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Tips On Starting A New BBS |
Are you thinking of starting a brand new Bulletin Board System? Before you begin - we highly suggest you look at the suggestions on this page so you are more prepared on taking on a great (but time consuming) hobby and helping the online world.
- Before You Begin...
Before you begin to download and install some BBS software and door games - take a step back and think exactly what you want from your BBS. How much time do you want to spend on setting up and maintaining your BBS? Do you have the technological know-how to set one up? Some of these questions you must answer yourself - but here are some hints to help you get started.
How Fast of a Computer?
Occasionally I get asked the question "What kind of computer do I need to run a BBS?" Basically the answer is the fastest computer you have. Of course you can run a small one-node (one phone line) BBS on an old 386 computer. But most people want to run a fairly large Telnet BBS with multiple nodes, allowing several people to be online at once. For this I suggest at least a Pentium II running at 233 Mhz or higher with at least 64 MB of RAM. Of course, if you have a brand new 3.5 GHz Pentium IV with 1 GB of RAM, you'll be a lot better off. It doesn't have to be fancy, it really doesn't have to be fast or have whistles and bells, just as much as you can afford.
- Selecting a Theme
A typical BBS system offers message forums, online games, shareware files and E-mail to other users. What makes BBS systems unique is the ability to customize the system to the liking of the BBS System Operator (Sysop) to whatever they want. Some sysops stick with the "stock" (generic) interface that a particular BBS comes with and have a general (no defined theme). Others gear their BBS towards a hobby - such as Ham Radio or Genealogy. Some customize the menu systems to go with whatever theme they're trying to accomplish. A lot of young sysops go for the "scene" look where the colors are wild and have a lot of added features that attract the young experimenter crowd. Whatever your desire - look at other BBS systems out there and get a feel of which base BBS systems you like. The only limiting factor is your imagination.
- Telnet BBS systems vs. Traditional Dial-Up
A vast majority of new BBS systems are choosing to be "Telnet Only" meaning they do not have any dial-up access. If you are new to the process of setting up a Telnet BBS, we recommend you visit the Setting Up a Telnet BBS section.
For those of you who are planning on a dial-up BBS - MAKE SURE the modem you are using is NOT, I repeat, NOT a "Winmodem", especially if you use an older DOS based BBS system. These BBS packages will NOT work with a Winmodem and will require the use of a REGULAR modem with a built-in processor. Look on the box before you buy the modem. Make sure it says it can work in DOS, OS/2 or Linux (or all three). Then you know it will work with your software. If it says it ONLY works in Windows - put it back on the shelf!
Selecting a BBS Software
There are many BBS software packages out there. All are unique in their own way. You might choose one now and decide to change later. (For example - I have changed software three times over the last ten years) It isn't an easy task. Each time it gets more difficult to make the BBS look and feel the same as it did before. (Users like stability - systems that change too much suffer in that their calls per day drop off). The best bet is to check out systems that are already out there and decide what you want to use.
Commercial, Shareware and Freeware
packages
The major difference here is price, support, and future development.
Commerical BBS software is primarily geared towards businesses. Shareware
BBS software is available as "try it before you buy it" concept where you
can download a test copy and try it out before you decide to buy it.
Freeware is just that - Free. But you may be limited to options and future
development and support.
In recent years there is also a new problem of software abandonment. With
the online world shifting towards the Internet, many BBS authors are no
longer supporting their software. This does not mean that you should not
use one, but don't expect any support from the author. In many cases there
are support groups for many brands of BBS software.
Commercial BBS packages (examples:
Wildcat and
Worldgroup) are nice in that they are are under constant development to
keep up with the changes in technology. However they are proprietary in
nature. With some you are limited to only using add-ons that they sell.
Major version upgrades usually cost money. And they initial cost of the BBS
software can range from $200 to $1,500+. Personally, I do not feel that a
Sysop, especially a new one, needs to consider forking out the kind of
money required for the commercial applications. Therefore, I will skip any
further discussion of them.
Shareware and Freeware BBS platforms - there are many and all are
different. There are trade-offs. It's just how they go about it. For
example, some have nice menu driven configuration menus while others have
flat ASCII files that you update via a text editor. Some have better
scripting languages than others. Some have internal programming-like
languages (Something I always look for). And others have built-in Internet
access (Telnet, FTP, IRC, E-mail, etc).
Here are some Sharware and Freeware BBS systems that I would recommend for
beginning Sysops. I do not endorse any one of them - its up to you to
decide for yourself. Many of these are well known in the BBS community and
support for them by other Sysops is plentiful. This list is by no means
complete. These are just the platforms that I have experience with and
personally recommend to anyone.
(For a complete list - see the
BBS Software page)
EleBBS,
Mystic, Synchronet (and the latest WWIV betas) have built-in Telnet server capabilities and are
designed for 32-bit Windows operating systems (Windows 95 and higher). These
packages have built in internet features like: FTP, Telnet, Internet
E-Mail, and some (EleBBS/EleWeb) are even working on HTML interface in lieu of the
traditional ANSI interface.
Other Tips &
Suggestions
The biggest suggestion I have is
PLANNING. After you have completed the initial setup and have read through
the documentation, and played around with the system a little bit give
some thought. Envision how you would like your system to look and
"feel". Channel your focus to accomplishing this goal. As you
learn more about the capabilities of the system the more you will want to
"tweak". Before you know it you will have hour upon hours
invested into your BBS and not have had your first caller.
At first, do not worry about making pretty ANSI screens. Sure you will
want to. But do not get hung up on the look at first. Concentrate on how
the BBS flows. Figure out what options you will allow on various menus.
Most BBS platforms can generate screens on the fly. This save you time
from having to re-design and save screens every time you make changes to
an area/menu. Once you have things just about ready find a ANSI drawing
package (TheDraw® is a long time favorite of Sysops). Then let the
creative juices flow.
Don't put your BBS up to early. At first there are bound to be bugs. Menus
not working fully, screens not displaying the way they were intended,
configuration errors, etc... Test drive you own system. Have a friend or
two test and shake the system down. Make a list of the problem areas that
need attention. Work on the list. When you have your "final
product" then put it up and get the word out.
Once you do get your BBS up and running, consider "advertising"
it to attract users. For example - the Telnet
BBS Guide offers free listings for people who run Telnet BBS
systems. In addition, the
US/Canada Dial-Up BBS Guide provides
listings for dial-up BBS systems. Other BBS lists include the Synchronet BBS List (for Synchronet
Sysops) and the BBS
Corner's List of BBS Lists.
Another way to advertise your BBS is to set up a web page. Some people
choose to use one of the many "free" web hosting services, such
as Yahoo's Geocities. Some choose other free web hosting services. Some
use the web space provided by their Internet provider. And some run a web
server on their computer. Its all up to you, and which one works the best
for you. Of course make sure the web page has all the info on there. Also
offer them Telnet software (if you run a Telnet BBS) such as mTelnet for
download.
Site Created April 1996. Page last modified January 1, 2006
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