PCBoard (R) QuickStart Clark Development Company, Inc. Post Office Box 571365 Murray, UT 84157-1365 (801) 261-1686 Toll Free Order Line: 800-356-1686 QuickStart document created by Denis Fafard for CDC. PCBoard is the registered trademark of Clark Development Company, Inc. All other brand and product names mentioned in this manual are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION PCBoard is the most widely used bulletin board software in the world. It is implemented by big business and the occasional weekend PC hacker, in-house local area networks and basement hobby machines, executives and children alike. It has earned its popularity by its very flexibility, which allows it to suit the people it serves. These people, like you, are interested in integrating today's available high tech communications facilities with their own computers, and PCBoard accomplishes this task both easily and powerfully. If you're new to electronic communications, you need not worry; PCBoard is user friendly and versatile enough to accommodate the novice user while satisfying the expert. To connect with a PCBoard host system, you need only a terminal (or computer) of any type, a modem of any type and a communication software package. This QuickStart guide was written to let novice users quickly and easily connect to a PCBoard Bulletin Board System (BBS) and begin using it. It is NOT meant as a complete manual of the entire system. Only the basic commands will be explained here; enough to teach you to use the simpler parts of the BBS. This guide assumes that you are familiar enough with your own setup, both hardware and software, that you can call out to other computer systems or BBSs. A working knowledge of your communication software is recommended in order to use the more advanced features. A complete document that explains all the commands is available for you to read. It is called the "PCBoard Callers' Guide"; ask the System Operator, SysOp, of the BBS where you can find this file. The best way to learn the system though, is through repeated use. Do not be afraid to explore this new world; it cannot hurt you and in no way will you be able to damage it! SECURITY Before we begin, a quick note on the security issues facing BBSs is in order. No system, whether it is a computer system, bank security system, or your office's after hours access system is 100% secure. There is and always will be a chance of people breaking into a secured system; computer BBSs are no exception. With the advance in security systems though, you can limit those chances to almost zero. PCBoard has many levels of security to protect you. These range from individual passwords, to recording all phone logs, BBS activity reports, security levels within the BBS, and other such measures. In addition, there are also strategies that deal with computer viruses. All files can be checked, have detailed reports sent to the SysOp, and in the case of bad files, automatically deleted. With this type of security, and more, coupled with common sense, the potential security risks are almost negligible. This is just to educate all users on the implications of signing-on to a computer bulletin board system. HOW TO LOGON TO A PCBOARD BBS When you connect with a PCBoard system, a series of questions will be asked that must be answered before access to commands and files is permitted. These questions may be slightly different for some bulletin board systems, since SysOps can customize prompts and login procedures within PCBoard. If you are unsure about any questions or commands on the system, simply hit RETURN, or ENTER. Usually the BBS is smart enough to answer for you with a default response. You could simply hit ENTER at most prompts and the system will configure your user ID with some preset general parameters. In doing this, however, you cannot customize your ID specifically to your liking. Don't worry, though, you can always change your answers later. Most PCBoard systems will initially ask you the following questions: Enter Language # to use This is an optional question. If the SysOp has installed other languages on the BBS, you will have a choice. Simply choose the option you wish. Do you want Graphics? Yes means you will receive colourful menus if your communications package supports colour ANSI. No means you will get non-colour menus. Note: the colour menus are displayed slower than normal menus. What is your First Name Simply type in your first name at the prompt. This is the user name that the BBS keeps on record to identify you each time you are logging on. As a shortcut you can also type in your last name as well. What is your Last Name Enter in your last name at the prompt if you did not already enter it using the shortcut mentioned above. What is your Password If you already have an account on the BBS, then PCBoard will ask you for your password. If not, it will recognize you as a new user to the system and proceed in one of the following manners. Once here, the BBS will either do one of two things, depending on how it is set up. If it is a "CLOSED" system you may be asked a few simple questions then given limited access or the system will log you off. Only those with preset accounts can use such a system. Otherwise if the BBS is operating as an "OPEN" system, PCBoard will recognize you as a new caller and ask if you wish to continue. If so, simply indicate it by typing "Y" for yes. NEW USER REGISTRATION All new callers are then asked several general information questions. Simply key in your response to each of the questions. Below is a brief outline of what to expect. Password: TREK2001 Enter the password you want to use. You will see only dots instead of letters. A second confirmation will be made of your chosen password. City & Province: Edmonton Alberta Enter