Why
AnyBoard is the ultimate solution for a web host
In terms of functionality, there
is simply no match for AnyBoard and providing AnyBoard to your customers
will definitely make them happier. It will make your life happier
and easier also.
However, there are still more
reasons for a web host to choose AnyBoard. Read on to see why AnyBoard
can save you hundreds of hours support time and enhance the image of
your company at the same time!
The
quality of the programs you offer reflects on your company.
There's an old saying, "you
are judged by the company you keep". What will your customers
think of your company if you offer problematic programs, especially
once they learn of better ones? If they have a BBS or a chat program
that you provided and it causes them problems, they may not be happy
with you because of the choices you made. It may not matter
to them that you aren't the author. You
chose shoddy programs to offer them. Their
problems become your problems. They may look for a
host that offers better quality programs and puts them first.
Most people
like things to be easy and trouble free.
With an increasing and already large number of computer novices creating
their own online communities via their web sites, and a large number
of hosts offering approximately equal hosting plans, there is a definite
advantage in standing out from the crowd. One way to do that is
to offer quality programs that meet their needs (ease of use and setup,
reliability, richness of features, supported and upgraded, etc.)
The easier you make it for them, the more likely
you are to get them and keep them as a client.
You also make it easier for yourself in the process. They
may even decide against switching to a host with a more attractive hosting
plan simply because of the value of the services you offer with AnyBoard.
Some hosting companies spend
a considerable amount of resources making their sites and hosting plans
attractive, then slap together several programs for their customers
that detract from that initial effort. It's almost like being
impeccably dressed and wearing an old, ratty, scuffed pair of shoes.
Many won't know the difference
between a T1 and a T3, but they will know (or learn) the difference
between a program that crashes, cross posts, and limits them in function
and appearance, and one that doesn't. If their users don't like
the program, they won't be happy with it either. Choose wisely. Your
choices reflect on you.
Give some thought to what you
offer and everything you offer. Whether it is a counter program
or anything else, choose those that offer the most versatility and your
customers will appreciate it.
AnyBoard
is a multi-function program, not just a BBS
Your customers and their users
will like it for many reasons. A common interface and a single
registration (when enabled or needed) is all that is necessary
to access the following functions:
- the most fully featured
discussion program available, with a constantly growing set of features
for both users and administrators (at both levels of administration,
admin and moderators)
- private discussions
- polling
- guest book
- e-mail list and mailing
- chat rooms
- links submission
- events submission and sign
up
- general web form processing. AnyBoard can replace formmail.pl and other
simple scripts such as file-upload.pl, plus the added security from AnyBoard's authentication system.
For all these reasons and many
more, we feel your customers will think more highly of you if you think
to provide them with AnyBoard. Features that will be added in
the future will extend the capabilities of AnyBoard even further and
make it even more integral as an essential component of online communities
and the ultimate groupware for them. In fact, we are building
a whole suite of products using the code and technologies developed
for AnyBoard. Eventually, all the most common groupware functions
will be available in a suite of products with a common interface, registration,
ease of use, and other features that AnyBoard already excels at.
It will make life easier for
you too. You don't need to license several products or become
familiar with them and any subsequent changes to offer several services.
AnyBoard alone can provide those services. It is so well written
and easily upgraded that you will only have to become familiar with
any new features rather than learn several programs all over again.
You only need ONE copy of the
AnyBoard script on a server. That single
copy of AnyBoard can be shared by ALL virtual hosts on that server,
and your customers do not need to modify the script, they only need
to go the web and click on a link to create forums.
If you provide wwwboard to your
customers, you need to 1) copy the script to the customer domains cgi-bin/,
2) give them instructions on how to install it, 3) answer tech questions
if the customer do not know how to do it.
