Hi all -

I have been trying to understnad the logic behind why changing menus is so involved, where as there is an actual editor for this provided by Mystic and other BBS software. I can see the power of making menus run off JavaScript, but for those of us who know next to nothing about the language, have low vision and/or prefer the WYSIWYG of a dynamic menu system makes changing your BBS into something more unique a snap. I've been running Synchronet on my lab VM and Mystic on my production host. The only reason I went with Mystic is for the menu "overcomplexity".

Did I basically just say "Synchronet is not for me", or is this something that could be incorporated as perhaps a secondary option for menu creation/editing?
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Re: Synchronet menu system
By: Winzlo to All on Sun Jul 19 2026 06:42 pm

I have been trying to understnad the logic behind why changing menus is so involved, where as there is an actual editor for this provided by Mystic and other BBS software. I can see the power of making menus run off JavaScript, but for those of us who know next to nothing about the language, have low vision and/or prefer the WYSIWYG of a dynamic menu system makes changing your BBS into something more unique a snap. I've

This was something that I initially found a little surprising too, since other BBS packages, as you said, have a menuing system based on using a menu editor. I think the main strength of Synchronet's menuing system is that it can be really flexible - what it uses is more like an OS command shell which performs the duty of a BBS menuing system. And indeed, I have seen some Synchronet command shells that mimic the MS-DOS command line & such.. You really can do basically whatever you want with a Synchronet command shell.

There is a menu editor for Synchronet though - I haven't used it myself, but
I think it's supposed to work - Take a look at menuedit.js.

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Re: Synchronet menu system
By: Winzlo to All on Sun Jul 19 2026 06:42 pm

Did I basically just say "Synchronet is not for me", or is this something that could be incorporated as perhaps a secondary option for menu creation/editing?

People have created menu editors for Synchronet in the past, including me, and it turns out nobody uses them because they're too limiting. If you look at a modern command shell (e.g. exec/default.js), it's pretty obvious how to change it and there are no limitations on where you can go from there. By contrast, any menu editor will have to have a limited number of actions or verbs and supported syntax.
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digital man (rob)

Synchronet/BBS Terminology Definition #11:
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Re: Synchronet menu system
By: Nightfox to Winzlo on Mon Jul 20 2026 04:43 am

There is a menu editor for Synchronet though - I haven't used it myself, but I think it's supposed to work - Take a look at menuedit.js.

Jackpot! This is what I've been looking for - something to make the basic menu design and then I can add my customizations around it. I'm so unused to JavaScript - I often forget that .js files are read with jsexec. Hopefully the output of this is exactly what I expect - it should be based on the available fields.

Thanks!
-Winzlo
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Re: Synchronet menu system
By: Digital Man to Winzlo on Mon Jul 20 2026 11:24 am

People have created menu editors for Synchronet in the past, including me, and it turns out nobody uses them because they're too limiting. If you look at a modern command shell (e.g. exec/default.js), it's pretty obvious how to change it and there are no limitations on where you can go from there. By contrast, any menu editor will have to have a limited number of actions or verbs and supported syntax.

Totaly agree - canned menus can be nice, but they need to be customizable afterwards to fit the "personality" of the BBS. meunedit.js should put me closer to having a workable replacement menu than if I were to try and alter an existing shell's command handler, screens, etc. As said, coming from the world of systems where there is 0 actual development work to set up a menu system, this is a fairly moderate learning curve for something that is critical to the operational flow of tthe BBS.
-Winzlo
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Re: Synchronet menu system
By: Winzlo to Digital Man on Mon Jul 20 2026 04:34 pm

Re: Synchronet menu system
By: Digital Man to Winzlo on Mon Jul 20 2026 11:24 am

People have created menu editors for Synchronet in the past, including me, and it turns out nobody uses them because they're too limiting. If you look at a modern command shell (e.g. exec/default.js), it's pretty obvious how to change it and there are no limitations on where you can go from there. By contrast, any menu editor will have to have a limited number of actions or verbs and supported syntax.

Totaly agree - canned menus can be nice, but they need to be customizable afterwards to fit the "personality" of the BBS. meunedit.js should put me closer to having a workable replacement menu than if I were to try and alter an existing shell's command handler, screens, etc.

The output of menuedit is not a script that you can then go an easily customize later by hand. It just outputs a JSON data file that's parsed by another script.

As said, coming from the
world of systems where there is 0 actual development work to set up a menu system, this is a fairly moderate learning curve for something that is critical to the operational flow of tthe BBS.

Have you looked at default.js? I wouldn't consider editing the tables of commands in that file that to be "development work". I hope menuedit.js does what you're looking for. I think you'll be the first, if it is. :-)
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digital man (rob)

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