the city and province where you are calling from. Business Phone: 403-493-9000 Enter the telephone number, including the area code, that you are calling from. Home Phone: 403-426-5050 Enter the telephone number, including the area code, where we can talk to you. Computer Type: Compaq Deskpro (386 comp.) What kind of computer or terminal are you using? Clear Screen: Y After reading a message, do you want the screen cleared before the next message appears? (as opposed to just scrolling up off the screen) Transfer Protocol: N If you are not sure what to enter here, hit ENTER or N There may be other questions asked in addition to the ones listed above. Simply answer them as best you can. After your information has been entered, the BBS may look to see if you have received any mail; after which the PCBoard Main Menu should appear. This is the root of the BBS where all the commands stretch out from. Do not be alarmed with the many different options presented to you or commands to choose from. A point to remember is that new callers may NOT have access to ALL the commands presented. The best route to take from here is to simply explore the system. PCBoard is friendly enough to help you along, yet smart enough to prevent you from doing any sort of damage to the BBS. Just remember-"If in doubt hit ENTER!" GETTING HELP One of the most powerful features of PCBoard available to you is the Help system. You can either get help online from the BBS itself, from files, or even from the System Operator, the SysOp. Online Help Although the Help command is displayed at the Main Menu, you can get help at almost every command prompt or submenu (ie: almost any time the BBS is asking you for a command as opposed to when you are typing in answers to specific questions). If you don't understand what you are supposed to do, simply type either H or ? for some help. The system will respond by presenting you with a detailed help file of the current commands and options that you are facing. It will explain what each option means and how it works. Once you are in the help program, you will see a 'Help' prompt after each screenful of information. At this prompt you either tell the help program that you want to continue reading or not. Press ENTER or Y to continue reading the help file, or N to stop. You also have the option of getting help, H , on how to use the Help function. Once you stop, or quit, out of the help program, the BBS will return you to exactly the same place you left before asking for help. Personal Help If you are really stuck and still are not able to figure out the commands and help that the BBS is giving you, you can always try to ask for some personal help. You can request to talk to, or chat, with the SysOp by using the O)perator Page command. By hitting O you will alert the SysOp that you wish to speak with him for some reason. Since most SysOps are not available at all times of the day and night, this option may be disabled during certain times of the day. If the SysOp is not available for a chat, you can always leave a message explaining your problem. The command is C)omment to SysOp. By hitting C you will then be asked for confirmation about leaving a note before typing in your message. READING MESSAGES Reading messages left by others is one of the most important functions of a BBS. These messages can either be private or for public viewing. Messages are grouped into sections called conferences. Each conference is dedicated to a single topic or idea. Only messages concerning that topic are allowed to be written, or posted, in that specific conference. There is usually a general conference to discuss topics not covered by all the other specific conferences. Personal Mail To read any mail that has been personally addressed to you, use the Y;ALL command. This will scan all conferences for mail TO you. By simply using the Y command you can specify other options. Public Messages There are many different message areas or conferences that can be available on a BBS. Some topics may interest you, while other would not be of any use to you. The first thing you may want to do is to J)oin a conference that you are specifically interested in reading messages about. Use the J command to join a particular conference. To read all the messages within this conference use the R command to tell the BBS you want to Read messages, then A to indicate all of them. To read other messages use the R command from the Main Menu again. Once more specify which messages (in what conferences) you wish to read. To read all the messages you have access to in every conference, use the ALL subcommand. There are many options other than ALL available at this point. Use Help to read about them. After reading each message you will be prompted to keep on reading. To do this simply hit the ENTER key after each message. After reading all the messages, you will be back at the Read menu again. Press ENTER to return to the Main Menu. Once again, several different options are available at the command prompt. To use any of them, simply type in the appropriate command or use the Help command. WRITING MESSAGES The next most important part of a BBS, after being able to read messages, is to write them. You can either enter a new message on the system or reply to one that you have read. Either way it can be sent to an individual, group, or open to public viewing. There are many different levels of security that can be used and recipients that can be specified. This manual, however, simply explains the basics. Entering New Messages PCBoard can have many active message areas, or conferences, on the system at the same time. To enter a new message, first choose where you wish to post that message. For example, you would not post a message about computer programming in the "TV