Expand-All Conf.s System  (New release: Nov 01 '02)

This product lets users expand all conferences in one operation: it also uses the user's browser to "cache" the results, in order to minimize further server accesses.  A "hidden" frame is used to extract one or more conferences' topics list ... and the results are cached, so that the user can freely expand and collapse conferences at will, without accessing the server - unless it's absolutely necessary to do so.  If the user wants to view the latest postings in a conference, s/he may do so, via a special "Refresh" link that's listed underneath the conference name.  Also, the last time that a conference was expanded is shown, so the user can make a sensible decision about whether to refresh the topics list for that conference.

To get a good idea of how the system works, please click here to view the "info." page for users.

Initially, one may believe that the server will work harder, if users are allowed to expand all conferences.  However, the reverse may be true: because the HTML is cached, the user will receive a very quick response when expanding or collapsing conferences, and thus the server will not have to do any extra work if a user expands conference A, then conferences B and C, and later goes back to review the posts in conference A.  Moreover, from the user's view, it's more convenient to turn his or her attention to other tasks, while a relatively large number of conferences are expanded: instead of expanding conferences one-by-one, particularly if either the server is slow, or the user's connection to the server is slow.

Full-Page Posting  (New release: Nov 01 '02)

This product tears down the "Chinese Wall" between message boards and web sites ... even as it allows you to meld the two together into a seamless unity.

In theory, web sites perform (at least) the function of delivering content: web site designers have the option of laying out their pages as they choose, and defining the relationships between these pages.  Unlike WebBoard managers and administrators, web site designers have no restrictions when it comes to using forms, client-side scripting languages, arbitrary numbers of fonts and colors, etc.  Message boards, on the other hand, support text-based interactions between users and/or the site administrators.  Insofar as WebBoard provides freedom to customize pages, this freedom (ostensibly) exists only within the confines of the "standard" pages required by the message board function.

And that's because WebBoard is a message board package: not a web site server ... at least not, until now.

Why use this system, if you already have a web server?  First, without this system, your web server and WebBoard exist in two separate application arenas: only passive links allow them to combine their forces!  To see an example of how this system lets you combine these different types of applications (without a web server), please click here.

Moreover, as the saying goes: "A person with one watch might know what time it is, whereas someone who has two watches is never quite sure."  In other words, one server can either be down or up: whereas there are four possibilities with two servers.

There are dozens of ways to combine the "message board" mode and the "web site" mode - for some examples of the scenarios that this system supports, please view the system documentation.

This system doesn't require ASP, IIS or even FTP to use.

"Cut and paste" users  (New release: Dec 05 '02)

This system allows you to "cut and paste" the user list for one private conference into another.  Or copy the subscriber list for e-mail lists, or the membership lists of boards, regardless of whether they're open or closed boards.  Or you can take the membership list of a private conference, and create a new board with those users.

In fact, you can take the user list from board A, add the members of a private conference on board B as well as the subscribers to a conference e-mail list on board C, and then use the combination to create a private conference, or an e-mail list on board D, except for the members of a private conference on board E!

In fact, you can do just about anything imagineable with the subscribers to conference e-mail lists, the membership list for private conferences, and the users associated with any board.  However, only WebBoard Administrators can "cut and paste" the user lists for boards.  No database access is required: this system is 100% "client side."

User DB Batch Processor  (New release: Dec 05 '02)

This product allows any WebBoard administrator or virtual board manager to add or delete users en masse from the user database, as well as private conferences or conference e-mail lists.  Mass mailings, extraction of user profile data, and updates of fields in the user profile database are also supported.  You can even build threads automatically (e.g. when converting from another message board interface or an e-mail list package).

