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  Issue #1    News From The ProBoard Community                September 1995 
 ĳ
  Article 1 - Introduction             The ProBoard Newsletter is published 
  Article 2 - ProBoard 2.11 Is Here   monthly from North Georgia Online.    
  Article 3 - New Site for PB *USA*   The newsletter is the result of hard  
  Article 4 - Reviews From EFC PEXs   work from several different people.   
  Article 5 - JAM Versus Squish       You can always get the newest copies  
  Article 6 - Feedback Forum          of PBNEWS by FREQing 'PBNEWS' from    
  Article 7 - PBNEWS Team Members     1:3672/800.  If you would like to     
  Article 8 - Credits                 become part of the PBNEWS Team and    
                                      get our exclusive PBNEWS Message Echo 
 * All articles in this issue were    please FREQ or DOWNLOAD 'PBNEWS.NFO'  
   written by Warren Davis.  More     from 1:3672/800 today!                
   authors will take part next time!                                        
 

 
 Article #1                      Introduction          Written By: Warren Davis
 

    Welcome to the debut issue of The ProBoard Newsletter, commonly referred to
 as PBNEWS!  This newsletter has been in the works for almost one year now.  It
 was originally supposed to be a data file with a stand alone (EXE) reader.
 I decided that a straight text issue would be just as good and probably save
 everyone a lot of time.

    I should mention that this issue is by no means the work of myself alone.
 I have two other team members, Dave Christie and Billy Boulware, who will be
 helping me starting with the next issue.  I will definitely need at least two
 more writers and a ton of distribution sites.  If you are interested in
 either please FREQ or DOWNLOAD 'PBNEWS.NFO' from my BBS:  North Georgia Online
 (706) 517-0045, 1:3672/800.

    Finally, this newsletter can not be possible without your feedback.  I
 have a special 'Feedback Forum' which I will use to post your questions and
 comments.  Please send them to my BBS (listed above) any time.  Remember that
 reader participation is crucial so please drop me a line!

 
 Article #2                 ProBoard 2.11 Is Here!     Written By: Warren Davis
 

    What was originally supposed to be ProBoard 2.02 was released at the end
 of July as ProBoard 2.10.  Within one month ProBoard 2.11 was also released.
 ProBoard 2.11 has many advantages over 2.01.  The following is a list, in
 brief format, of *SOME* of the changes from 2.01 -> 2.1x.

	 * You can now change the colors for your file listings.  Each field
	   can be a different color (filename, file size, file date, etc).

	 * You can now execute PEXs or display ANS/ASC files from within a
	   language prompt.  For example, @pTEST@ would call TEST.PEX from
	   within the prompt!

	 * You can now hatch personal files to users by using PBUtil.
		    PBUTIL HF (PATH + FILENAME) /T=USER_NAME
	   The above command sends the user a personal file from the prompt!

	 * You can now specify an upload scanner from within ProCFG's
	   options.

	 + If a users logs off with files tagged the tagged files are still
	   tagged when the user calls back.

     * - Available in ProBoard 2.10
     + - Available in ProBoard 2.11

    It should also be noted that due to an error ProBoard 2.11 will not
 function without a valid registration key.  If you are running an unregistered
 copy you MUST use 2.10.  This problem will be addressed very soon.

 
 Article #3                New Site For PB *USA*       Written By: Warren Davis
 

    After the release of ProBoard 2.10 Jim Biggs closed the door on The O-Zone
 BBS.  The board was the ProBoard Support/Registration site for the US.  Upon
 it's closing the new US site was announced as David Silver's Silverado BBS.
 The Silverado BBS is the support/registration site for many fine BBS related
 programs including:  IceChat, IceEdit, IceNote, IceBank, IceUser, File Wizard,
 ChatMan, TheChat, TheEdit, and many more!  All programs can be registered
 online using a valid credit card or by US Mail.  You can contact The Silverado
 BBS at:
		The Silverado BBS
		(904) 532-1158 - 14.4 - 1:3618/11
		(904) 532-1177 - 28.8 - 1:3618/22

 
 Article #4                Reviews From EFC PEXs       Written By: Warren Davis
 

    Recently I came across several PEXs written under the name ^DeADLINE^ of
 EFC.  Immediately I thought, "Uh oh.. another wannabe ELiTE ProBoard SysOp
 is at it again..".  But just out of curiosity I called the EFC Support BBS
 and found a large collection of utilities.  I was greatly impressed many of
 these PEXs.  Within a few minutes I had asked the sysop to be his US
 distribution site and was downloading the entire collection.  Below I have
 reviewed my two favorite EFC PEXs.  This is just my opinion.  I strongly
 suggest you take a look at EFC.

