Message Bases

The Synchronet message base is where public conferences live — sub-board posts that any user with access can read and reply to. It's distinct from your private electronic mail: messages here are public (or restricted to a group of users via access controls), threaded discussions visible to everyone with permission to that sub-board.

The message base is two-level:

• A group is a generalized category — for example Main, Computers, 18-and-Over, DOVE-Net, FidoNet.
• A sub-board is a specific topic within a group — for example Computers/Macintosh, Public/Politics, DOVE-Net/General.

Conventionally, groups represent broad themes (or networks like FidoNet/DOVE-Net), and sub-boards are individual conferences within them.

The number of groups and sub-boards a BBS carries is up to the sysop and depends on which networks they've joined. Vertrauen, for example, hosts dozens of sub-boards across Main, DOVE-Net, FidoNet, fsxNet, and others.

Your current group and sub-board are shown in the Classic shell's Main prompt:

￭ Main ￭ 3:58:42 [1] Main [1] Notices:

[1] Main is your group; [1] Notices is your sub-board within it. From the Main prompt:

• * — list all sub-boards in your current group
• /* — list all groups
• # — jump to sub-board # in current group (e.g. 3)
• /# — jump to group #
• } / { — next / previous sub-board
• ] / [] — next / previous group

(These bindings are Classic-specific. Other shells may use different keys.)

R at the Main prompt enters the Read Messages prompt, where you read sequentially through the messages in your current sub-board. From the Read prompt:

• <CR> — display the next message
• - — display the previous message
• L — list all message titles and authors in the sub-board
• T — list titles and authors of the next ten messages (advances pointer)
• R — re-read the current message
• F — search for specified text in all messages
• B — bypass remaining messages in this sub-board, advance to the next sub-board (in scan list)
• I — display information about the current sub-board
• Y — list posts addressed to you
• C — display remaining messages continuously (no per-message prompt)
• A — reply publicly (post a reply on the sub-board)
• M — reply privately by mail (creates an e-mail to the author)
• Z — reply privately on the sub-board (see below)
• D — delete the current message (only if you're the author and it's the last message in the sub-board); when viewing your own open poll, prompts to close it instead
• P — post a new message in the current sub-board
• W — post a private message in the current sub-board
• U — list unread messages addressed specifically to you in this sub-board
• V — vote on the current message — cast a poll ballot or up/down vote a regular message (see Polls and voting)
• H — list the top 20 messages sorted by vote rank (highest first)
• Q — quit Read Messages, return to the Main prompt
• ? — display the Read Messages menu

N from the Main prompt scans for new messages — messages posted since you last read each sub-board. You're prompted whether to scan:

• S — your current sub-board only (''[NS]'')
• G — all sub-boards in your current group (''[NG]'')
• A — all sub-boards in all groups (''[NA]'')

After each message you get the Read Messages prompt and any of its commands work. Pressing <CR> after the last message in a sub-board (or B to bypass) advances to the next sub-board in the scan list. Group and All scans skip sub-boards with no new messages.

B is like New Message Scan but doesn't skip empty sub-boards — instead it shows the last message you read there and lets you read/post in that sub-board too. Useful for reviewing recent activity even where there's nothing strictly “new” to you.

The key difference: New Scan (Group or All) silently skips any sub-board that has no new messages. Browse visits every sub-board in your scan list — if a sub-board has new messages you get them; if it doesn't, you still get the Read Messages prompt for the last message in that sub-board, so you can still post, reply, or check in without having to navigate there manually.

• [BS]] — browse current sub-board
• [BG]] — browse current group
• [BA]] — browse all

Like N but no per-message prompt — messages stream by continuously. Use Ctrl-S/Ctrl-Q to pause/resume or Ctrl-C to abort.

• [ZS]] — continuous on current sub-board
• [ZG]] — continuous on group
• [ZA]] — continuous on all

F from the Main prompt searches all messages in the current sub-board (or wider, depending on prompts) for specified text. Useful for tracking down a half-remembered post. The search supports boolean syntax (AND, OR, NOT, parentheses, quoted phrases) — type ? at the prompt for inline help.

S from the Main prompt scans for messages addressed specifically to you across sub-boards in your scan list.

P from the Main prompt (or from the Read Messages prompt) posts a new message in the current sub-board. You're prompted:

• Public or private post.
• Title (subject).
• Body — composed in your selected message editor.

You're also offered to post when you press <CR> past the last message while reading a sub-board.

A private message on a sub-board is visible only to the recipient (and the sysop), but it travels with the sub-board's networking — so over a QWKnet (which doesn't support NetMail) you can use a private sub-board post to send a confidential message to a user on another BBS in the network. Over a FidoNet-style network, NetMail is more direct (see Mail).

To check which networks a sub-board uses, press I at the Read Messages prompt or [IS] from the Main prompt.