With AnyBoard, you don't need
to do any of the above. If you look at AnyBoard, it does not have the
web server name or forum directory name specified anywhere in the script,
AnyBoard will figure out the web server name and the forum location
by itself. Suppose you have total N virtual hosts on a machine, e.g,
domain1.com, domain2.com, ..... domainN.com, this is how you share the
script for all these domains (using Apache server as an example)
- Install AnyBoard.cgi under
some directory, say, /global/cgi-bin/AnyBoard.cgi
- Create the master_cfg_dir
somewhere, and create the master admin through the init command.
- ScriptAlias /global/cgi-bin
(say, /cgi-sys/ ) at the server level, so all virtual hosts will take
the ScriptAlias, and AnyBoard is accessible to all hosts at the URL
/cgi-sys/AnyBoard.cgi. For mydomain.com, AnyBoard is at http://www.mydomain.com/cgi-sys/AnyBoard.cgi,
for yourdomain.com, it is at http://yourdomain.com/cgi-sys/AnyBoard.cgi
That is it!
All virtual domains now have AnyBoard! For mydomain.com, to create
a board, simply go to the URL http://mydomain.com/cgi-sys/AnyBoard.cgi?cmd=init,
AnyBoard will create forums under mydomain.com's home directory, wherever
it is. The same is true for all other domains on that server.
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When
you upgrade AnyBoard, you make changes to the single copy of AnyBoard
on your system, and all virtual hosts, old and new, will have
the newer version instantly.
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Furthermore, you can control
the configurations of all AnyBoard forums by simply putting an .override
file under the master_cfg_dir. For instance, on AnyBoard.net, there
are actually several virtual hosts (anyforum.com, bbscity.com, et al),
and they all share the same AnyBoard script. To limit the number
of active messages allowed for the forums, we simply add a line to the
.override file, and all boards will have the same limit.
When you relocate a domain to
another physical directory, AnyBoard needs no modifications and will
continue to run without any interruption
Suppose mydomain.com is originally
at /home/mydomain/www/, and it has an AnyBoard forum at the URL http://mydomain.com/board/,
now you decide to move this domain to /home1/mydomain/www/, what will
happen to the AnyBoard forum? Nothing!
With most other BBS programs
(such as wwwboard), the board will stop working, and the script needs
to be modified to use the new path. Your customer will complain loudly.
No changes is needed for AnyBoard!
In fact, there is no place for you to change in the script. The forum
is still at http://mydomain.com/board/, and it will run as if it has
never been moved.
New
additions to the family
We are building an entire
family of products with the code and technologies developed for AnyBoard
and will be able to provide an entire, inter operative and integrated
set of solutions. With this suite of web tools, one does not need to
look elsewhere for solutions.
We are presently working
on:
1) AnyShop. A pretty
good shopping system.
2) Ecard. An ecard system derived
from AnyShop
3) AnyForm. A program that handles
any form creation and processing needs.
4) DB extension to AnyBoard, allows
user to define and maintain tables of information.
5) FileMan. A module that can be
used to manage server files on the web.
6) Instant messaging (which will
also be integrted into AnyBoard)
1) 2) and 3) are almost ready.
4) depends on 3).
We are also planning to integrate AnyEmail
in some way.
There are also other small things we plan
to add.
Summary
There are many reasons for choosing
AnyBoard, and it benefits hosting companies, their customers, and their
users. You can look at AnyBoard from the perspective of site administrators
(your customers and potential customers), their users and community members,
and from that as a host, and you won't find a program that comes close
to AnyBoard in function, benefits and overall, value.
Many of our customers have used
several programs and can offer further insight into what they look for
in a host, and what they think of AnyBoard, especially compared to other
programs. Some of them participate in our support forum and you
are welcome to ask their opinions. We don't think you'll need
to. The information contained here and elsewhere on our site should
be enough to help you realize that AnyBoard is the right choice for
you, your customers, and their users, now, and in the future.
With our ofrthcoming additions to the family, you won't need to look
any further than right here for the finest quality products in groupware.
