WebBoard 3.0 is a high-end threaded discussion and real-time chat server designed for building lively Internet communities and empowering corporate workgroups. It offers an unmatched level of manageability, flexibility, performance and innovation, packaged and priced to set a new precedent in the exploding ""community server"" market-a market in which O'Reilly Software has long been a recognized leader. WebBoard offers high demand features such as SQL scalability, fully integrated 1,000-user Internet Relay Chat (IRC), HTTP-compliant logging and mailing list support. WebBoard version 3.5 is now available! New power features include system and board-wide direct paging and broadcasting, email address verification, password reminders, and topic ordering. WebBoard 3.5 is a free electronic download available for enrolled users of WebBoard 3.0. (http: //software.oreilly.com/techsupport/software/support_library_wb_frame.html)
WebBoard 3.0, along with the WebBoard 3.5 upgrade, remains the collaboration tool of choice among corporations and organizations with dynamic and powerful features such as:
IRC Chat: WebBoard includes WebMaster, Inc.'s Conference Room Professional, a robust Internet Relay Chat server. WebBoard allows up to 1,000 simultaneous users to join in IRC-based chats/conferences through Conference Room Professional, the worldwide market share leader for IRC-compliant chat software for Windows.
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Database Support: WebBoard lets administrators host forums running on Microsoft SQL 6.5, a scalable, high-performance, enterprise-class relational database application. WebBoard's SQL database support provides tremendous performance enhancements that makeWebBoard the discussion server of choice for the busiest of sites.
Mailing List Support: WebBoard lets users participate in conferences off-line via email, as well as through a Web browser interface.
Paging: WebBoard brings direct, priority communication to the desktop with real-time paging. Whether paging a colleague logged on from a local intranet or board visitors from around the world, WebBoard's real-time paging allows immediate delivery of messages which appear on top of the recipient's open windows. With WebBoard paging, mission-critical communications are no longer waylaid in unread email or postponed by busy phone signals and backlogged voicemail. Recipients logged on to WebBoard are alerted on-screen and can respond instantly to messages. Up to five different messages can be received at once on the recipient's desktop with this clutter-killing feature. As with most WebBoard features, users can configure their personal user profile to activate the paging function.
Broadcasting: WebBoard administrators and board managers can grab visitors' attention directly with board-wide announcements and system-wide alerts, or broadcasts, that appear promptly on the screen of every logged-in user. Use broadcasting to alert users of company wide communications, server downtime, and other time-sensitive events, such as live online chat meetings.
Email Address Verification: The Internet today is fraught with security risks that must be addressed in public conferencing environments. Many WebBoard administrators and managers want increased control over user access to ensure the security and integrity of their online discussion areas. In addition to its current user authenticationmechanism, WebBoard 3.5 now adds email address verification capability, which prevents users from creating accounts using another person's email address. The user starts the sign up process by supplying a login name and email address. WebBoard generates a random password (which is configurable) and sends it to the email address provided by the new user. The user has 24 hours to log in using that password. At that time, the user completes the User Profile, which does not allow him to change his email address. WebBoard administrators, and managers can change the email address if necessary. This feature is activated at the discretion of the board administrator.
Password Reminders: We have passwords for everything: ATMs, phone cards, email, FTP, credits cards, etc. Occasionally, we are bound to forget a password. Conference administrators know this can result in a steady stream of password reminder requests, which can be very time-consuming to handle manually. WebBoard introduces an easy, automated system for users who have forgotten their passwords to receive them by email with an instantaneous, self-service request/response loop. The user provides a login name and WebBoard immediately sends the correct password to the email address contained in that user's profile. Gone are the days for end users of 24-hour delays, phone calls, or rummaging through file cabinets to find a lost password and return to a favorite WebBoard discussion. And board administrators will never have to interrupt thier busy schedules to respond to lost password requests.
Reverse Order of Topics: WebBoard lets you decide how you want to view discussion topics. Perhaps you want to see how the discussion startedand is progressing, or maybe you just want to view the latest postings. This feature give you a quick, convenient utility to order topics to your viewing needs.
Co-existing SMTP server support: WebBoard's SMTP server can run on the same computer as another SMTP server. This feature has been requested by users at both small and large companies where cost is an important factor.
HTTP Logging Support: WebBoard writes HTTP requests to a log file on a per-board basis in the Combined (NCSA/CERN) format, thereby allowing administrators to analyze their WebBoard traffic with most third-party statistic products, such as WebTrends.
Requires Windows NT 4.0 or higher or Windows 95/98 and CD-ROM drive.
