The "bboard" is a threaded multi discussion bulletin board. It goes back when the original SDF was just a BBS. You may think of it as a corkboard at a community center where members post notes with thumb tacks. It is, along with commode, one of the best ways to get help and news from SDF-EU. Voting of new features and changes on SDF-EU policies also take place at the bboard (ARPA membership or above required)
To navigate the boards listings, use "F" (Forward) and "B" (Backward) keys to go up and down. When you reach the end of the list (or you press "Q"), you will enter in Command Mode, and a prompt will be presented to you. Every time you run "bboard" you are placed in the **"<GENERAL>"** board by default, hence the prompt "<GENERAL> Command: ".
Say you want to review the **"<SDFEU>"** bboard for news about SDF-EU. On the Command Mode, type "G" (GOTO) followed of the name of the bboard (in this case "G → SDFEU") You will enter in Posts Listing, with all entries at the **"<SDFEU>"** bboard sorted by activity (most recent first)
Post #3 “Meetup at EuroBSCcon” caught your attention. To read it, press "T" (TYPE), followed by the post number (in this case "T → 3") This will put you on Reading Mode at the first message from the thread. You could also start reading the thread from a specific message; simply enter "T → 3.2" if you want to start reading the thread #3 from the second reply.
To post a new thread on the bboard you are currently in, press "P" (POST) and enter a subject. To publicly reply to a post, press "R" (REPLY) If you are in Reading Mode, you will reply to the thread you are currently in. If you are in Posts Listing, you will be asked for the post number you want to reply. Either way you will end up in the pico editor <sup>[[#fn__1|]]</sup>. Write down your reply and press "CTRL-x" to finish you post.
| <SDFEU.1> Command: POST Subject: Timezone? You have written: ----------------------------------------------------------- In which timezone(s) SDF-EU servers are? This BULLETIN contains 40 characters in 6 words of 2 lines. ----------------------------------------------------------- POST your BULLETIN? (y/n) % Rebuilding symbol table for BBOARD:<SDFEU> [QUEUED] Would you like to add a READERS POLL? (y/n) |
| <SDFEU.1> Command: REPLY (A NUMBER) 3 REPLY to "Meetup at EuroBSDcon" ? (y/n) You have replied: ----------------------------------------------------------- I would love to! This BULLETIN contains 16 characters in 4 words of 2 lines. ----------------------------------------------------------- POST your REPLY? (y/n) |
^ "(G)OTO" | View another BBOARD (“GOTO” lists boards) |
^ "(T)YPE" | Displays the selected bulletin |
^ "(S)EARCH" | SEARCH the entire BBOARD on a KEYWORD |
^ "(N)EW SCAN" | SCAN the current BBOARD for NEW messages |
^ "(n)EW SCAN" | SCAN all BBOARDs for NEW messages |
^ "(V)IEW POLLS" | SCAN the entire BBOARD for READER POLLS |
^ "(F)ORWARD" | View the next thread within the current BBOARD |
^ "(B)ACKWARD" | View the previous thread within the current BBOARD |
^ "(P)OST" | POST a new bulletin (bulletins live 30 days) |
^ "(D)EPOST" | DEPOST a bulletin you have posted |
^ "(R)EPLY" | Respond to a bulletin |
^ "(M)KBOARD" | Create a new BBOARD |
^ "(K)ILL" | Toggle a BBOARD to and from your KILL list |
^ "(A)RCHIVE" | Enter/Exit the BBOARD archives |
^ "(C)OLORS" | Enable/disable colors |
^ "(W)HO" | Who is reading the bboard |
^ "(I)GNORE" | Manage your user ignore list |
^ "(Q)UIT" | QUIT the BBOARD |
\\ <sup>[[#fnt__1|]]</sup> If you want to change your default editor, check the "bboard" man page via the **man bboard** command at the shell prompt. \\ \\
Many SDF users find the lack of word-wrap and spell-checking when posting in bboard(1) frustrating. If a Vi editor is acceptable, some rudimentary auto-wrapping and spell-checking can be accomplished in //bboard(1)// with the following configuration files in your HOME (~$USER/) directory:
> "
#** ~$USER/.exrc**
" set auto-wrap width:"
set textwidth=78
" set RH margin guide:"
set guidewidth=79
" set elvis spellcheck stuff:"
set spell
set spelldict=/usr/share/dict/words
set spellautoload
#** ~$USER/.bboardrc**
# set editor to vi (will use elvis(1) editor):
EDITOR=vi
"
Once these files are in place your bboard(1) post editing environment will be elvis(1) based (a Vi editor clone; see **man elvis**) and should display a highlighted right-hand margin guide at 79 characters over, with text wrapping at 78 characters over. Note that these //~/.exrc// settings may adversely affect other Vi-style editors like nvi(1) or vim(1).
==== Running Spell-check on a bboard(1) Post: ====
Words deemed misspelled by the elvis(1) editor should appear in a different color. To spell-check the entire post, first move to position 1,1 with //'1G'// (or use the arrow keys, or //'h,j,k,l'// keys to navigate) then use //'gs'// to move to the first misspelled word. If spelling suggestions are available they'll appear numbered at the bottom of editing screen; to select, use //'#gs'//, where "#" is suggested word number. If no spelling suggestions are available, look the word up elsewhere, use //'cw'+[corrected word]+ESC// to correct, then //'gs'// to move to next misspelled word.
When finished editing your bboard(1) post use //'ZZ'// to quit. If you wish to cancel your post use //':q!'// to quit without saving.
==== Learning to use Vi-style Editors: ====
If you've never used a Vi-style editor you may wish to run the //vilearn(1)// command within your SDF shell session to get some practice. The Vi editor is //*modal*// - entering a Vi command such as //'i'// puts the editor in 'input' mode; pressing the //Esc// key puts the editor it back in 'command' mode. Within Vi, typing ':viusage' should display a summary of most Vi commands.
A free WikiBooks resource: [[https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Learning_the_vi_Editor|Learning the Vi Editor]]
If you decide to practice with elvis(1), the //':help'// command should provide an info(1)-like documentation environment (use //':q'// to close it). Keep in mind that this :help documentation is not available within bboard(1) as elvis(1) is run in a restricted command mode. More extensive elvis(1) documentation is on the main SDF hosts at ///usr/pkg/share/doc/elvis/elvis.html// .
==== If you would rather use a pico-like editor with a bit more power: ====
If you want to use an editor with in-program help and simple interface like the default //pico//, but slightly more powerful than the default **bboard** editor, you may wish to instead set your editor to //nano//, which is the default editor integrated into the Alpine mail program. It's the same as //pico//, but has additional commands, like regex searching.
To do this, instead of setting up your //.bboardrc// as above, set it as follows (you can do this with //nano ~/.bboardrc//!):