
                           A Guide to MTalk
                           ----------------
                        Written by David Riley
                            June 12, 1992.
                        Revised Nov. 16, 1993.

    This  help  file  explores  the  basics  of  the Multi-Talk online
conference.   After  following the guidelines and reading through this
document, you should be ready to use Multi-Talk with a sense of pride.
Multi-Talk  is  a  complex  and configurable program, and without some
tinkering,  it  will  seem  very hard to use.  The secret of mastering
MTalk is to explore every function and every feature.  Don't be scared
by  the number of commands and the number of options and settings.  Go
through them, and see what effect the different options have.

    The first command you should explore is the /setenv command.  This
command  allows  you to set the general options which affect you every
time  you  use  Multi-Talk.   These  settings can and should be saved.
When  your  preferences  have been set and saved, every time you enter
the  teleconference, your settings will be loaded.  Thus, once you set
your  settings,  you will not have to reset them unless a major update
is  released,  or  there  is  a major hard drive crash.  Typing '/help
setenv' will list all the different preferences that may be set with a
brief   description   of  each.   Remember,  after  setting  all  your
preferences,  don't let them go to waste.  Type '/setenv save' to save
them.

    After  setting  your  preferences,  try developing your own set of
aliases.   Aliases can be called short-cuts and you can assign text to
represent  other commands.  For example, typing '/alias /l /list' will
substitute  '/l'  with  '/list'.  Therefore typing '/l' will also give
you  a  list  of online users.  The SysOp of this BBS should provide a
way  of  editing your User-Startup file where you can put your aliases
for  next  time.   This  is  because  MTalk currently does not have an
online text editor.

    If you have to leave your computer for a while, let others know by
typing  '/away'.  This sets a flag letting others know that you are no
longer present in the teleconference.

    If  there is excessive swearing going on, just use the preferences
command to turn on the filter.  Most of the common swear words will be
filtered for you.

    If  a  particular  person, or a group of people are bothering you,
you may want to enter the '/forget' command.  If your forget them, you
will  not  recieve  their  messages.   You  may want to stop them from
reading  your  messages  by issuing the '/noread' command.  Both these
actions  can  be  reversed  by  using  the '/unforget' and the '/read'
command.

    But  what  good  would Multi-Talk be if you were restricted to one
area,  restricted  to  certain  users?  That's why Multi-Talk boasts a
full  range  of  channel  commands.   To  get  you  start there is the
'/enter' command which lets you specify the channel you wish to enter.
You  can  of  course  stay  in several channels at the same time (type
'/help setenv' for further details).  Typing '/exit' would get you out
of a channel.

That's all, I hope I've enlightened you!

Have fun Multi-Talking!

-David Riley
-Sam Yee (minor revision)

