When you select the Conferences option from the Main Menu, you will be presented with a list of conferences on your system. You need to select the conference that you wish to edit from this list.

The screen that lists your conferences looks similar to thefollowing:

To edit a conference, move to the conference you want to edit and press ENTER. The keyboard commands that you can use to move the highlighted bar are:

As you are moving the highlighted bar around, you may notice that it disappears once you have passed a certain number. When the bar disappears, it is letting you know that you have passed the number that you entered as Number of Highest Conference Desired in PCBSetup > Configuration Options > Messages. Another way that you will know when you have exceeded this number is when PCBSetup emits a beep when attempting to edit the conference.

Once you have selected the conference you want to edit, press ENTER to see the first screen of fields that you may edit relating to that conference.
When you are editing a particular conference you can press PgDn to go to the second configuration screen or press PgDn twice to go to the next available conference. To go to the previous conference, press PgUp.

In this field, enter the name you wish to use for this conference. This name will be shown at the conference command prompt. For example, when you are in the Chit-Chat conference the conference command prompt will resemble the following:

(13 min. left) Chit-Chat Conference Command?

This name will also be used if a user attempts to join a conference. PCBoard will search by conference name or by conference number.

A conference can be configured to be either a public conference or a private conference. A public conference can be joined by anyone if they have sufficient security to do so (see the discussion about the Req. Security if Public field on this screen for further information). A private conference requires that a user be registered (the R conference flag is set in their user record) in order for them to join the conference.

If you have defined your conference to be a public conference, you should enter the security level that is required to join the conference in this field. If a user attempts to join a conference and they do not have sufficient security, they will not be allowed to join the conference.

One exception to this rule is, PCBoard will allow the user to join the public conference if the R flag has been set in their record. This would allow you to manually register users in a public conference even if the security level requirements are not met.

If you have defined a conference as a private conference, you can have PCBoard automatically register your users in the conference if they know the proper password. This would be a good situation where you want to enable only a select few individuals into a conference but do not want to manually register all of the users. If a user that is not registered in the conference attempts to join the conference, they will be prompted for a password.

The user will be given one attempt at guessing the password each time they attempt to join the private conference. If the user gets the correct password, PCBoard will register the user in the conference with an R flag. By doing this, the user will not have to enter the password each time they join the conference.

If you decide you want to change the password, you may want to de-register all users in the conference via System Manager > Users File Maintenance > Remove Group Conference. After you do this, all users would have to re-enter the correct password to become registered in the conference again.

NOTE: To help deter hackers from gaining access to a conference, PCBoard will hang up on the caller if they fail to get the right password after 8 attempts per session.

In a public conference, you do not need to use conference registration flags for a user to be able to join the conference. The ability to join a conference is based on the security level of the user and the minimum security level that you want joining the conference. However, by setting the conference flags, you can speed up the caller's access to the conference. This is possible because PCBoard then does not have to read in the conference information to determine the public/private status or the security level requirements.

Valid characters in this field are:

You can enter any combination of the R, X, and S conference flags in this field or you may leave the field blank. For example, you may want to enter R, RX, or even RXS.

Versions of PCBoard prior to v15.0 used a different method of indexing the message bases. You were required to enter the number of message blocks you wanted to use for this older format. If you are running third-party software which requires use of the older index files, you can have PCBoard maintain these older format index files for you by using the /OLDINDEX environment setting for PCBOARD.EXE or by setting the option in each conference configuration regarding old index support.

As mentioned previously, the old index format requires a message block setting. In this field, enter the number of message blocks that you want to use for this older message index format. Each block represents a RANGE of 1K in message numbers. That is, with 1 block defined you may have a RANGE of messages from a low number of 1 to a high number of 1024. Likewise, 100,001 up through 101,024 is also valid with a block setting of 1.

Each block requires 4 kilobytes of disk space. Regular use of PCBPack will remove numbers from the low end and this will slide the range forward.
Usually you will not have to increase the number of blocks for the message base beyond a value of 4 or so unless you have extremely high traffic or keep very old messages in the message base.

NOTE:If you are not maintaining the older index formats then the value in this field will be ignored. In addition, if you run a multi-node system this number must be the same for this conference on all nodes on the system.

Each conference has a message base file where messages left in the conference are stored. In this field, enter the name and location of the message file that you want to use for this conference. Normally, the filename you specify in this field will be unique to any other conference but it is not absolutely required to be unique. For example, if you enter H:\PCB\MSGS\CONF001 in this field, then PCBoard will think that the message base will be stored in H:\PCB\MSGS\ using the filename CONF001.

