Q: Why should I get The Pubb instead of other BB's?
A:
This is avery common question as well as a very valid question. What it comes down to a few very simple points. A
potential user falls into 2 categories: Owns Webcatalog, and Doesn't Own Webcatalog.
Doesn't Own Webcatalog
This is designed for users who own Webcatalog already. If you don't fit into this category, then this may not
be the thing for you. (Wow! Someone not trying to push their software on users, go figure.) If you plan on
developing e-commerce websites or other dynamic websites, we highly recommend Webcatalog. But if you're just
looking for a message board, we don't recommend this board (as much as we'd want to) because there are comparable
message boards that will do what we do (well, almost everything, we do have a few pretty neat features others don't)
for a price thats much less than ours would be after you include the license for Webcatalog. However, a cheaper
alternative to Webcatalog is to buy Typhoon Pro from Pacific Coast (Smith Micro) Software. (See one of the next questions).
Owns Webcatalog
Get it. Hands down. This board will allow you to get the most use out of your Webcatalog license. You won't have to deal
with Perl or any other language, so you won't have to worry about allocating any more services to even more programs or interpreters.
We emulate features from most of the popular bulletin boards already. The Pubb is all the best features of message board systems,
rolled into one. Another advantage is further customization. We allow you to modify the header and footer of the board so that
you incorporate it completely into your current site design, without the use of frames. Remember, all the current boards
written in CGI don't allow you to modify the presentation of the dynamic page. You have to use frames to change the look of the page.
Not true with The Pubb! You can also code your own Webcat modules for The Pubb to manipulate the stored data anyway you wish. Do you
want to generate a monthly report of messages that contained key phrases? No problem, a simple search and writefile will do the trick.
Try doing that with one of those other message boards!
Q: I don't have Webcatalog. Can I still use The Pubb?
A: Sorry, but at this time, The Pubb only works with
Webcatalog by Pacific Coast (Smith Micro) Software.
You can download a trial version of Webcatalog from there if you wish. Depending on the success of
The Pubb and the time of the development team, it may be ported to CGI/Perl eventually. But that's way down
the line from now. However, a cheaper alternative is to buy Typhoon Pro from Pacific Coast (Smith Micro) Software. See the next
question.
Q: What is Typhoon Pro? Does The Pubb work with Typhoon Pro?
A: Typhoon Pro is a slightly scaled down version of Webcatalog (it
has all the features minus the e-commerce capabilities). It also has a scaled down price tag, of only $500 I believe.
The Pubb has full compliance with Typhoon Pro, so if Webcatalog isn't in your budget, but Typhoon Pro is, then you can
feel confident in knowing that The Pubb should have no problem running on it.
Q: Do you have a version for MAC, Windows, GNU/Linux,etc...?
A: The message board has been coded OS independent. We have
not used any of the macintosh shortcuts in order to have maximum and complete portability of code. In other
words, if there's a version of Webcatalog for that operating system, The Pubb will work on it.
Q: Can I change the colors of the message board?
A: Yup! You can also change the fonts and the some of the text
All of this is available through the use of skins. Skins are self contained configuration files for The Pubb that
define how it should be displayed. The Pubb v1.0 comes with 5 skins by default, and users are encouraged to create
and share their own skins by allowing them to be posted here on this website.
Q: Can I add banners to the message board?
A: Absolutely. Not only that, but it's very easy
to incorporate the message board into your current site design. The user has the ability to edit the
header and footer that the message board uses, and you can put any code (even your own WebCat code)
that you want there.
Q: Why is it called The Pubb?
A: There are a few reasons for that one. One,
because we couldn't think of a better name (can you?). Two, because thepub.com was already taken. Three,
if we didn't tell you the other two reasons, we could have just said that we threw the extra "b" on
there because the message board is just so cool that it needs it.
