call when your sending messages, mail, and files. I`m in multi-nets, and can dial over 30,000 systems. It can also be used to dial any system in the Nodelist thru FD`s terminal program. (I gave up Telix, Qmodem, Commo etc. as FD`s term program does a better job, IMHO). There are several *different Nodelists. Fido has one, as well as World- net, RelayNet, TTN etc. The TTN Nodelist is NOT the one that Mr. Munson posts in another echo. That one is more of a text file for SysOp use, and *not* for use with a Front End mailer. The TTN *FIDO* Style Nodelist is available from my BBS, but when we get ready to install it, I`ll post it here, as a Text file, and then tell you what to name it, and how to compile it into FD. If ya get in a hurry to get it, call my BBS (407) 292-3963 and download it. It's in the Front Door Help file area, and it's name is TRI_ZONE.LST 5. Your Modems Init String IMHO, this is the *MOST IMPORTANT THING* in the whole setup. If your init is not right, Front Door will not work. Now, if you still want to set it up, here`s what you need to do next. You need to make a FD directory on your hard drive. I set up on drive C: but you can use any other drive that's available on your system. Here`s my directory setup; C:\FD C:\FD\MSGBASE C:\FD\NETMAIL C:\FD\NETFILE C:\FD\NODELIST C:\FD\PACKETS Here is a brief description of the directories. C:\FD - Front Doors Main Directory. This is where you unzip the FD202 files to. C:\FD\MSGBASE - Here is where you'll make several sub-directories for *each* echo (message) area that you have. These sub-directories are where GEcho will toss and scan your mail. More on this later C:\FD\NETMAIL - This directory is where all your private messages, (messages addressed to your node number) will be tossed. C:\FD\NETFILE - This directory is where files that have been FREQ`d to you go. It is also where all your incoming mail packets are stored before they get tossed, (un-packed), and then they get deleted, after your mail gets tossed. C:\FD\NODELIST - Your Nodelist(s) go in here. As well as some other files to be described later. C:\FD\PACKETS - This is where your Out-Going packets are stored, and they are deleted from this directory after they are sent. After you make your directories, unzip FD202 to your MAIN (C:\FD) Front Door directory. Go to that directory, and type in FDSETUP. (You may have to press your spacebar to get the menu to come up the first time). Ok. If you've unzipped your FD202 files to your main FD directory, and typed in FDSETUP, and pressed your spacebar to create your SETUP.FD file, you should see a menu in front of you. At the top of the screen, you should see these headers; File Global Mailer Editor Terminal Modem Printer Manager The File header should be hi-lighted. If you press enter, you'll see; Shell to DOS Exit Don't mess with these right now. Use your right arrow key, and scroll over to Global, and press enter. You will come to addresses. Press enter again, and addresses come up again. This is where you put your MAIN Address. If you don't have the a nodelist yet for TTN, leave me a message, and I`ll assign you an un-official TTN address. If you've been in TTN for 6 months or more, you do have a TTN- Fido style address, even if you don't know it yet. Next, press your escape key. Now press your down arrow key to go to the Site-Info box, and press enter. There are 5 entry`s in this level. They are; Name (Your BBS name goes here) Location (Where yer at ie; Orlando, Fla for me) Phone (Your phone number in the XXX XXX XXXX format) Speed (Top speed of your modem 2400 or 9600) * Flags (Fido stuff. If you wish to accept mail at any time, your First flag will be CM (for Crash Mail), and your second flag will be XA (For your mailer type). Separate your flags with a comma as in CM,XA ** * Even if you have a 14.4 or higher, use 9600, as FD`s internal programming will recognize the 14.4. ** There are other flags, one is MO (for mail only), and there is a flag for you USR HST people also, H16 etc. Next, press ESC, then your downarrow key to go to the Domains Box. Press enter. Your main address should be on the left with a second box on the right of your screen. Inside this box, you'll see Zone and Domain. If TTN is gonna be your first net, enter 40 in the Zone feild, and enter TTN in the Domain feild. press ESC There's one box left marked AKA Matching, but we won't worry about this right now, as we'll just setup your mailer for TTN at this time. Use your down-arrow key again to go to the Filenames box, and press enter. 