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  • Synchronet menu system

    From Winzlo@VERT to All on Sun Jul 19 18:42:45 2026
    Hi all -

    I have been trying to understnad the logic behind why changing menus is so involved, where as there is an actual editor for this provided by Mystic and other BBS software. I can see the power of making menus run off JavaScript, but for those of us who know next to nothing about the language, have low vision and/or prefer the WYSIWYG of a dynamic menu system makes changing your BBS into something more unique a snap. I've been running Synchronet on my lab VM and Mystic on my production host. The only reason I went with Mystic is for the menu "overcomplexity".

    Did I basically just say "Synchronet is not for me", or is this something that could be incorporated as perhaps a secondary option for menu creation/editing?

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  • From MRO@VERT/BBSESINF to Winzlo on Sun Jul 19 21:37:10 2026
    Re: Synchronet menu system
    By: Winzlo to All on Sun Jul 19 2026 06:42 pm

    Hi all -

    I have been trying to understnad the logic behind why changing menus is so involved, where as there is an actual editor for this provided by Mystic and other BBS software. I can see the power of making menus run off JavaScript, but for those of us who know next to nothing about the language, have low vision and/or prefer the WYSIWYG of a dynamic menu system makes changing your > BBS into something more unique a snap. I've been running Synchronet on my
    lab VM and Mystic on my production host. The only reason I went with Mystic is for the menu "overcomplexity".

    Did I basically just say "Synchronet is not for me", or is this something that could be incorporated as perhaps a secondary option for menu creation/editing?

    i know it's a learning hurdle to get over. you could always use the renegade Menu and modify the baja src. It's not hard to do that.

    there are menu editors for synchronet but i'm not sure if they are finished and i think they might be very limited because when you edit your own command Shell you can do whatever you want.

    --
    "Before using Wildcat....This Company did not have a convenient way of
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  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Winzlo on Mon Jul 20 04:43:12 2026
    Re: Synchronet menu system
    By: Winzlo to All on Sun Jul 19 2026 06:42 pm

    I have been trying to understnad the logic behind why changing menus is so involved, where as there is an actual editor for this provided by Mystic and other BBS software. I can see the power of making menus run off JavaScript, but for those of us who know next to nothing about the language, have low vision and/or prefer the WYSIWYG of a dynamic menu system makes changing your BBS into something more unique a snap. I've

    This was something that I initially found a little surprising too, since other BBS packages, as you said, have a menuing system based on using a menu editor. I think the main strength of Synchronet's menuing system is that it can be really flexible - what it uses is more like an OS command shell which performs the duty of a BBS menuing system. And indeed, I have seen some Synchronet command shells that mimic the MS-DOS command line & such.. You really can do basically whatever you want with a Synchronet command shell.

    There is a menu editor for Synchronet though - I haven't used it myself, but
    I think it's supposed to work - Take a look at menuedit.js.

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  • From Digital Man@VERT to Winzlo on Mon Jul 20 11:24:51 2026
    Re: Synchronet menu system
    By: Winzlo to All on Sun Jul 19 2026 06:42 pm

    Did I basically just say "Synchronet is not for me", or is this something that could be incorporated as perhaps a secondary option for menu creation/editing?

    People have created menu editors for Synchronet in the past, including me, and it turns out nobody uses them because they're too limiting. If you look at a modern command shell (e.g. exec/default.js), it's pretty obvious how to change it and there are no limitations on where you can go from there. By contrast, any menu editor will have to have a limited number of actions or verbs and supported syntax.
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Synchronet/BBS Terminology Definition #11:
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