Discussion Thread Ordering (Weighting)  (New release: Nov 01 '02)

This product allows staff members to assign "weights" to a thread, in order to control the sequence in which the thread is displayed in the topics list.  WebBoard already lets you control the display sequence of conferences in the topics frame by assigning "weights" to conferences: this system simply extends that capability to discussion threads within a conference.  Ordinary users can't see the weights or manipulate them: only WebBoard admin.s, virtual board managers, and conference moderators have this power.  And just as WebBoard doesn't "force" you to assign weights to all conferences, this system doesn't force you to assign weights to each discussion thread.  Threads that aren't explicitly weighted will generally appear after those that have been explicitly weighted.  However, it's also possible to force a discussion thread to be displayed at the end.  This system doesn't interact well with conference e-mail lists or associated news groups, although it's also not incompatible.

Conference Management System  (New release: Nov 01 '02)

This product gives you more power over the posting abilities of users, within specific conferences.   Specifically, each conference can be "managed" via four options: (1) whether new discussion threads are allowed; (2) whether replies to existing discussion threads are permitted; (3) whether users can delete their own posts; and (4) whether users can edit their own posts.

(Automatic) E-mail List Sign-up System  (Revised: Dec 05 '02)

WebBoard isn't a perfect substitute for an e-mail list server (WebBoard 4 in particular has serious problems).  Still, the fact that a very large number of e-mail lists can be run from a single virtual WebBoard can be a huge cost and convenience advantage for many applications: since a virtual board can be rented for around $40/month.  This system makes the user registration interface smoother, and reduces the administration burden.

First, you may specify up to 8 "suggested" conference e-mail lists on the new user registration page: this essentially guarantees that new users will end up registering for some lists, even if they don't make it to the "manage mailing lists" page.  To see an example of how this might look to registering users, please click here.  Second, you can declare any number of mailing lists as "mandatory": this will guarantee that new users will always be registered for them (existing users can't unsubscribe via the web).  Third, it allows you to automatically register all the board's users for a particular e-mail list  (this is especially helpful if you create a new "mandatory" conference e-mail list).  Fourth, users who forget their passwords can look them up, merely by entering their e-mail address, instead of having to remember their login name.  (This is very useful for WebBoards that are used as substitutes for list servers, since many of their users will rarely log in via the web -- and will often burden the board manager by sending an e-mail that asks for their login name.)  Finally, this system incorporates all the capabilities of the "cut and paste users" system (above).

You have to have access to the WebBoard database in order to run this system: there are 3 "tag" (i.e. server-side) scripts that directly access the database (most system administrators unknowingly permit this form of access by not changing the default DB owner ID and owner's password).  The "tag" scripts read from WebBoard's database, but they don't write to it..

Emoticons Annotatation System  (Upgraded for WebBoard 5/6: Nov 01 '02)

This product lets a WebBoard administrator or virtual board manager to set up a board in which users may classify their posts into any number of categories.

Suppose you have a software board (such as Akiva's support board).

You have a section for bug reports on that board.

You could save time for all your users by having each post subject annotated with an image (to the left) in the topics frame.  For example, a "stone tablet" image could indicate that the poster is saying that this is a "known bug" (helps avoid "me too"s).  A "screwdriver" image could suggest that the poster is suggesting a work-around..  An image of a clown could suggest "duh!" (i.e. it's not really a bug, or something just dawned on someone.)

When posters post, they can select the emoticon that they wish to use.  If a poster is posting via e-mail or their news reader, they simply put the emoticon name in parentheses in the subject, e.g.: "(workaround)", or "(known bug)".

HelpLine  (Upgraded for WebBoard 5/6: Nov 01 '02)

HelpLine is a series of modifications to a WebBoard "no authorization" board which makes this interface particularly useful for a firm, organization, or association which wants to enhance its public image and/or recruit potential customers by providing free advice to the public.

As you may recall, a WebBoard "no authorization" board doesn't require logins (or that users be "registered"), so members of the public who wish to post questions are less likely to be deterred.

Members of the public can start new threads, but not reply to existing posts.  Only designated staff can post replies.  When a posted question is answered, the original poster recieves an e-mail that contains a link to take them directly back to their post.  Staff members can forward posts to one another, in order to facilitate the sharing of expertise.

