Bullshit 3.0

by echicken -at- bbs.electronicchicken.com



Contents



	1) About

	2) Setup

	3) Customization

	4) Bullshit for the web

	5) Support





1) About



	Bullshit is a lightbar bulletin lister/reader for Synchronet BBS 3.16+.

	A message sub-board is used as a storage back-end, so that you can add a

	new bulletin to the list just by posting a message.  You can also include

	.ANS or .TXT files - such as door game score files - as pinned items at the

	top of the list.





2) Setup



	2.1) Create a message area



		This step is recommended, but optional.  You can skip this part if you

		don't want Bullshit to pull bulletins out of a message base.



		Launch SCFG (BBS->Configure in the Synchronet Control Panel on Windows.)



		In 'Message Areas', select your local message group, and create a new

		sub	with the following details:



			Long Name                  Bulletins

			Short Name                 Bulletins

			QWK Name                   BULLSHIT

			Internal Code              BULLSHIT

			Access Requirements        LEVEL 90

			Reading Requirements       LEVEL 90

			Posting Requirements       LEVEL 90



			Toggle Options...



				Default on for new scan		No

				Forced on for new scan		No

				Default on for your scan	No



		Note: You can name this message area whatever you want, and you can use

		an existing message area if you wish.  Ideally only the sysop will be

		able to read or post to this area, and it won't be included in the new

		message scan.





	2.2) Create an External Program entry



		Still in SCFG, return to the main menu, select 'External Programs',

		then 'Online Programs (Doors)', choose the section you wish to add

		Bullshit to, then create a new entry with the following details:



			Name                       Bullshit

			Internal Code              BULLSHIT

			Start-up Directory         /sbbs/xtrn/bullshit

			Command Line               ?bullshit.js

			Multiple Concurrent Users  Yes



		If you want Bullshit to run during your logon process, set the

		following:



			Execute on Event			logon



		All other options can be left at their default settings.





3) Customization



	Some customization settings are available in 'bullshit.ini':



	In the root section:



		-	The 'messageBase' setting specifies the internal code of the

			message sub-board that Bullshit should load.

		-	The 'maxMessages' setting specifies how many of the most recent

			messages in this area should be listed. (Use 0 for no limit.)

		-	If you don't want to load bulletins from a message base, simply

			delete the 'messageBase' setting from 'bullshit.ini'.





	In the 'colors' section:



		- 	'title' and 'text' are the colors used when viewing an item

		-	'heading' controls color or the 'Title' and 'Date' column headings

		-	'lightbarForeground' and 'lightbarBackground' control the color of

			a highlighted item in the list

		-	'listForeground' controls the color of a non-highlighted item

		-	'footer' controls the color of the 'Q to quit ...' text

		-	'border' can be a single color, or a comma-separated list



	The 'files' section is empty by default.  Here you can add any number of

	entries for files that you wish to include in the list.  The key will be

	used as the item's title in the list, while the value must be the path to

	the file, for example:



		LORD Scores = /sbbs/xtrn/lord/score.ans



	At the moment, only files with .ANS and .TXT extensions can be loaded.  If

	that's a huge pain for you, let me know and I'll maybe do something about

	it at some point.





4) Bullshit for the web



	The included '999-bullshit.xjs' file is compatible with my "new" web UI for

	Synchronet (https://github.com/echicken/synchronet-web-v4).  You can add it

	to your site by copying it to the 'pages' subdirectory, renaming it as

	needed.  You could also just copy the contents of this file into another of

	your pages if you wish for bulletins to show up there (000-home.xjs, for

	example.)



	This will probably work with ecweb v3 as well, but I haven't bothered to

	test it.



	For cosmetic and snobbish design reasons, your pinned 'files' list will not

	be displayed in the web UI.  You're better off creating a 'Scores' page of

	some kind for this purpose.





5) Support



	You can contact me for support via any of the following means, in the

	following order of preference:



	DOVE-Net:



		Post a message to 'echicken' in the 'Synchronet Sysops' sub-board.

		Unless I'm dead or on vacation, I'll probably get back to you within a

		day or so.





	electronic chicken bbs:



		Post a message in the 'Support' sub-board of the 'Local' message group

		on my BBS, bbs.electronicchicken.com





	IRC : #synchronet on irc.synchro.net:



		I'm not always in front of a computer, so you won't always receive an

		immediate response if you contact me on IRC.  That said, if you stay

		online and idle, I'll probably see your message and respond eventually.





	Email:



		You can email me at echicken -at- bbs.electronicchicken.com, however I

		prefer to discuss problems & provide support in a public forum in case

		any information that comes up can be of benefit to somebody else in the

		future.