Soaps" conference, or about car repairs in the "Classical Music" conference. To begin, use the J)oin command to join the correct area to post in. A list will be presented to you to choose from if there is more than one conference available. Now use the E command to enter your message. Entering the message is the same as writing a letter. First, address the message so the system will know who to send it to. In the "To: " field enter the recipient's name, or ALL if you want it to be a public message. Next, in a 3 - 5 word description briefly explain the subject of the message. Now you must indicate the security level. It is best to hit N (None) for messages that you want anyone to read, and R (recipient) for private messages. If you have not changed your preferences regarding editors, you will be asked if you wish to use the Full Screen editor. If you choose no, then you will simply be entering your message line by line instead of having an entire screen to type over (using Full Screen is easier because you can move about the entire screen if you have ANSI emulation, or graphics, turned on). If you see a prompt asking whether or not you wish to 'Echo' the message, this simply means that the BBS is linked to other BBS's. Entering Yes will mean your message will be displayed on the local BBS as well as the remote ones; No means display it on just this BBS. At this point, enter your message. To return to the message prompt press either ENTER (alone on a blank line), if you are using the line editor, or ESC for the Full Screen editor. Next, press S to save your message. Use the other options for various functions. Here is a brief example: E (ENTER) TO (Enter) = 'ALL'? All (ENTER) [note: or just press ENTER] Subject (Enter) = abort? Star Trek stuff (ENTER) Message Security (H) = Help? N (ENTER) Use Full Screen Editor ? Y (ENTER) Replying to a Message If you wish to reply to a message you have just read use the RE command. Type in the command immediately after having read the message. Now follow the same procedure as if you were entering a brand new message. FILE TRANSFERS Besides the ability to read and post messages, most people are interested in transferring information to and from the BBS. This is done through the use of transfer protocols. Basically, a transfer protocol is the language computers use to talk to each other while sending data back and forth. An important note to remember: BOTH computers (the BBS and yours) MUST be using the same protocol for transferring files. Just as with humans, both computers must be talking the same language. If one computer is talking English and the other Spanish, not too much will be understood by either. Drawing on the same analogy, some languages can quickly express an idea in one or two words, whereas another language may take one or two sentences to convey the same idea. Some transfer protocols are faster than others. If possible set the protocol on the BBS and your communications package for Zmodem; if both cannot do this then use Ymodem (batch), and as a last resort choose Xmodem. Choose them in that order when possible, Z Y X (Zmodem is fastest, Xmodem is slowest) or one of the other available protocols. Uploading To send a file from your computer to the BBS, or Uploading, use either the U or UB command. The first is meant for a single file, the second for multiple, or batch, files. You will be prompted for the name of the file(s) you are uploading and a description (in some cases you may not; the system will take care of it). If you have preset your transfer protocol via the T command, you will now be ready to transfer, if not, you will be prompted for the protocol you wish to use. Once the BBS indicates that it is waiting to receive the file, tell your communications package to begin uploading the file. Downloading Getting a file from the BBS, or downloading, is just the reverse of uploading a file. The commands are either D for a single file, or DB for multiple files. This time, however, you must specify precisely which file(s) you want. This can be done in a few ways. The simplest is to type in the filename that you want, wildcards are accepted. Another way is to first enter the File directories with the F command. From here you can list the files available, locate certain files, or scan for filenames containing certain letters. Once you have found the file, you can then proceed to D)ownload as normal, or Flag it for downloading later (while you go off and look for other files). Once the file(s) have been listed, or flagged, and the protocol has been chosen (if not preset) the BBS will then start to send the file(s). You then have approximately 30 - 45 seconds to tell your computer to start receiving the file. LOGGING OFF Once your business is finished on the BBS, the last thing to do is to log off. This is done by using the G command, for goodBYE. The BBS may then ask for confirmation and will then hang up. Some systems will display news or other text before actually hanging up the phone. Simply proceed through this and the system will log off normally. ***************************************************************************** I created this file in the hopes of teaching the non-computist how to access a PCBoard BBS. It has been helpful to some of my users. I've been BBSing since 1985 and know what it is like to be left in the dark sometimes not wanting to ask the 'stupid question.' [Apple II INFINITUM] This file may be distributed in its complete uneditted form without prior consent to either CDC or myself. (I don't want mail from all over so no address or phone numbers, sorry. Give CDC a call) Denis Fafard Sysop: The New Chalkboard II, Siren's Call, WCB-BBS Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA DenisF@ersys.edmonton.ab DenisF@freddys.edmonton.ab