Documentation for Yet Another NewsWatcher consists of a number of different files organized into several folders.
The primary user guide is "YA-NewsWatcher User Guide." This is an illustrated "Yet Another File Viewer" document. It explains what files and folders Yet Another NewsWatcher uses, and discusses the useful features of the program.
"Non-English Docs" is a folder containing simple Japanese and Chinese language setup instructions for using Yet Another NewsWatcher in Japanese and Chinese language newsgroups. Note that these documents were originally written for older versions of YA-NewsWatcher. They were updated through the kindness of an anonymous donor to be more current and accurate, but it's possible that some program details may still not accurate. The same is true for the main user guide, alas.
"Revision History" is a text file documenting the revision history of Yet Another NewsWatcher, indicating what changes, improvements, and fixes have been made since Yet Another NewsWatcher was first released.
The best way to maximize the use and enjoyment you get out of Yet Another NewsWatcher and minimize problems is to carefully read these documents, along with the excellent, clearly-written, and carefully-organized original NewsWatcher user guide by John Norstad. The documentation supplied with Yet Another NewsWatcher is a supplement to the original user guide, and not a replacement.
If you've used Yet Another NewsWatcher before, and have already read the user docs, I suggest you look at the "Revision History" document to see what has changed since your current version of Yet Another NewsWatcher, then read the appropriate sections in the Yet Another NewsWatcher User Guide.
Versions
The most recent version of Yet Another NewsWatcher is version 4. This is the only version that is being actively developed and receiving full attention regarding bug fixes. Yet Another NewsWatcher version 4 requires Mac OS 8.5. An older version 3 release of Yet Another NewsWatcher is also being distributed as a courtesy to those who wish to use a more recent version of Yet Another NewsWatcher but who cannot run System 8.5. It can run on systems as old as 7.1, and is available in separate 68k and PPC versions. The supplied documentation for this older version is adapted from the version 4 documentation. Because of this there may be inaccuracies in the documentation as version 4 has a number of additional features and different ways of doing things compared to version 3.
Starting Up
Like original NewsWatcher, when you start the program and an existing prefs file can't be found, you're shown the “New User” dialog that lets you create a new prefs file with the settings for the news server you wish to use. When this happens a pair of dialogs are shown which allow some essential settings to be specified, such as the news and mail server address and your email address. The program will then try to fetch the full group list from the news server you specify.
Please note that the settings you supply are just a tiny fraction of those in the various panes of the preferences dialog. For maximum satisfaction and performance you should make a point to review all the preferences settings to ensure that they're what's best for you. Many settings are described in the original or Yet Another NewsWatcher user guide. Balloon help is also available with concise descriptions of what the various settings do.
If you're using a news server that requires authentication, the initial attempt to connect to the server and fetch the full group list will fail because you have not specified your username and password for the server, nor told the program that authentication is required with this news server. You'll need to enter the necessary information into the “Authentication” pane of the prefs dialog and restart. Note that checking “Always authenticate” is usually the proper item to check when using an authenticating server.
File Types and Creators
Yet Another NewsWatcher now has its own application signature of 'YANW' instead of the 'NNTP' creator code used by original NewsWatcher. This ends the confusion of what application will be launched if you have multiple varieties of NewsWatcher on your hard disk. Double-clicking a Yet Another NewsWatcher files will only launch Yet Another NewsWatcher, and not some other version. It also means you can't accidentally corrupt a Yet Another NewsWatcher prefs file by using it with MT-NewsWatcher. An Apple Script droplet is available for changing the file creator to the new value, and back again. Also Message files are no longer of type 'TEXT' but rather 'MESS'. An Apple Script droplet is available for changing the file type and creator for old message files to the new values, and back again.
To use the droplet to make a Yet Another NewsWatcher version of an existing NewsWatcher prefs file, first make a copy of the original prefs file. Then drag the copy onto the “NNTP <-> YANW” droplet. That will change the file creator so that Yet Another NewsWatcher will recognize it. Repeat the process with any user group files (subscribed newsgroups) that you wish to use with Yet Another NewsWatcher, and any old (version 2.x) Yet Another NewsWatcher filters files that you want to use. You will probably want to move the new Yet Another NewsWatcher versions of these files to their own folder. Please see the “YA-NewsWatcher User Guide” document in the “Files and Folders” section for a discussion of what files go where.
Problems
Yet Another NewsWatcher version 4 requires and makes full use of new OS 8.5 features. That can cause compatibility problems with some third part system extensions which prevent some of these new features from working properly. For example, versions of Kaleidoscope at least through version 2.1.1 include numerous bugs that affect Yet Another NewsWatcher. These cause flickering in the status window and a severe overall slowdown of the system, problems scrolling through long group lists or article windows, and general cosmetic problems. Another example is ACTION Files which includes an option to disable Navigation Services. When this option is enabled, and Yet Another NewsWatcher checks for the presence of Navigation Services, it receives incorrect information due to the sabotage performed by the utility, and reports it cannot run because Navigation Services isn't installed. The solution is to disable ACTION Files from being used within Yet Another NewsWatcher, where it does no good anyway because it doesn't support Navigation Services. A preferred alternative to ACTION Files is Default Folder. Version 3.0 of Default Folder also has an option to disable Navigation Services, but this can be turned off for specific applications like Yet Another NewsWatcher that require Navigation Services. Better yet, Default Folder actually supports Navigation Services, and so is very useful for modern programs that use Navigation Services instead of the obsolete Standard File.
Yet Another NewsWatcher also needs Internet Config 2.0 or later to be fully functional. Internet Config is used by the built-in binary decoder to assign file creators and types based on the decoded file's extension. It's also used to determine what constitutes a command-clickable URL in the program's various text windows and what helper program to use to open the URL. Among other places, Internet Config is available from:
