Armageddon BBS Posting and Editing Messages Tutorial
Copyright © 2015-2024 Bill Kochman
Published On :
April 7, 2015
Last Updated :
April 2, 2024
Greetings, brave BBSer. This tutorial concerns using commands which are found inside the message text editor. If you are looking for help regarding message conference commands that are found on the Main Menu, please refer to the "
Main Menu Commands Tutorial" instead. You will find a link for it near the bottom of this same page.
Once you have typed the letter "
P" in order to post a new message in one of the conferences, or the letter "
R" in order to respond to someone's message in a conference, a variety of new commands become available to you in the text editor. To access these commands, simply type a "
?" at the prompt. These new commands are the following:
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/RL
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Replace Last Line
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/R#
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Replace Line #
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/DL
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Delete Last Line
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/D#
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Delete Line #
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/SUL/old/new
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Sub. old/new Text
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/D#-#
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Delete Lines # to #
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/M#/#
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Move Line # after line #
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/SU#/old/new
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Sub. Line # old/new Text
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/I#
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Insert a Line after Line #
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/M#-#/#
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Move Lines #-# after Line #
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/LI
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List Message
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/C:
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Center Rest of Line
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/RQ
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Quote Text
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/LN
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List Message with Line Numbers
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/CLR
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Clear Text & Start Over
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Cntl-P+Digit
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Change Colors
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/ES
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Save
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/BAR
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Redisplay Color Bar
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/ESP
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Save and Sign Your Name
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/ABT
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Abort Your Message
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Please note that while the above commands are shown using uppercase letters, you do
not really have to type them in uppercase. That is done merely for the sake of emphasis, and so that the commands stand out more from their explanation. Typing in lowercase is fine.
Most of the above simple keyboard commands are easy enough to understand. However, let me explain a few of the more complex ones to you. But first, there are three key rules to follow in understanding the previous message editor commands:
1. In most cases where you see a forward slash -- / -- in the command, that means that you have to type a literal forward slash symbol.
2. Whever you see a "#", that you means that you have to type an actual line number or line numbers.
3. As noted above, the commands themselves are not case-sensitive. However -- and this is important -- the text you wish to replace is. Please refer to the first example below.
COMMAND = /SUL/old/new
There appear to be two rules regarding this command:
1. It only works on the last line that you typed.
2. It is case sensitive.
Thus, if in the last line you typed "
Macintosh is good", but used this command to substitute "
macintosh is good", it will not work, because you forgot to capitalize the letter "
M" in the word "
Macintosh".
Following is an example of the correct syntax:
/sul/Macintosh is good/Macintosh is really great
The previous example will substitute the phrase "
Macintosh is good" with the phrase "
Macintosh is really great" in the last line that you typed.
COMMAND = /SU#/old/new
This command will substitute a string of text with another string of text in any line which you specify by number. For example:
/SU4/big brown dog/small white cat
The above example will substitute the phrase "
big brown dog" in line number four with "
small white cat".
COMMAND = /M#-#/#
This text editor command will move a range of lines to after another line which you specify. For example:
/m5-6/9
The previous example will move lines 5-6 to after line number 9. As you can see from the table above, you can likewise move a single line with the "
#/#" command.
COMMAND = /D#-#
Just as you can delete one specified line by using "
/d#", you can likewise delete a range of lines by using the above command. For example:
/d7-10
The above command will delete lines 7 through 10 in the body of your current message.
COMMAND = Cntl-P+Digit
For some new users, getting the hang of how to change text colors may be a bit tricky. When you first type the "
P" command in order to post a new message, you will see all of the available colors and color combinations -- including both foreground and background colors -- near the top of the text editor window.
What this command means is that you hold down the "
control" key while you simultaneously type the "
P" key. After typing the "
P" key, you let go of it, and then you type one of the numbers or letters that you see at the top of the text editor where the other commands are located.
Please note that after typing the "
P" key, it doesn't really seem to matter if you continue to hold down the "
control" key. I always let go of it before I type the letter or number for the color that I wish to use.
COMMAND = /ESP
The last command we are going to discuss is the "
/ESP" command. I am only including it here because some of you may become confused when your signature does not magically appear when you use this command. The reason for that is simple: You need to create a one-line signature first by accessing the defaults menu at the Main Menu. Just type the letter "
d" and then type "
11" at the Defaults Menu. As I recall, you can use the very same color control codes to create your one-line signature.
I believe that you will easily be able to figure out the rest of the above message editor commands.
Other Reply Options
Please note that once you are inside of a message conference and reading messages, if you type an "
R" in order to reply to a message, you will be shown a few additional options to choose from. These are the following:
(Q)uote
(T)itle Change
(R)edirect Reply
(C/R) = None
If you don't wish to quote any of the previous message, or change the message title, or redirect your response to someone else, then simply hit your return key. That is what "
(C/R)" signifies on the Armageddon BBS. I will be happy to assist you as soon as I see your message.
If after reading this tutorial you still have some questions regarding posting or editing messages, please post them in the "
I Need Some Help" message conference on the Armageddon BBS.