If you have automatic update of unread counts turned off for speed, you can get an immediate update by double-clicking the letterbox icon on the information bar.
You can customise the information displayed in the bar above a message from Toops, Options.
You can go straight to a section/topic by typing any unique subset of characters in the Goto box at the top of the message base window. (righr click, buttons to display this)
The width of the various sections of the address book can be changed by dragging the divider lines on the heading bar.
The width of the various sections of the review window can be changed by dragging the divider lines on the heading bar.
When messaging Taz, please ensure that the spelling is impeccable - he has a (low) reputation in this area....\nHey who wrote that?
The width of the various sections of the thread display can be changed by dragging the divider lines on the heading bar.\n\nIt is advisable to make the Flags section wide enough to show all the flag symbols.
That you will never see a CompuServe ID with an 8 or 9 in it?\n\nThe numbers are in octal...
If the modem you are calling fails to answer, pressing the space bar will force an immediate re-dial without waiting for the terminal program to time out.
You can post messages and replies to topics/sections in Local to build up a collection of data on any subject of interest.\n\nNote that (except in Virtual Access Workgroup) you cannot create a forum called Mail.
If you accidentally delete or modify an entry in Review, you can return to where you started by restoring REVIEW.BAK from the bottom of the Restore list.
If a connection fails to complete for any reason, you can return to a previous configuration by using the Restore button in Review.\n\nCheck carefully for double posts before re-connecting.
To bookmark an entire folder, use Edit, Find with nothing in the Find What box.
You can easily select an entire thread for bookmarking, keeping etc by collapsing it first. Use either the 'left arrow' key or double click in the thread display window.\n\nA collapsed thread can be re-opened either by double clicking or with the 'right arrow' key.
Right click on the status bar to get a list of bookmark windows.
Double-clicking the mail icon on the information bar will take you to the 'Mail' tab.
In Virtual Access Workgroup, you can quickly log in and out as administrator by double clicking the lightning flash icon on the information bar (or it's box).
Clicking with the right mouse button on a toolbar button will bring up context sensitive help for that function.
Clicking with the right mouse button in the editor window brings up a floating menu with various goodies on it.
Clicking with the right mouse button in the text part of the Reading window has a menu with lots of relevant commands on it.
Clicking with the right mouse button in the thread part of the Reading window has a menu with lots of relevant commands on it.
Clicking with the right mouse button on the information or header bar in the reading window has a menu with lots of relevant commands on it.
If you get the phrase 'Help topic does not exist' please tell us which dialog you got it from.
If you want to monitor a forums' newsflash without reading any messages from it, check the Read Waiting Messages box for that forum in your .SEL file, but do not select any sections to collect.
If you just want to collect any mail you may have waiting, do an 'Actions Only' connection with nothing in Review (or with any pending actions put on Hold).
'Find new messages to you' on the Edit menu (where the other searches are located) will quickly locate messages addressed to you personally.\n\nNote that it searches for your ID, so if you have multiple accounts on one service it will only find the one you are currently using.
You can quickly find out how much disk space your message base occupies by using View, Messagebase Information.
You can customise the look of Virtual Access using Tools, Option, Appearance Tab, and selecting what you want to change.
You can ensure that you see new messages in your favourite forums first by entering them in Tools, Options, Read Order.
Tools, Re-Thread Message is very useful for overcoming CompuServe's lack of threading information for mail.\n\nIt can also be used to make a complete hash of the message threading...
Double clicking the section of the information bar showing the current bookmark set will bring up the Bookmark Manager Window
The version of Word required to print the manual is always one later than the version you have....
Tools, Scheduling, Set Routine allows you to have your library/file lists updated automatically on a regular basis.
It's not a bug it's a feature damnit!
If you have difficulty finding the toolbar button you want in the list of available buttons, remember they are stored in menu order.\n\nCommands which are not available from a menu are at the end.
Tabulated messages and ascii art are much better viewed with a fixed pitch font, available from the View menu (or press F to toggle it).
If all CIS users were laid end to end, the forum HMNs would stop going up.
Double clicking an entry in the address book takes you to the mail editor with the address already filled in.
Right click in the editors To or CC fields to get quick access to your favourite 20 addresses.
It is a good idea to set your comm port speed to one step higher value than the line speed. That way, if the service uprates its modems you will immediately see the benefit.
Quick access to favourite folders: Goto, Favourites, Set Favourite Places.\n\nOnce set they show on the menu and have toolbar buttons.
Text selected in a message will automatically be copied into the edit window of menu items that require you to enter text.\n\nThis is especially useful for file names.
When sysops move messages and mess up your threading, while looking at the root 'orphan' message (the one with three dots next to it) and press O (Goto, Original Message) and Virtual Access will relink the thread for you
Using several different bookmark sets is much easier if you keep the bookmarks window open or minimised (Edit, Bookmark Manager).
Using the addressbook you can mail several people at once if you create a Group entry using the New Group button.
Mail Aliasing or Mail Groups.\nIf you enter in the mail or forum editor text that matches the name assigned to an email address (or a group) then Virtual Access replaces the alias entered with the email address (or group).
H toggles the header display mode around the various selections you have available.
F switches you between a proportional and fixed font - great for viewing ascii art.
Q makes the test in the display window turn off colour highlighting (or turns it back on if it's turned off).
If you have a scratchpad waiting for download on CIX VA will download it and add it in automatically at the start of a blink.
If you use Tools, Scheduling, Set Routine to schedule Mail Baskets for collection every blink, then using Service, Mail, Mark Message Unread will give you a list of all mail in your inbasket - Damn handy
Edit Ashmount.ini, [main] section, Animate Connects=NO and change that to YES ***you have the status bar icon animate while a connect is going on.
If you create an icon for "write.exe ~\the_path_to_va\backup\cis001.log" in the VA group you can view the log of the last connection file to CompuServe
If you create an icon for "write.exe ~\the_path_to_va\backup\cix001.log" in the VA group you can view the log of the last connection file to CIX
In the MessageBase window you can select a number of folders for simultaneous action (resign/prune etc) by using the standard Windows Ctrl and Shift keys together with a left mouse click.
Actions done on selections in the Messagebase window affect all children of that selection.
Shift+@ (or Ctrl+O) asks you if you want to start a web browser - if you have a URL in the message text it will select that as well
Shift+@ (or Ctrl+O) will uudecode or mime decode the current message ***if it is uuencoded (or mime encoded) and put it in the decode directory
If a message contains a reference in the form VA:service:conference/topic#messagenumber then Shift+@ will goto that reference
If you fold a thread down to it's root message (leftarrow) you can mark all the messages in that thread at once using Space (read), U (Unread), D (Delete), K (Keep), I (Ignore).
ALT+Number selects the bookmark set associated with that number
The Special menu is context sensitive - the contents change to suit the service. Read a message from the relevant service, then open up the Service menu.
1234 zoom windows and move the focus, so does f5. Experiment.
Goto, Goto Current File List will take you to the current forums/topics file list - and back again.
HTTP and quoted text are highlighted by VA using colour choices you specify in Tools, Options, Appearance tab.
Double clicking on a highlighted message reference will take you to that message.
You can multi-select messages in the thread pane of the message window to "do" the same things to them all.
To copy message to another folder, select them, then Ctrl+C, select the folder text in the messagebase window where you want to put them to and press ctrl+V to paste them in.
To cut message to another folder, select them, then Ctrl+X, select the folder text in the messagebase window where you want to put them and press ctrl+V to paste them in.
To create a new (empty) folder File, New
You can turn the buttons on the messagebase window off or on by right clicking on it and choosing buttons on the menu
