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Motet Features Specification

Table of Contents

  1. Administrator Tools
  2. Banners
  3. Bozo Filter
  4. Browser Support
  5. Conference Hosts
  6. Conference Hotlists
  7. Hosting Tools
  8. Light Server Load
  9. Memory
  10. Navigational Tools
  11. Online Bios
  12. Online Documentation
  13. Panel Topics
  14. Platforms
  15. Posting Tools
  16. Private Conferences
  17. Read-only Topics
  18. Security
  19. Signup Script
  20. Site Customization
  21. Slipped-In Handling
  22. Speed
  23. Statistics

Administrator Tools

 The conference administrator has the power to:
  • Create or destroy conferences
  • Create a default hotlist
  • Add new users
  • Specify a non-standard hotlist for a new user
  • Find users by
    User name
    Full name
    Date registered
    Date last logged in
  • Email or delete users en masse
The administrator has nothing to "boot" when the system starts; everything is done via Web pages.

Banners

 Motet conferences each have three optional banners on the opening conference page. These are the regular banner, seen by each user on each visit; the welcome banner, seen only once by each user on his or her first visit; and the bulletin, seen once (when it changes) by each user.

Bozo Filter

 The bozo filter is an option that enables users to privately screen out the postings of selected users when deemed necessary.

Browser Support

 Motet supports all HTML 2.0 compliant browsers, HTML 3.0 where applicable, and Lynx. Motet checks the user's browser and enables or disables HTML 3.0 features (such as tables) accordingly.

Conference hosts

Motet conferences may be optionally maintained by conference hosts, assignable by the administrator.

Conference Hotlists

 Conference hotlists make navigation in Motet fast. Users choose the conferences they wish to follow from a list box. The hotlist is easy to edit or reorder at any time, and streamlines reading.

Hosting Tools

 There are several tools available for hosts to use in managing conferences:
  • Host-only topic starting within a conference
  • Number of days of postings shown to new users in a conference
  • Specify private conference members
  • Delete old topics
  • Hide or erase any conference user's posting
  • Edit topic titles

Light Server Load

 Because Motet creates Web pages on the fly, the host server is never loaded down with long-running programs.

Memory

 Motet remembers what each user has seen in each topic of every conference, so that the next time the user logs on, she or he will be able to read what's new in any conference with the click of a button.

Navigational Tools

 Motet offers a full range of navigational tools that help you to read conferences in whatever style suits you best. You can:
  • Read new postings since yours
  • Select topics to read from a list
  • Dog-ear your place and come back to it later
  • Ignore selected topics, with the option to later Include them again
  • Catch up (on conferences or topics) to some point in time, using a flexible date/time field
  • Go to a conference by name
  • Go a topic by number
  • Read (a conference or topic) since some point in time, using a flexible date/time field
  • List:
    Topics that have new postings
    Topics that were posted in recently
    All topics
    The Last [n] topics that were started
  • Read a range of postings using a flexible range field

Online Bios

 Motet offers optional online biography pages where users may write about themselves in plain text, or in HTML. Bios generally include an optional email address and an optional home page address. Users may also include graphics in their bios.

Online Documentation

 The Motet tutorial is a quick way to learn speedy navigation techniques and get a sense of place in conferences. Context-sensitive help is also available from each page of Motet, and there are additional tips and tricks listed in the Help table of contents.

Panel Topics

 Panel topics make it possible for a conference administrator to arrange for a group of people to host one topic. This topic is read-only, so only the panel members can post in it.

Platforms

 Motet is currently available for UNIX platforms. To date, it has been ported to AIX, BSDI, FreeBSD, HPUX, IRIX, Linux, Solaris, SunOS, and Ultrix.

Posting Tools

 Motet's posting tools give users optimum flexibility for crafting just the right response. Motet creates automatic links to email addresses and external URLs, as well as postings, topics, and conferences within your site.

Motet takes advantage of automatic word wrap (as in Netscape), when available; otherwise, users have the option to use Motet's word wrap tool. If they prefer to format their own text, users can choose to disable word wrap.

Motet will also warn users about bad posting format and postings that may have slipped in ahead of theirs while they were composing. Users can erase, hide, or unhide their own postings.

By default, anyone may start a topic in a Motet conference.

Private Conferences

 Administrators may create private conferences, with optional hosts, and list members allowed access to them. Private conferences will only appear in the conference directory for users who are members.

Read-Only Topics

 Anyone may create a read-only topic. These are useful in certain infrequent cases, such as where an instructor is giving a lecture in parts, or an author has put a book online for review, but comments are to appear in another topic.

Security

 Motet requires each user to have a user name and password. The user name format is configurable by the administrator.

Signup Script

 New users register via a flexible signup script that utilizes password protection. Passwords may be user-chosen or server-generated. Confirmation is by email.

Site Customization

 Each Motet site is customizable on several levels:
  • Installation
  • Page headers and footers
  • Enable or disable biographies
  • Enable or disable bozo filter
  • Enable or disable pseuds
  • Enable or disable anonymity of users
  • Exit button can be URL or HTML

Slipped-In Handling

 If you try to post your response and someone else has slipped a posting in while you were composing yours, Motet warns you and gives you the chance to view the slipped in posting before posting yours. This ensures that postings are consecutive and read like a conversation.

Speed

 Motet, written in the C programming language by a veteran conferencing programmer, was designed to run fast and stay fast.

Statistics

 Motet keeps detailed statistics over an administrator-specified census period. The previous period and the current period are available online to administrators, and hosts are able to evaluate census data for their own conferences, as applicable. Data may be tallied automatically, or manually, as preferred.

Census data is:

  • Per Login
    Number of visits
    Number of visitors
    Number of main page hits
  • Per Conference
    Number of visits
    Number of visitors
    Number of conference home page hits
  • Per topic
    Number of reads
    Number of readers
    Number of posts
    Number of posters
    Number of ignorers

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