PCBoard, by default, has one main menu that is displayed at each conference command prompt when in novice mode. This menu is used by your callers so that they know which commands are available on your system. The menu file is simply a text file so you can customize it any way that you think will make it easier for your users to navigate around the system.

In this field, enter the name and location of your user menu for this conference. Remember, that several conferences can point to the same menu file if you wish to reduce the complexity of your system.

If you wish to edit the user menu file, press F2 to edit the non-graphics files and F3 to edit the graphics specific file. To create security specific and language specific files, you will need to do so directly from the DOS prompt using the display file conventions.

Because the SysOp has more menu options available to them than regular users, this file will be displayed as the menu for those users who have SysOp security level or higher. The SysOp security level is defined in PCBSetup > Security Levels > Sysop Commands.

In this field, enter the name and location of the SysOp menu you wish to use.
If you do not want to maintain two separate menu files (one for SysOps and one for regular users), enter the filename of the user menu in this field.

If you wish to edit the SysOp menu file, press F2 to edit the non-graphics files and F3 to edit the graphics specific file. To create security specific and language specific files, you will need to do so directly from the DOS prompt using the display file conventions.

Each conference can specify a different news file. The news file is typically used to make the users aware of upcoming events, policies of the board and general information that you want the users to be aware of.

In this field, enter the name and location of the news file for the conference. If you leave this field blank, no conference news file will be available to your callers.

If you wish to edit the news file, press F2 to edit the non-graphics files and F3 to edit the graphics specific file. To create security specific and language specific files, you will need to do so directly from the DOS prompt using the display file conventions.

Each conference may have an introduction file. This file is typically used to remind the user of any particular items of interest about this conference.

For example, if you want the users to know what is expected in the conference each time they join it, you would use the introduction file. Remember, this file will be displayed each and every time the user joins a conference unless the Q subcommand is used when joining the conference. This file may be displayed while doing mail scans as well if you have enabled the Show INTRO in `R A' scan (Conference Options Screen).

In this field, enter the name and location of the introduction file for the conference. If you leave this field blank, no introduction file will be displayed.

If you wish to edit the conference introduction file, press F2 to edit the non-graphics files and F3 to edit the graphics specific file. To create security specific and language specific files, you will need to do so directly from the DOS prompt using the display file conventions.

The drive and subdirectory that you enter in this field will determine where file attachments will be stored for this conference. If you leave this field blank, you will be specifying the current directory as your directory for file attachments which is not recommended.

In this field, enter the sort type to be used by PCBFiler for the public upload DIR (description) file.

Valid values are:

PCBoard stores the file descriptions in a separate file for each directory (including upload directories). In this field, enter the name and location of the public upload DIR (description) file. This file contains the name, size, date, and file description of files uploaded to your system, when uploads are public.

In this field, enter the drive and subdirectory where you want the actual files that are uploaded as public uploads to be stored. If you are running multiple nodes, you will want to make sure this location is the same for all nodes. Otherwise, files may be available on one node, but not available on another node. For example, you may want to enter F:\PCB\UPLOADS\ in this field.

In this field, enter the sort type to be used by PCBFiler for the private upload DIR (description) file.

Valid values are:

PCBoard stores the file descriptions in a separate file for each directory (including upload directories). In this field, enter the name and location of the private upload DIR (description) file. The name, size, date, and file description of files that are uploaded to your system, when uploads are private.

In this field, enter the drive and subdirectory where you want the actual files that are uploaded as private uploads to be stored. If you are running multiple nodes, you will want to make sure this location is the same for all nodes. Otherwise, files may be available on one node, but not available on another node. For example, you may want to enter F:\PCB\PRIVUPLD\ in this field.

When a user uses the OPEN or DOOR user commands without specifying a door name or number, PCBoard will display a menu of doors that are available. The filename you enter in this field will be the file that is displayed to the caller. This file is a standard display file so you may have security, graphics, and language specific versions of the menu. Because you can have different versions of the doors menu, you should not specify a filename extension or you will eliminate the ability to have different menus for languages on your system (if you have defined them).
For example, you may enter C:\PCB\MAIN\DOORS or any other valid filename in this field.

If you wish to edit the door menu file, press F2 to edit thenon-graphics files and F3 to edit the graphics specific file. To create security specific and language specific files, you will need to do so directly from the DOS prompt using the display file conventions.