11 entrys here. System C:\FD (your main FD directory) Netmail C:\FD\NETMAIL (Where yer netmail goes) Files C:\FD\NETFILE (Temp. storage of mail packets and files) Packets C:\FD\PACKETS (Temp. storage of out-bound mail packets) Log File C:\FD\FD.LOG (File that tells ya what FD`s been up to) Banner C:\FD\WELCOME.BBS (ASCII text file) * Nodelist C:\FD\NODELIST (Where yer nodelist goes) In-Event C:\FD\INEVENT.BBS (ASCII text file) ** MSG Base C:\FD\MSGBASE (Where all your echo messages are stored) Swapping C:\FD (Where FD should swap to) * WELCOME.BBS is just an ASCII text file that you make with your favorite text editor. It should say something like; Please wait while the BBS gets fired up. ** INEVENT.BBS is another text file you make, and it should say something like; Sorry, we're processing mail right now. Please call back later. Press ESC, and Down Arrow again. This will put you in the General Box. Press enter. 7 entrys here. Your Country Code 1 (For USA) Screen Flickers NO (Set to yes if you have a CGA monitor) Use Fastkey Yes (If you have a 386 or better) Screen Blanking Yes (Blanks your screen when FD ain't busy) Blackout Timer 30 (seconds it waits before blanking screen) Extended Keyboard Yes (If you have an extended keyboard,101 keys) Force 24 Hour Format No Press ESC, Down arrow, Enter for the Users Box. 2 entrys here. Username (Your Name) Access (Make yourself a Supervisor) Press ESC 3 times. More in the next post.. Play around with some of the other menus. Let's see how many of them ya get right . Have a good`un. Semaphore (Commercial ver. only) We'll setup the Mailer section of FDSETUP in this message. Go to your Main FD directory, and type FDSETUP . Scroll over to the Mailer section, and press enter. The first item in this menu is Miscellaneous. Hi-light this, and press enter. 20 entrys in this area. Mail From Un-listed Systems (Yes) Mail From Un-Protected Systems (Yes) Mail From Un-listed Points (Yes) Kill Empty Received Messages (Yes) Terminal Only (No Mail) (No) Mail Only (No BBS) (No) Match Remote`s Zone (Yes) Present All AKA`s To Remote System (Yes) Trigger Exit Upon Receipt Of Netmail (No) Upon Receipt Of Any File (No) Print Received Messages (No) Busy Retrys (20) Retry Delay (30) Delay Before First Call (Yes) Days To Keep Mail History ( 7) BBS Software Name (your BBS name, or close to it) Seconds Before Passing to BBS (11) Minimum Undialable Cost ( 1) Honor Return Receipt Requests (RRQ) (No) Press ESC, Down Arrow to LOG, press enter. 14 entrys. Fatal Errors (Yes) Other Errors (Yes) Accounting Info (Yes) Sent/Received Files (Yes) Brief Messages (Yes) Trivial Messages (Yes) Transaction Info (Yes) Transfer Messages (Yes) Unexpected Passwords (Yes) Session Information (Yes) Remote Systems AKA`s (Yes) Remote Systems Info (Yes) Modem Responses (Yes) DEBUG All of the Above (Yes) Press ESC, Down Arrow to File Requests, press enter. 14 entrys, some left blank Mode Anyone can Request List C:\FD\FILES.LST (ASCII text file) * SecList Alias SecAlais Message C:\(wherever your BBS Master File List is) Max Match 0 Max Time 0 Max Size 0 Min Speed 2400 Limited No Start 00:00 End 00:00 Days ------A * FILES.LST is a text file that lists ALL directories that you will allow other people who run Front Ends to Freq from. ie; C:\TRIBBS\NEWFILES C:\TRIBBS\GAMES C:\TRIBBS\TEXTFILES You can add as many directories to this list as you wish to. Do this after we finish the setup. Press ESC, Down Arrow, Enter at Errorlevels. 