"E-mail me the login/password associated with my e-mail address"  (Upgraded for WebBoard 5/6: Nov 01 '02)

In a nutshell: users forget their login names as well as their passwords, and very few of them are sophisticated enough to realize that they can login as a guest and search for their login name.  (And for basic authentication and/or closed boards, this option isn't available to them in any event.)

So they bother WebBoard admins and virtual board managers with annoying "I forgot my login and my password" requests.

This system extends WebBoard's built-in "e-mail me my password" page, by allowing the user to enter their e-mail address.

The first WebBoard user whose profile matches the e-mail address will be sent the standard e-mail me my password message, i.e. emailpass.txt.

E-mail reply notification & post forwarding system  (Upgraded for WebBoard 5/6: Nov 01 '02)

This product lets a WebBoard administrator or virtual board manager to set up a board in which users may request that they recieve e-mail notification of replies to their posts.  This is post-specific notification, in contrast to WebBoard's default form of notification.  I.e. the poster is notified only when someone replies to his or her post, not when any post is done to a conference.

Users may also forward posts to one another.  In both cases, a special "ushered URL" is provided in the e-mail, which lets the recipient log into the board and takes them immediately to the post.  If guests are allowed on the board, there's also an alternate URL which lets the recipient read the post with "one click" (as a guest).

If you don't want e-mail notification or message forwarding, you may install a subsystem which merely allows for the "ushered URL" feature.  This lets you provide a list of "highlights" on another site, which may tempt users to log into your WebBoard.  You can even "leverage" your board's /help folder to turn your WebBoard into a web site.

E-mail notification and message forwarding are not compatible with news reader access or e-mail lists.  (Exception: you may allow these features on a read-only conference, as long as you gaurantee that all posts are done from the web interface.)

You also need to convert all double quotes into single quotes in the *.htm files in your /confs folder, prior to an install on an existing system.

Returning WebBoard 6's Topics Links to Older Versions' Functionality  (New release: Nov 01 '02)

Akiva's WebBoard 6 changed the manner in which the links on the topics frame (or page) worked.  These changes tended to confuse some users and user managers, and/or were less than wildly popular with them.  This system's files, once installed, return WebBoard 6's topics list to the functionality that users became accustomed to, with WebBoard versions 5 and below.

Thread (reading) Header/Trailer  (Upgraded for WebBoard 5/6: Nov 01 '02)

If you're familair with WebBoard, you're aware that the code in readfull.html is repeated over and over again, except for the last post (which uses the code in read.html).

And if the user clicks on the entire topic link, only the code from readfull.html is used.

This makes it extremely difficult for you to customize the thread-reading process, for the simple reason that any code you put in readfull.html will be repeated over and over again.

This system not only lets you put a header and a trailer on each "thread," but it shows you how to execute code "just once" per thread-reading operation.

Logoff Button Patch  (Upgraded for WebBoard 5/6 and revised: Nov 01 '02)

WebBoard users sign in under two possible "authentication" modes.  Under basic authentication, a grey pop-up box is used to log in: this box is under the control of the user's browser, and the user may save his or her password by using a checkbox on the pop-up.  The browser passes the login name and password to the server in encrypted form, thus preventing hackers from "intercepting" web packets.  Under cookie authentication, users log in through a normal browser window, and a cookie is used to declare their login status.  The login name and password are passed to the server without encryption, and if the user chooses to save their password, this value is saved on the user's computer as an unencrypted cookie.  Under WebBoard 4, the logoff button only clears performs any necessary "marking read" updating, and sends the user to the logoff URL.  For WebBoard 5/6, the user is sent to a page that explains some, but not all of the consequences of logging off under basic authentication, and which gives the user the chance to clear his or her cookies under cookie authentication.  The information on this page doesn't appear to vary, regardless of whether the user has actually saved his or her password under cookie authentication, and/or visited one or both types of boards.

This system provides you with a strategy that takes into account whether or not the user had accessed boards of either or both types, and one that clearly informs the user of their options at logoff time, in plain English.  For example, the terms "basic authentication" and "cookie authentication" aren't used, when communicating with the user.

