meep!Board 1.00

Welcome to meep!Board.  Let's get to the point.

Requirements
============

1. A UNIX-flavored web server.

2. Perl Version 5.

3. Shell access (e.g. telnet).

4. A cgi directory (ask your system administrator).

5. Basic knowledge of UNIX (if you telnet to a UNIX machine once in
   a while and do stuff, you should be ok).

Installation
============

Let us pretend your cgi directory is located at "/home/you/cgi-bin".

1. Obtain the file "mboard1.tar.gz" and place it in "/home/you/cgi-bin".

2. Extract the file by the command:
	gunzip -c mboard1.tar.gz | tar xvf -

3. Change to the newly created mboard directory:
	cd mboard

4. Create a new board from the "master" copy:
	cp -R SRC <name>
   (you choose the directory <name>...)

5. Change to the new directory:
	cd <name>

6. Run Configure and follow the instructions:
	./Configure
   You will be asked for a username and password for the ADMIN section.

7. Open up a web browser and go to the URL corresponding to 
   "ADMIN/firsttime.cgi".
   For example, if the URL to this board is
	http://www.you.net/cgi-bin/mboard/<name>/list.cgi
   Then, with your web browser, go to
	http://www.you.net/cgi-bin/mboard/<name>/ADMIN/firsttime.cgi

Try the URL with your web browser corresponding to "list.cgi" (i.e.
"http://www.you.net/cgi-bin/mboard/<name>/list.cgi").  If it works, all 
is well.  Otherwise, make sure you have followed all the steps.

Templates
=========

There are templates where you can customize the look of your board.  They
are located in the "<name>/TEMPLATES" directory.  Follow the instructions
located in the comments and text of each file.

Basically, you can change the html above and below the chunk used by
meep!Board to insert dynamically-generated output, or more specifically:

In add.html, anything outside the FORM.

In list.html, anything besides the "$list".

In view.html, anything besides the "$post".

Administration
==============

There are some tools to help you administer your message board.  Go to the
URL corresponding to "mboard/admin/admin.cgi".

There are 5 administrative functions for each board:

- Change Configuration Options
   This allows you to set how many threads are shown per page, and
   mark messages a certain number of days old as "new".  Also, you can
   set "Moderation" on or off.  If you set moderation on, you will have
   to approve every message before it appears on the board by using the 
   next function...

- Approve/Reject a Message
   This will display messages that await the moderator's approval.  This
   is only relevant if you have moderation on.  (We suggest you place
   a warning on your add.html template if you decide to turn moderation on.

- Remove a Message
- Remove a Thread
- Edit a Message
   These three should be self-evident.

Multiple Boards
===============

You can create multiple boards.  Just follow steps 4 to 7 of the Installation,
remembering to give each board a different directory name.

The "mboard/admin/admin.cgi" program will automatically detect any new boards
you have created, and will provide a link to each board's administration tools.