13 entrys here. 300 200 1200 200 1275 200 2400 200 4800 200 7200 200 9600 200 12000 200 14400 200 19200 200 38400 200 Received Mail 31 Create Bat. file Yes Press ESC, Down Arrow, Enter on Audio Control 11 entrys. Clock No UnPacked Any Mail Yes UnPacked High Priority Mail Yes Waiting Mail Yes Inbound Connection Yes Outbound Connection Yes Completed Mail Transfer Yes BBS Caller Yes Fatal Error Yes Audio Start Time 00:00 Audio End Time 00:00 We are done in this area. Press ESC several times to exit. Go to FDSETUP (you should be able to do this by now ) Scroll over to the Editor header, and press ENTER. There is only one part of this that we need to setup, and that's the Miscellaneous section. Hi- Light Miscellaneous, and press enter. 16 entrys Netmail Restricted No Netmail Read Only No Netmail Export OK Yes Netmail Use Tables No Netmail Crash Yes Netmail Direct Yes Netmail Hold No Netmail Private Yes Netmail Kill/Sent Yes Use Zone Gates Ask Del.Orig.(Conf) Ask Del.Orig.(Locl) Ask Del.Orig.(Net.M.) Ask Show Hard CRs Yes Margin 60 Honor CFM No Press ESC, Right Arrow key, and now were in FD`s Terminal setup. I`ll take a little more of your time on this, and the next area also. In the Terminal header, scroll down to Miscellaneous, and press enter. 16 items here, but you only need to setup a few of them. Init (Whatever init you use for Telix, Qmodem,Commo,etc.) Download (Whatever D/L area you want to put the files you download into.) Upload (You can leave this blank, as FD will prompt you for a directory and filename you wish to send.) Editor (Blank) Protocol Zmodem Emulation ANSI Avatar Yes Buffer 128 Connect Noise Yes Transfer Noise Yes Use Tables No Auto Zmodem Yes Local Echo No Wrap Around Yes Delay 10 Logging No ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Inits are VERY important. FD will NOT WORK without the proper inits in place. Check your Modems manual to see what the correct Inits should be. I have worked with my inits to a point where I just use AT&Y0| for an Init for BOTH the Term Program AND the Modem setup that's comming up in a few... I also use the same init for TriBBS`s init ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press ESC, down arrow, Enter on EMSI Profile. It's setup is very straight forward. Just set it up the way you want. What it does is, if you call a compatible system, it will automatically log you onto a BBS with a minimum of hassle. It's like a script that logs you onto a BBS. 12 entrys Active Yes (or No to disable) Name (Your Name) Handle (Your Alias) Password (Your Password) Hot Keys Yes Quiet Yes Pausing No Editor No News No New Mail Yes New Files Yes Screen Clr Yes This is all we need to setup in the Terminal part. Press ESC, Right Arrow, to Modem, and press Enter on Hardware Modem Port (This is your Com Port that's hooked to Your Modem. Usually 1 for com1 or 2 for com2) Maximum Baud Rate (2400 if you have a 2400 baud modem. If you have a high speed modem, set this to 38,400 or 57,600.) Lock Port (No for 2400 baud modems. Yes for all of you speeders 9600+) Reset Modem To Connect Speed No Lower DTR When Busy No Lower DTR To Terminate Call Yes Toggle DTR Before Dialing No Carrier Detect Mask 128 Inbound Buffer Size 0 Outbound Buffer Size 0 Press ESC, Down arrow, to Command Strings press Enter (I know we skipped the Messages part, but the defaults in that area should work) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the Heart of Front Door. It tells FD just how to react when a call comes in. With the way that we're gonna set it up, FD will take the Modem Off Hook whenever you do an event, so someone calling in will just get a BUSY signal. This comes in handy for some things (Like tossing mail, running Events etc.) It will also take the Modem off hook whenever you exit from FD ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 entrys Escape Code ~+++~ Return Online ~ATO| (use the letter O and not the number 0) Onhook ATH0| Offhook ~ATH1| Dial ATDT Prefix (Blank) Suffix | Delay 5 Init 1 (Same Init you use for TriBBS) Init 2 (Blank) Init 3 (Blank) Down ATH1| Reset AT| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please notice that we're using the | "Piping" character, and not the ^M that most of you use. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press ESC, Down arrow to Answer Control, Enter 6 entrys here Manual Answer Yes (A No here will cause FD NOT to answer a call) Force Answer ATA| Answer Delay 5 Limited Hours No (If you run your BBS 24 Hours a day) Starting Time 00:00 Ending Time 00:00 We're getting it done now (Grin). Here is where it gets to the point where ya gotta follow kinda close. Please bear with me on this,`cuz the end is almost in sight... We'll skip the printer setup, `cuz I dunno about you, but I don't wanna print out EVERY message as I receive it. I carry over 600 echoes, and this might tend to be kinda rough on my ole Okey 180. Go to the Manager header, and you'll see 5 areas under it. They are; Events Folders Security Requests Modem We will only worry about the first 3. Hi-light Events, and press ENTER. You MAY have to press your spacebar at this point to create a file that FD uses. Watch the bottom of your screen, FD will tell ya if ya gotta press your spacebar. What you should see on your screen looks something like this; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- # T Days M Start Length Lev Min Max Delay ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 @ -------A * 00:00 00:01 0 0 -1 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a Internal Event that Front Door uses to do Front Door stuff. DO NOT Delete this event! EVER! Any other Event you wanna make/delete you can, but this one's GOTTA be there. Let's make a new Event, to show you how to do it. You will be making quite a few events to allow FD to handle your BBS events etc. Press your INS key. A screen should come up that looks something like this; Tag Days -------A Modifier Add Eventbase (+) Start Time 00:00 Length 00:01 Errorlevel Min.Cost 0 Max.Cost -1 Behavior Retry Delay Tag should be Hi-lighted, so press ENTER Tag A (The A makes a internal event) Days -------A (Every Day `o the week) Modifier (Use Default) Start Time (Use Default 00:00) Length (Use Default 00:01) Errorlevel 31 Min.Cost (Use Default) Max.Cost (Use Default) Behavior (Here`s where it gets complicated, see note below) * Retry Delay 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Press Enter on Behavior, and a new screen pops up. it looks something like this, on the right hand side of your screen; Allow Users During event Yes Exit when Mail Is Received No High Priority (Crash) Mail Only No Allow File Requests Yes Pickup File Requests No Hold (Don't Send) File Requests No Attempt To Pick Up Waiting Mail Yes Allow Nodes To Pick Up Waiting Mail Yes Prioritize Outbound Calls No Receive-Only No End Event When No More Mail To Send No Send To CM Systems Only No Send To Systems Once Only No Inactive No ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Change the Default settings to what is shown here above^^. When yer done, press ESC. You should be back into your edit Events screen now. You should have 2 events on your screen now, and it should look something like this; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- # T Days M Start Length Lev Min Max Delay ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 @ -------A * 00:00 00:01 0 0 -1 0 1 A -------A + 00:00 00:01 31 0 -1 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- We will cover how to make eXternal (or X Events a little later). The X events are the ones we use to do all the BBS maintenance. End of Event Setup. We'll set up a folder now. The reason that we're only gonna set up 1, is because before we set it up, we need to make a sub-directory in your C:\FD\MSGBASE directory for it. Later on, when you set up GEcho, it will make all of the sub-directories for you, as you add your echoes into GEcho. (Sure saves a LOT of typing that way) . Make the directory C:\FD\MSGBASE\TTNNEWS ( or whatever you wanna call it) If your still in the MANAGER section, scroll down to Folders, and Press Enter. (You MAY have to press your spacebar to create FOLDERS.FD, a file that FD uses to keep track of your echo areas). We'll make a folder for the Best Newsletter in ANY Net. The