The Path/Name List File, as it is called, refers to the data file that is used to define the doors that are available in the conference. This is the file you will edit to define, delete, or alter the configuration of the doors available in this conference. To edit this file, press F2 while the filename is highlighted. Please refer to the Doors section in the chapter for additional information on editing this file..

NOTE: Even though this file is not a display file, you may create security specific versions of the Path/Name List File. For example, if the file is called DOOR.LST, you can create a DOOR50.LST that would be used exclusively by those with a security level of 50.

When a user uses the B user command without specifying a bulletin number, PCBoard will display a menu of bulletins that are available. The filename you enter in this field will be the file that is displayed to the caller.
Even though this file is a standard display file, you cannot have a security specific version of this menu. You may create graphic and language specific versions of this menu.. Because you can have different versions of the bulletin menu, you should not specify a filename extension or you will eliminate the ability to have different menus for languages on your system (if you have defined them).

For example, you may enter C:\PCB\MAIN\BLTS or any other valid filename in this field.

If you wish to edit the bulletin menu file, press F2 to edit the non-graphics files and F3 to edit the graphics specific file. To create language specific files, you will need to do so directly from the DOS prompt using the display file conventions.

The Path/Name List File, as it is called, refers to the data file that is used to define the bulletins that are available in the conference. This is the file you will edit to define, delete, or alter the configuration of the bulletins available in this conference. To edit this file, press F2 while the filename is highlighted. Please refer to the Bulletins section in this chapter for additional information on editing this file.

NOTE: Even though this file is not a display file, you may create security specific versions of the Path/Name List File. For example, if the file is called BLT.LST, you can create a BLT50.LST that would be used exclusively by those with a security level of 50.

When a user uses the S user command, PCBoard will display a menu of script questionnaires that are available. The filename you enter in this field will be the file that is displayed to the caller. Even though this file is a standard display file, you cannot have a security specific version of this menu. You may create graphic and language specific versions of this menu. Because you can have different versions of the script menu, you should not specify a filename extension or you will eliminate the ability to have different menus for languages on your system (if you have defined them).
For example, you may enter C:\PCB\MAIN\SCRIPTS or any other valid filename in this field.

If you wish to edit the script questionnaire menu file, press 2 to edit the non-graphics files and F3 to edit the graphics specific file. To create language specific files, you will need to do so directly from the DOS prompt using the display file conventions.

The Path/Name List File, refers to the data file used to define the script questionnaires that are available in the conference. This is the file you will edit to define, delete, or alter the configuration of the script questionnaires available in this conference. To edit this file, press F2 while the filename is highlighted.

Please refer to the Script Questionnaires section in this chapter for additional information on editing this file..

NOTE: Even though this file is not a display file, you may create security specific versions of the Path/Name List File. For example, if the file is called SCRIPT.LST, you can create a SCRIPT50.LST that would be used exclusively by those with a security level of 50.

When a user uses the F user command without specifying a subcommand, PCBoard will display a menu of file directories that are available. The filename you enter in this field will be the file that is displayed to the caller. Even though this file is a standard display file, you cannot have a security specific version of this menu. You may create graphic and language specific versions of this menu.. Because you can have different versions of the script menu, you should not specify a filename extension or you will eliminate the ability to have different menus for languages on your system (if you have defined them). For example, you may enter C:\PCB\MAIN\DIR or any other valid filename in this field.

If you wish to edit the file directory menu file you can press 2 to edit the non-graphics files and F3 to edit the graphics specific file. To create language specific files, you will need to do so directly from the DOS prompt using the display file conventions.

The Path/Name List File, as it is called, refers to the data file that is used to define the file directories that are available in the conference. This is the file you will edit to define, delete, or alter the configuration of the file directories available in this conference. To edit this file, press F2 while the filename is highlighted. Please refer to the File Directories section in this chapter for additional information on editing this file.

NOTE: Even though this file is not a display file, you may create security specific versions of the Path/Name List File. For example, if the file is called DIR.LST, you can create a DIR50.LST that would be used exclusively by those with a security level of 50.

The Path/Name List File, refers to the data file used to define the paths that PCBoard will search to locate files that are available for downloading in this conference. This is the file you will edit to define, delete, or alter the configuration of the paths that search for downloadable files. To edit this file, press F2 while the filename is highlighted. Please refer to the File Directories section in this chapter for additional information on editing this file.

NOTE: Even though this file is not a display file, you may create security specific versions of the Path/Name List File. For example, if the file is called DLPATH.LST, you can create a DLPATH50.LST that would be used exclusively by those with a security level of 50.