This section contains information on the basic usage of the TOM/Ayourk BBS client. There's a lot more that can be done with this client than what is discussed here. Please see the following sections for information on more advanced features and options.
The newest feature of the TOM/Ayourk BBS Client is the Menu, which is the first thing most users will see. This short menu displays a list of BBSes which users commonly connect to using the TOM/Ayourk BBS Client, as well as some common configuration tasks. Each choice is displayed on one line, and can be activated by pressing the key listed at the beginning of each line. The key is bracketed with < and > signs. To choose an item, just press the appropriate key.
After pressing a key to connect to a BBS, you'll see the client print the message, "[Connected]". When prompted for a user name, enter your username and password. If you don't already have a user name, the screen should have directions on creating a new account. If you don't want to connect to this BBS, then press your Macro Key followed by your Quit Key (see Keys for more information). Pressing <ctrl-D> usually works as well.
People connect to BBSes to read messages posted by other users, known as Posts. Most BBSes arrange posts according to topic, in groups known as Rooms or Forums. Different BBSes have different ways to read posts, but normally, one reads posts by pressing <space>. That only lets you read posts forward, and only in specific Rooms. The number of ways to change Rooms and read various posts are too great to list here. Instead, you should check the help for a specific BBS, by pressing <h>, <?>, or <Q>, depending on the BBS, and other factors.
Every BBS has its own rules for posting, and often those rules vary based on the particular Forum or Room. Every BBS frowns greatly upon making posts that aren't related to the topic of the specific Forum or Room. The client can't help you decide what's topical, so be careful!
Normally, when you want to post, you go to the right Room and hit <e>. This tells both the BBS and the Client you want to enter a post by typing it in. If you're in the Mail> room, you'll be prompted to enter a person's name. The name you enter should be the Handle of the user you want to see the Mail. No other can see it (Note: on most BBSes administrators have the ability to see and read the Mail, but it's usually very difficult, and certainly not worth the trouble and time; they're not gonna read it). After that, you should be able to type what you want to say, and press the <Enter> key twice when you're done.
Some BBSes have different messages appear when a user makes a post. ISCA BBS, for example, will print a long message and ask if you're sure you want to post, if you're a novice user. You must answer this question before you can type your message. Always read the screen before you begin typing a message. If you accidentally answer this question No, and keep on typing, you could accidentally post your message in the wrong place. Your private Mail could be posted someplace where everyone can see it! Be very careful when posting.
Typing in a post is somewhat limited, as you can only edit the line your cursor is on, and you can't go up or down a line.
After pressing enter twice to end your post, the client will print a short menu asking what you want to do. You have 5 choices. Save, Continue, Edit, Print and Abort. Choosing Save will save the post so that others can read it. Continue will let you continue your post from the point where you stopped. Edit starts the configured editor (see Other for more information) so you can more easily edit the post. Print will print the entire post to your screen as if you were reading it. This allows you a moment to re-read the post and consider it. It's highly recommended you do this when participating in a heated debate. Abort, as you might expect lets you abort the post and not save it. If you decide you don't really want to post, choose Abort, and answer Yes. Choosing Abort asks if you're sure so that you don't accidentally abort a long post.
Sometimes, when you post, the client will ask if you want to empty the contents of your temp file. The temp file stores your post as you type, so that if you accidentally abort a post, it's easy to get it back. Using the Capture feature also puts information into the temp file. If you choose not to empty the temp file, then your post will start with the contents of the temp file, and will be displayed before you can begin typing.
A really neat feature of the BBSes supported by the TOM/Ayourk BBS Client is the eXpress Message. eXpress Messags allow users to communicate in real-time. eXpress Messages are like Mail, in that only the sender and the receiver can read them. While this is a feature of the BBS, the TOM/Ayourk client adds many features designed to make this nicer and easier.
To send an eXpress Message, press the <x> key. You will be prompted for a name. Enter the name of the user you want to receive the eXpress Message. If the user is not connected to the BBS, you'll be told, and you can't send the eXpress Message. After the BBS checks that the user is connected, you'll be able to type your message. Usually, you are limited to only 5 lines for an eXpress Message. If you need more than that, consider sending Mail to the user.
