🚀 go-pugleaf

I keep a BBS list. I am able to produce reports listing BBSs by
geographical area, interests, networks and so on. I will post
these reports in the appropriate echoes from time to time, and
will produce a report for anyone one request, which can be sent
to a netmail or e-mail address.

You may see a sample of the kind of listings it produces at:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/bbsweb.htm

Here is a form to list, or update the listing, of your BBS in
the database I maintain. To fill in the form, just reply to this
message, and fill in the blanks between the [ square brackets ]

Please DON'T ALTER the field names, and especially DON'T try to
"prettify" the form by separating the left square bracket from
its field name - that breaks the database. Please DO type
BETWEEN the left and right square brackets [ and ]. See the
notes on the field names below before filling it in, and save a
copy of the form before you reply, in case you mess it up (and
also to pass to your downlinks etc.) Try to keep what you put in
all fields to one line, except for the last one - BBSNotes[ -
there you can write 4-5 lines.

If any field does not apply to you, leave it blank, but do NOT
delete the field name. Don't type "n/a" or anything else there.

=== Form begins - cut here ======================
Bulletin Board Systems BBS[*]     Updated[                ]
BBSname[                            ]
Dataphone[                               ]
Telnet[                                  ]
City[                   ] State or Province[                  ]
Country[                   ]
Sysop[                          ]
E-mail[                                            ]
Web[                                               ]
Networks[                                                      ]
Featured Echoes[                                               ]
Subjects[                                                      ]
 Other Info[                                                   ]
Keywords[                                                      ]
BBSnotes[



=== Form ends - cut here =====================


SOME NOTES ON THE FIELDS

  Dataphone[ - put the phone number of your BBS here, with the
     local area code. It's probably best not to put inter-
     national codes, since it's primarily local callers that are
     needed. If you have more than one phone line to your BBS,
     put the one you would like new users to call on. If really
     want to list all your numbers, copy the whole field, and
     put one number per field.

  Telnet[ - if your BBS is telnettable, put the URL here,
     otherwise leave it blank.

  Featured Echoes[ - Obviously you can't list EVERY echo on your
     BBS here, so list some of the most popular echoes on your
     BBS, or ones that you would like your callers to use. If
     you are a moderator of any echoes, list the ones you
     moderate. If you must go over one line on this one, press
     Enter to move the right square bracket ] to the next line.
     Please use the Fido echo tag to list the echoes.

  Networks[ - this should indicate the actual networks the BBS
     is connected to - Fidonet, FamilyNet, Fishnet, Ilink, RIME
     etc. They should be separated by spaces rather than commas
     to save space.

  Keywords[ - askSam, my database program, is pretty good at
     picking up keywords from anywhere in a record, but if they
     are not included elsewhere, a keywords field can make it
     easier to find certain groups of records. Leave it blank,
     though - I'll use it for cryptic abbreviations.

  Subjects[ - This, or the keywords field, could contain
     information about subjects that the BBS specialises in.
     Here you can put "Genealogy" or "Ham Radio" or "Computer
     Games" or "Chess" any other subjects that are appropriate
     for your BBS - see the sample form for my BBS below to get
     some ideas.

  Web[ - if you have a Web page that gives information about
     your BBS, put the URL here, and DON'T forget the "http://"
     bit. If you don't have a web page, leave it blank. DON'T
     FORGET THE http:// BIT! Web browsers DO NOT recognise links
     without it! DON'T FORGET THE http:// BIT! Web browsers DO
     NOT recognise links without it! DON'T FORGET THE http://
     BIT! Web browsers DO NOT recognise links without it! DON'T
     FORGET THE http:// BIT! Web browsers DO NOT recognise links
     without it! DON'T FORGET THE http:// BIT! Web browsers DO
     NOT recognise links without it! DON'T FORGET THE http://
     BIT! Web browsers DO NOT recognise links without it!

  Other Info[ - Here you can put information about offline
     readers available on your BBS, or online games, or the BBS
     software you are using etc.

  BBSNotes[ - This field can be 4-5 lines long. Use it to give a
     brief description of your BBS. You can use it to express
     the vision for the BBS, specialities that it has and so on.
     Try to use key words in your description that can be picked
     up in searches. This could be published in lists that could
     help users to find BBSs that cater for their needs, or help
     moderators to publicise their echoes etc.

SAMPLES

Here is a sample showing how I filled in the form for my BBSs -
this is how the forms are stored in the database.

=== Sample form begins ==================

Bulletin Board Systems BBS[*]     Updated[ 8 May 1999     ]
BBSname[ Unisa Editorial            ]
Dataphone[ (012) 429-8641                ]
Telnet[                                  ]
City[ Pretoria          ] State or Province[ Gauteng        ]
Country[ South Africa      ]
Sysop[ Steve Hayes              ]
E-mail[ hayesstw@yahoo.com                      ]
Web[ http://www.unisa.ac.za/dept/red/bbs.html      ]
Networks[ FamilyNet Fidonet OCNet CCCNet
]
Featured Echoes[ GENEALOGY_EUR OC_ORTHODOX AIC_FMY PHILOS ]
Subjects[ Genealogy, Family History, Community Development]
 Other Info[ Silver Xpress, QWK & Blue Wave mail packets  ]
Keywords[ xn rsa wp language                              ]
BBSnotes[ A general purpose BBS run by the Editorial Department
of the University of South Africa. It is the FamilyNet and
CCCNet hub for Southern Africa. It has conferences for
professional editors and translators, and also specialises in
Christian theology and missiology, community development,
education and other topics of interest to churches, NGOs and
other non-profit organisations. It has several conferences on
local and family history.

=== Sample form ends =============

I hope that is clear enough.

Please return the forms by e-mail to:

hayesstw@yahoo.com

Or just reply in the echo where you saw this posted


Steve Hayes
FamilyNet: 8:7903/10
Fidonet: 5:7106/20
E-mail: hayesstw@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/pretbbs.htm