	    XLOGIN - The program is a little bit on the ELiTE side.  If you
		     like matrix login program this is one of, if not THE,
		     best i've seen for ProBoard.  It has full menu ability
		     including 'Page the SysOp', 'Apply for Access', 'Check
		     for Access', and more!  It is an excellent pre-login
		     matrix.  The shareware price is well worth it at only
		     $12.

	    MENUBAR - This little PEX took me by storm.  It allows you to
		      add cursor support to all of your menus!  It is unique
		      in that it allows the hotkeys as well as the cursors.
		      The best part about this PEX is the fact that it is
		      FREEWARE!

    You can FREQ 'EFCPEXS' from my board (listed in the INTRODUCTION) for a
 complete list of all the EFC PEXs.  Believe me they are worth your time!

 
 Article #5                 JAM Versus Squish          Written By: Warren Davis
 

    The question of "What Message base Should I Use" has been a hot issue in
 the ProBoard Echo for as long as the echo has been active.  Those who support
 Squish say that it scans much faster than JAM and the tosser is completely
 free.  JAM supporters, however, say that the Squish tosser lacks many of
 the features of other tosser.  They also argue that Squish does not toss well
 with FastEcho and is not supported by many of the other popular tossers.

    So which one is better for you?  You will need to make that decision for
 yourself.  I have setup several message areas of each type.  The following
 is a list of my results:

    Mail Scan Speed - Hands down this one went to Squish.  JAM bases take
		      forever to scan!  Squish is blazing fast here.

    Tossing Speed - It took me almost an hour to get the Squish tosser to
		    work correctly.  I used FastEcho for JAM and had it going
		    within 10 - 15 minutes.  JAM seemed to toss a little
		    faster than Squish.

    Limits - Both will accept up to 10,000 message areas in ProBoard.  However,
	     Squish is limited to 5400 messages per area and JAM is only
	     limited to disk space.

    Problems - Some of my JAM areas would not accept the last read pointers.
	       I kept getting new mail from mail I had read over and over.
	       JAM also would not let me delete mail.  This only happened
	       to some areas so I am puzzled as to what caused this.

	       Squish was really hard to manage.  Since ProBoard does not
	       handle the indexing or packing of Squish I had to once again
	       setup the Squish tosser to manage the message base.  After
	       about 10 minutes I was sick of configuring control files.

    So which one is better?  We may never know.  I still prefer JAM only
 because I like FastEcho.  But I am really interested to hear what your
 feeling are on this issue.  Please send any comments you have to 1:3672/800
 or call (706) 517-0045 and post a message to me.  If we receive your comment
 I will try to include it in the next issue of PBNEWS.

 
 Article #6                    Feedback Forum          Written By: Warren Davis
 

    This space will be reserved in each issue for your comments and questions.
 If you have a question please send it to me and myself or one of the team
 members will try to answer it in the next issue.  We will also post comments
 or suggestions.  Please direct all mail to 1:3672/800.

    This month's special feedback:  JAM Versus Squish, Which Do *YOU* Prefer?

 
 Article #7                   PBNEWS Team Members      Written By: Warren Davis
 

    PBNEWS is a group project.  If you would like to help please request more
 information today.  Special thanks to all of our team members for their
 help and dedication.

    Warren Davis     North Georgia Online   (706) 517-0045    1:3672/800
    Dave Christie    Alpha-Omega BBS        (417) 862-5584    1:284/31
    Billy Boulware   Acid Test BBS	  (904) 591-3629    1:365/3629

 
 Article #8                         Credits            Written By: Warren Davis
 

 Original IdeaWarren Davis / Josh Jones
                                                      Brandon Whitten
 Introduction Logo and DesignWarren Davis

 PBNEWS and GWARE are registered trademarks of GWARE Technologies, Warren Davis
 ProBoard is a registered trademark of Philippe Leybaert
 All other products are trademarks of their respected authors

 