TTN NewsLetter. (I just had to do that, `cuz Steve is letting us use his echo to do this stuff. Besides, it don't hurt to suck up every once and awhile). And we may wanna be able to post in this echo again. Press your INS key. You should see something like this; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Status Origin Title Path Users Password Use AKA ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press ENTER on Status, and a new screen pops up on the right hand side. 10 Items, all important, some tagged, but we, being brave are gonna change some of them. Restricted Echo Info * Export OK * Echomail * Msgbase Netmail Local Translate * Private Read-Only ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scroll to each item, and press your spacebar (If memory serves) to change the status on each one to what you see above. Echo Info, Export OK, Echomail, and Translate should have a mark beside them. The rest should NOT be marked. Back at the Setup menu, you will see (again) Status Origin (Your BBS name goes here) Title TTN News Letter Path C:\FD\MSGBASE\TTNNEWS (or whatever dir you make for it) * Users (Default) Password No Use AKA Your Address goes here ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * It does NOT matter what you call this directory, but it MUST be in your \FD\MSGBASE directory. USE A Separate DIRECTORY FOR EACH ECHO THAT YOU ADD TO YOUR FOLDERS. (Sorry `bout shouting, but that was important, besides, it relieved some stress, I just hadta do it). Press ESC, and you should see something like; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Status Users Password Title ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EXI-X No TTN News Letter ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Easy, HUH! Try adding 600 of `em. I gotta tell ya. I have my \FD\MSGBASE setup by numbers. in other words, if this were my first entry, the sub- directory would be \FD\MSGBASE\_1 (Notice the under-score) and before ya ask, That's the way I like it Awh-Huh! . The next one would be \FD\MSGBASE\_2 Etc... Ok... home stretch guys... The last thing in the setup I wanna touch upon, is the Security section. This section is for your Hubs/Nodes that call you on a regular basis. It is almost too simple to setup. All ya need is an address, and a password for each entry, and use the defaults for the transfer stuff. Let's say ya wanna put me in there , for some un-Godly reason. You would enter my address under the SYSTEM part. And then Enter in a password for me that we BOTH agreeded on. The rest is set to defaults. This is the end of your BASIC Front Door Setup. There is STILL some stuff to do before FD will run, (Like your FDRUN.BAT file, FDNODE.CTL file, and your Nodelist stuff). The only things left that we hafta do is to make the FDRUN.BAT file, add the nodelist and compile it, edit your board.bat file, edit your FDNODE.CTL file, and load your fossil driver. Your FDNODE.CTL file is gonna be a little time consuming. It tells FD how to dial the phone. You wouldn't want FD to dial the area-code for a LOCAL call, so YOU have to tell it not to. Now for the hard part. Get a phone book, and write down ALL the prefixes that are local to you. Now for the fun. Because I live in the 407 area-code, i`ll use it as an example. Here`s what your FDNODE.CTL file should look like, and it goes in your \FD\NODELIST directory. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- DIAL 1-407-222 222 (What this does, is it tells FD that it shouldn't dial) 1-407-223 223 (the 1-407- for the numbers on the right) 1-407-228 228 1-407-236 236 (and so on for ALL L O C A L calls) after you add all the local prefixes, the next line will be; 1-407- 1-407- (This tells FD that there are numbers in your area-code that are not local to you) End COST (This tells FD how much to log for billing) 1-407-222- 0 (Free local call) And yes, ya gotta add all the local 1-407-223- 0 numbers here also) 1-407-228- 0 1-407-236- 0 (After you add everything, the next line will be) END ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another file you'll have to write is a MUCH smaller one. It's a one liner, called EXEBBS.BAT . It resides in your MAIN Front Door directory, and looks like this. BOARD /F%1%4 /C%2 /T%3 /H Refer to the TriBBS doc`s to tell ya what each one of `em do, but I believe that the /F%1%4 says go to the BBS, then come back to FD when the callers done. The /C%2 says use com2, The /T%3 limits the callers time ,due to a pending FD event, and the /H means Hang up the modem. