TeleFinder 5.0 

BBS software that understands the Net 

Matthew Hawn

Bulletin board systems have an image problem in the age of the Internet, but Spider Island's TeleFinder 5.0 may help change all that. This BBS software now doubles as a Web server, offering limited Internet access without sacrificing the user friendliness and collaborative spirit of a BBS.

In its new incarnation, TeleFinder gives small businesses the flexibility of open E-mail standards and the proprietary and control features of a BBS. Like SoftArc's FirstClass, it uses an SMTP gateway to deliver Internet mail automatically to the proprietary client software. But TeleFinder also supports the POP3 standard for Internet mail, allowing travelers to pick up their mail from the road using popular clients like Qualcomm's Eudora and Claris's Emailer instead of the TeleFinder client. TeleFinder's mail server is better integrated with Inter-net protocols, such as HTTP. And Spider Island has added a basic Web server that supports CGI scripts and multithreading. Although FTP is a faster, more powerful way to upload Web pages, TeleFinder makes the process much simpler.

TeleFinder functions as a client/server application, with a Mac server supporting both Windows and Mac clients. The administrator configures the server software with user information and sets variable access permissions through the User Manager utility. This utility is also where the administrator sets up the nodes (access lines) to the BBS, using
either modem or TCP/IP access. Although the configuration dialogs are complex, the instructions in the manual are good enough that I was able to set up a BBS--with one modem node, one TCP/IP node, access to a file-download area, a new-uploads area, and two conferences--on a Power Mac 6100/66 in less than an hour. Once the BBS was configured, all I had to do was add new users and set permissions as needed.

But the true test of a BBS's utility is the user's experience with the client software. With the client and a TCP/IP or dial-up connection, users can chat, transfer files to and from the BBS, participate in discussions, use a Finger directory, send mail, and upload their own personal Web pages. I was able to create a personal Web site by simply dragging and dropping my HTML and image files into a folder. The server software supports CGIs in a sysop-controlled location, so users can't create CGI interactions that write to inappropriate sections of the Web site.

The Mac client interface, with its drag-and-drop support, feels a lot like the Finder. The Windows client isn't as nice, but Spider Island is releasing an updated client that it claims will bring the Windows client's features closer to the Macintosh version's. And since TeleFinder's client software is proprietary, your connection to the BBS isn't the same as a direct Internet connection: TeleFinder lacks outgoing TCP/IP connections to the Internet and support for some important Internet protocols, so you can't, for example, browse the Web or transfer files via FTP.


The Last Word

TeleFinder is good (if basic) Web software that's best suited to hosting users' personal pages. If your primary goal is to serve Web pages for a business, you'd do best to stick with dedicated server software. As a small business's Internet and intranet hub, however, TeleFinder is a great alternative to more closed systems such as FirstClass and CE Software's QuickMail.
                     ________

 RATING: Four Stars/7.2 

 PROS: Proprietary client is well integrated with Internet protocols. 
 CONS: Client can't make TCP/IP connections to the Internet. 

COMPANY: Spider Island (714/453-8095, http://www.spiderisland.com). 
LIST PRICE: $675.