This is the end-user documentation for Synchronet BBS Software — the manual for people calling a Synchronet BBS, not for sysops running one. (Sysops, see the wiki home page and the SCFG, customization, and how-to sections.)
What you actually see when you call a BBS depends on which command shell, login module, message editor, and other loadable modules that BBS uses. Synchronet is highly modular: the prompts and command keys you press are part of the command shell, but most of what those keys invoke — reading mail, posting messages, the user-settings menu, listing users online, and so on — is handled by separate loadable modules the sysop has configured in SCFG -> System -> Loadable Modules. Two BBSes running the same shell can still feel different if they've swapped out a module; two BBSes running different shells will often share the very same mail or chat interface once you press the key that opens it.
So this manual is organized along those module boundaries: a per-shell page for each shell's prompts and key bindings, a per-module page for each major loadable module that has its own UI, and a small set of universal pages for things Synchronet itself handles (Ctrl-key commands, Ctrl-A codes).
Most BBSes you'll encounter run the stock Synchronet Classic command shell. If you don't know otherwise, start there:
If your BBS uses a different shell — for example Wildcat!, PCBoard, Renegade, or WWIV style — see the index at Command Shells and pick the matching page.
How you log on (matrix screen, NN: / PW: prompts, new-user signup flow, etc.) is controlled by the BBS's login module, not its shell. Login happens before the shell even starts.
These are modules with their own user-facing UIs that any shell may invoke. Your BBS may use the stock module or a customized replacement.
user_settings). In the Classic shell, opened with D from the Main prompt.chat_sec)automsg)These work the same in every shell because Synchronet itself handles them, not the shell:
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