The TOM/Ayourk BBS Client provides several key features with eXpress Messages found in no other client. Please see Line Editing for information on some of those. The client also provides other features for quickly entering the user name. See Quick Name Inserting for information on that.
To receive an eXpress Message, you don't need to do anything. They come automatically. There are a few exceptions. Normally, when entering a post, eXpress Messages aren't displayed until you're done typing the post. eXpress Messages also won't appear while you're changing BBS or Client options.
Sometimes, you'll want to step away from your keyboard a short time, but don't want to log out and back in again. The client provides an AutoReply feature so that any eXpress Message you receive can be replied to, so that anyone sending you a message knows you're away and will be back shortly. See AutoReply for more information about this feature.
The friends list is the most common reason people want to use a client. This list lets you quickly find which of your friends are connected to the BBS, as well as helping with the Quick Name Inserting functions.
To see which of your friends are currently connected to the BBS, hit <ctrl-W>. The TOM/Ayourk BBS Client will list each of your friends currently connected along with how long the user has been connected, and some information you entered describing the friend. This information is by default listed in order of time online, from greatest to smallest. See Other Options for information on how to change this order.
The TOM/Ayourk BBS Client also has the ability to display Posts from your friends in a different color. There's no practical reason for that, but several users enjoy it. Check out Schemes for more information!
For information on creating and modifying the Friends List, see Friends.
With any large group of people, there will be those who can't get along. The client has a feature, for such situations. If you don't want to get any eXpress Messages, Mail, or read posts from a specific user, add that user to your Enemy list.
By default, when the client gets an eXpress Message from an Enemy, or detects a post (including Mail) is from an Enemy, the client will display a message to let you know that you got an eXpress Message or passed a post from an Enemy.
Many people find this behavior annoying, and don't want to know about such messages. See Other Options for information on how to disable these messages. Previous versions of the TOM/Ayourk BBS Client had a bug which could allow a user to know that a post was from an Enemy, or that an eXpress Message from an enemy was received, but not which Enemy. Version 2.15 fixes this behavior, and by disabling the message, all indication that an eXpress Message from an enemy is received is removed, and all indication that you tried to read a post from an Enemy. Instead, the next post from a non-Enemy will be displayed. If several people on your Enemy list posted in a row, there could be a significant delay while the client tries to find the next post it can display. Also, the count of posts left to read may suddenly decrease by more than one when an Enemy post is skipped. This is normal, and you probably won't notice it, unless the Enemy post is the only one to read in the Forum or Room.
For information on creating and modifying the Friends List, see Enemies.
If you are a Forum or Room Moderator, you may need to occaisionally turn off processing of the enemy list, to evaluate an enemy's post. You can press the Macro Key followed by <ctrl-E> to tell the client to show all posts from enemies. Press the same key combination to turn it back on again.
To use SSL for your client connections, you must be connecting to an ABC or JayDOC BBS which is running an SSL server, or understands ssl on its own. If the BBS itself supports SSL, you don't need to do anything. The BBS and client will automatically negotiate an SSL session, and the connection will be encrypted. There are not currently any BBSes which support SSL internally. All BBSes which can accept SSL connections run a separate server, which requires you to do some client configuration. Ask on the BBS what the SSL port number is. Once you have this, you can follow the directions for Editing a BBS.
You can launch a web browser to view a web page someone has posted or sent to you in an eXpress message. Press the Macro Key followed by <W> to launch a web browser and go to the last URL that you've read in a post or eXpress message. If there was more than one URL in the post or eXpress message, you can press the Macro Key followed by <ctrl-W> to see a list of the last 10 URLs you've read. Then press the number next to the URL you want to visit to launch a web browser.
Unfortunately, this feature doesn't always work under Mac OS X, and likely won't work for most users. TOM is still looking into how to fix this. Please note that it should work just fine for Darwin users, though.