A from the Main prompt updates the auto-message — a short note shown to every user at logon. As soon as another user changes it, your message is replaced.

Synchronet supports two distinct voting mechanisms: polls (a special message type with named answers) and up/down votes on regular messages. Both are cast using the V key while reading a message.

V from the Main prompt runs the poll scanner — it scans sub-boards in your new-scan list for open polls you haven't voted on yet, and presents each one for reading. /V from the Main prompt scans all sub-boards regardless of your scan list.

Once you're reading a poll (or any message), V at the Read Messages prompt lets you cast your vote.

/P from the Main prompt launches the poll-creation wizard:

1. Poll question — the subject line and ballot header.
2. Comment (optional, repeat until blank) — additional context shown with the poll body.
3. Answer 1 … Answer n (up to 16; blank to finish) — the choices voters pick from.
4. Results visibility — controls who can see the tally:
   • 0 — voters only (and the pollster)
   • 1 — everyone, always
   • 2 — everyone once the poll is closed (and the pollster)
   • 3 — pollster only
5. Maximum votes per ballot (default: 1) — how many answers a voter may select.

The poll is posted as a message in the current sub-board.

When you press V while reading a poll message you get a ballot: the poll question and its answers are displayed, and you select up to the maximum allowed number of choices. Once confirmed, your vote is recorded. You can only vote once per poll.

Voting is not allowed on closed polls.

When you press V while reading any non-poll message you're prompted:

Vote Msg Up, Down, or Quit:

• U — upvote (positive endorsement)
• D — downvote (negative endorsement)
• Q — cancel

Your vote is stored alongside the message. Use H at the Read Messages prompt to list the top 20 messages sorted by vote rank.

Voting requires the sub-board to have voting enabled, and your account must not have the voting restriction set. You can only vote once per message.

To close an open poll, navigate to the poll message while reading, then press D. If the poll is yours (and hasn't been closed yet), you'll be asked Close Poll? instead of the normal delete prompt. Sysops can close any poll. Once closed, no new votes can be cast.

QWK packets let you read and reply to messages offline — see the dedicated QWK Mail Packet Menu page.

& from the Main prompt accesses the message-scan configuration prompt. Options:

• C — Convert credits to minutes (one-way; can't go back). See Credits.
• R — Unfiltered Input Switch — see below
• N — New Message Scan List Configuration (toggle which sub-boards are included in your new-scan; * marks an enabled sub-board)
• P — New Message Scan Date/Time Pointers — see below
• I — Reinitialize Message Pointers — see below
• Q — Quit to Main

The scan pointer for a sub-board is automatically updated to the timestamp of the most recent message you've read there.

The Unfiltered Input Switch lets you upload a text file you composed offline directly into a message or mail message — including text with control codes, ANSI color sequences, and page-formatting characters that would otherwise be filtered or mangled.

To use it:

1. Hit R from the Configuration prompt ([&R] from Main) to toggle unfiltered input on.
2. Compose or open the message normally with P or E.
3. When the editor opens, use your terminal program's ASCII upload command (often PgUp) to send the pre-prepared text file.
4. Save with Ctrl-Z (not /S) — the standard /S save won't work while unfiltered input is active.

After the message is saved the switch automatically turns off again. It applies to only one post or mail message at a time.

Each sub-board tracks a pointer — the date/time of the last message you read there. New scans only show messages newer than that pointer. P from the Configuration prompt lets you manually roll a pointer back, so a new scan includes older messages.

1. You're prompted to select a group number, or A to adjust all groups.
2. If you picked a specific group, you then select a sub-board number, or A for all sub-boards in that group.
3. Enter the new date and time.
4. Hit Q to quit back to the group selection when done.

The pointer auto-advances each time you read messages. Changes you make with &P revert to your last-logoff date when you log off.

I from the Configuration prompt resets all your New Message Scan pointers back to the values they had at logon. Use this when:

• You've already scanned online and then want to download a QWK packet that includes those same messages (the packet build uses the same pointers, so resetting them lets you get the messages again).
• You ran a new scan and then decided you wanted to re-read everything from the start of your session.

These two-key sequences from the Main prompt jump straight into specific scans without going through the menu:

• [NS] / [NG] / [NA] — new-scan sub-board / group / all
• [BS] / [BG] / [BA] — browse sub-board / group / all
• [ZS] / [ZG] / [ZA] — continuous-scan sub-board / group / all
• [&N] / [&P] / [&I] — scan-list config / pointers / reinitialize

(Square-bracket notation: see Classic shell guide.)

• User Documentation
• Message editors — used to compose posts
• QWK Mail Packets — read/post offline
• Electronic Mail — private mail (versus public sub-board posts)
• Classic shell — Main prompt key bindings
• SMB format — on-disk format for messages
• FidoNet / QWKnet — networks that distribute sub-boards across BBSes