[drats_users] D-RATS BBS feature develompent

[Dan Smith]

Hi Leo,

Thanks for this.  I can always count on you to create more work for me
to do :)

> if you haven't critical bugs, I think It's time to improve BBS 
> features.

Just the other day, I was thinking about how D-RATS has evolved far
beyond my initial feature plans.  It is used in a very different way
from what I originally expected.  As such, the main window has become
rather cumbersome for the various uses and I think it's time to freshen
that.

> Expecially for messages grouping, users access, visual and audio
> alerts for incoming messages. If you have 50 messages... it's hard to
> look for one... without filtering features. If you use D-RATS like a
> BBS, it's hard to find what are you looking for (in more than 50
> messages). Expecially in mail gateway it will be very nice to create
> a little BBS front-end and commands features. If you like the idea...
> we all can analyze details.

Yes, indeed.  I think that there is a definite use-case for treating
D-RATS like a pseudo mail client.  One where the primary goal is
transferring messages (forms) and potentially files as well.  The chat
functionality can be ancillary and used for non-voice coordination.

So, some thoughts are:

1. Replace the form manager with a more formal "message" interface.
   Provide a typical folders-on-the-left panel with message counts and
   the ability to organize things beyond a single level of "inbox".
2. Collapse the chat function into a smaller piece that is not
   permanently attached to the top of the main window.  Move the "quick
   messages" widget out of the bottom of the main window and attach it
   to whatever the chat portion becomes.
3. Maybe collapse the "QST monitor" into something smaller that doesn't
   take up so much space (I don't find myself looking at this tab very
   much.
4. Now that the "stations" tab is the interface for pulling files and
   performing other RPC commands, perhaps it needs to change in some
   more useful way as well.

Any other thoughts?  Any suggestions for how to reorganize the interface?

Perhaps it's time to branch off an 0.3.x version and start making some
progress on some of these things while leaving 0.2.x as the current stable.

Speak up!

-- 
Dan Smith
dsmith#danplanet.com, s/#/@/
www.danplanet.com
KK7DS