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You will also have to edit your BOARD.BAT file, but after ya done soooo good on yer FDNODE.CTL file, it`s an easy one also. Ya only gotta add something to one line of the file; EXAMPLE; CD\ C:\TRIBBS if exist door.bat del door.bat if exist event.bat del event.bat if exist endbbs del endbbs BBS %1 %2 %3 %4 (This is the line) if exist door.bat door if exist event.bat event if exist endbbs goto end board :end ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notice that all we changed was the line with BBS on it. All we did was just add the %`s from 1 to 4. Ok guys, here`s the final chapter. It's the FDRUN.BAT file. It resides in your MAIN Front Door directory, and it looks like this. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- @echo off :Loop C: CD \FD FD REM if errorlevel 200 goto callbbs if errorlevel 68 goto dotridog if errorlevel 39 goto mail_packup if errorlevel 31 goto mail_recieved if errorlevel 10 goto usrbrk if errorlevel 1 goto fderror :callbbs call dobbs cd\fd goto loop :dotridog call tridog.bat cd\fd goto loop :mail_packup cd\gecho gecho scan cd\fd goto loop :mail_packup cd\gecho gecho toss cd\fd goto loop :userbrk cls @echo User Break goto Done :fderror @echo Mailer Returned An Error ( 1-9 ) cd\fd goto loop :done :fatal cls @echo Front Door Down :end @echo Bye-Bye ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see, I left ya a LOT of room for expansion. You can use ANY un-used errorlevel from 31 up, for things like BBS maintenance, (as long as you have a batch file to call). Let's say ya got a BBS event that does your door maintenance, and it uses a batch file called dorstuff.bat . Just add it to your FDRUN.BAT file with an errorlevel. As you can see, we already have a errorlevel of 39 (mail_packup), and 31 (mail_recieved), so if we wanted, we could create an errorlevel of 35, and use it for the door maintenence event. This event HAS to be listed between errorlevel 39 and 31 like this; if errorlevel 39 goto mail_packup if errorlevel 35 goto dorstuff if errorlevel 31 goto mail_recieved You have just created a new errorlevel for Front Door to use. Now, at the bottom of the FDRUN.BAT file, you need to tell FD just what you want it to do about this errorlevel. Here`s how it should look; :dorstuff cd\tribbs call dorstuff.bat cd\fd goto loop You can add this anywhere below the errorlevels part of the file. Next, go into your FDSETUP, under EVENTS, and add errorlevel 35 as an external event ( X ) event.Tell FD what time to run the event, and if it should allow users during the event. As soon as you do that, yer done. Front Door will handle that event from now on. I use a batch file called BBSM.BAT for all my BBS maintenance. All BBSM is, is a batch file that calls several other batch files, and run this event at midnight. Have FUN with Front Door. If you have any problems, leave me a message here, and i`ll get back to you asap on it. If you need the TTN Nodelist, call my BBS at (407) 292-3963 and download it. I would send it out as a message, but it has some long lines in it, and may not have come out just right in a message. The name of the nodelist is Tri_Zone.Lst and it's a small file. Rename Tri_Zone.Lst to nodelist.200, and place it in your \fd\nodelist directory. Then go to your MAIN Front Door directory, and type in this command FDNC /F This should compile the nodelist and yer now ready to rock-and-roll with Front Door.... Remember, that no matter where you are in FD, (once you get it running), if you need help, press ALT-H , and FD will help ya outta any jam ya get yerself into.