Topics List Reformatting System  (New release: Nov 15 '02)

This system actually consists of two parts: one part contains the necessary code to parse up the topics HTML returned by WebBoard into a series of JavaScript arrays.  These arrays contain all the critical information displayed by WebBoard.

The second part of the system is a demonstration: it will reformat the default topics HTML so as to remove all of the images (such as those for spacing, attachments, and so forth).  It also puts the poster's name in curly braces instead of parenthesis, and removes the year on any post that was done in the current year.

While this particular type of reformatting might not be terribly useful ... it shows that just about any desired presentation style is possible.

Anyone who knows JavaScript can modify this the second portion of the system in order to customize the display of the topics list.  You can also contact me (obviously, the "NOSPAM_" portion must be removed), if you'd like me to implement your own personal preference.

Userinfo patch, WebBoard DB access example, and example of how to (effectively) extend the user profile field list  (Upgraded for WebBoard 5/6 and revised: Nov 01 '02)

This product allows any virtual board manager (or WebBoard administrator) to fix an annoying WebBoard 4 bug that has to do with editing the userinfo fields, as well as get the most out of WebBoard 6's ability to modify those fields.

I also provide you with an simple example that you can modify in order to write your own scripts to pull information out of the WebBoard DB, or to store it there.  There are two example scripts with identical functionality: one in VBS and one in JS (JavaScript), so those of you who prefer JS can see how to use it to access the WebBoard DB.

There's also a much more detailed example, entirely in JavaScript, which explains the nuances of storing/updating multiple variable/value pairs inside one of the UserInfo fields, and accessing them from your own free-form HTML pages (i.e. it lets you exploit WebBoard's built-in "Enterprise" capabilities).

You don't need WebBoard admin or server access to install and run this example: other than the tag scripts, it runs completely on the client side and only requires FTP access to a virtual board's subfolder.

Finally, for those of you who just want to "extend" the user profile by: adding a few fields that: (1) get filled out at registration time; and which (2) are displayed when the profile is viewed; and which (3) can be edited on the profile editing page, I have a separate series of files which do that (and only that).

OSQL  Revised: Nov 1 '01)

The OSQL batch interface lets you extract data from ODBC compatible DBMSs in "commas-n'-quotes" format (or fixed-length format) via batch processes.

It also lets you dump all the base table layouts (i.e. excluding views) in a database to a plain text file--with just one DOS command.  Or, you can dump out a single table's layout with just one DOS command.

And there's a special interface that allows you to dump out all the data in all tables in a DB into plain ASC text ("commas-n'-quotes" format) with just one command.  If you use WinZip to compress this data, it can also be very useful for "partial restores," i.e. cases in which you just need to get a few records back, but you don't want to restore the entire DB (e.g., because it's on a production server).  You can also dump a single table's data out in "commas-n'-quotes" with just one command.

WebBoard users: If you're a virtual board manager, or anyone else who doesn't have server access, this system can make it a lot easier to get data from your sysadmin, since s/he can give it to you with a minimum of effort.  If you can program in a standard programming language, you may also benefit from an executable that converts commas-n'-quotes format to fixed-length format.

WebBoard users: the system comes with a text file that lists all WebBoard base table layouts (there are no views in WebBoard).

This system requires no special external software like Enterprise Manager to run: it relies only upon OSQL.Exe, which is standard with MS's ODBC interface.

OSQL also includes special support for my ADB (ASC Data Batcher) freeware.

Rog's Misc. Freeware  (New systems released: Nov 01 '02)

This is a link back to my miscellaneous freeware page, which contains DBMS tools, JavaScript tools, and FAQHack, my HTML structured document generator.

Undocumented Systems  (New as of: Nov 01 '02)

Click above if you'd like to see a list of "undocumented" systems; i.e. systems that have been written for WebBoard 4 and/or 6, but which haven't been "released" to the public.  Depending on your needs and level of expertise, you may wish to obtain the source code for them, or have me customise them for your applications.

Hiring and Contacting me

Information about my experience, rates, client references, etc.