Help & Documentation - Railway BBS

Railway BBS - Help System v2.1

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║                     📚 COMPLETE USER GUIDE & REFERENCE                   ║
║                   Classic BBS Commands + Modern PWA Features             ║
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📑 TABLE OF CONTENTS

🚀 SYSTEM OVERVIEW

The Railway BBS Bookmark System combines the nostalgic feel of classic bulletin board systems with modern Progressive Web App (PWA) technology. Share links, discover content, and build collections just like the file areas of the 1980s and 90s.

📁

Classic File Areas

Browse bookmarks like BBS file listings with authentic terminal styling

🌐

Community Sharing

Public bulletin board for link sharing with voting and comments

📱

Modern PWA

Install as an app, share from other apps, work offline

💾

Data Portability

Export/import in multiple formats including retro .NFO files

🏁 FIRST STEPS

1

Create an Account

Sign in with your Railway BBS account to start saving and sharing bookmarks.

URL: /auth/signin
2

Add Your First Bookmark

Click "Upload Link" or use the U keyboard shortcut.

Command: [U]pload → Enter URL and details → Share
3

Explore the Community

Browse the Public Board to see what others are sharing.

Shortcut: Press [P] from main menu
4

Install the PWA

Add Railway BBS to your home screen for easy access.

Mobile: Browser menu → Add to Home Screen

⌨️ KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

🏠 MAIN MENU

B Browse Links

S Search Database

M My Bookmarks

P Public Board

U Upload Link

L Leaderboard

C Categories

H Help (this page)

📁 FILE BROWSER

↑↓ Navigate entries

Enter Open selected link

V View details

D Download/Visit

T Sort by title

R Refresh listing

🔍 SEARCH MODE

/ Focus search box

Esc Clear search

* Wildcard (any chars)

? Single character

📱 PWA FEATURES

Ctrl+S Share current page

Ctrl+I Install app

F5 Sync/Refresh

🔍 SEARCH COMMANDS

The Railway BBS bookmark system supports powerful wildcard searching similar to classic BBS file searches.

🎯 BASIC SEARCHES

BBS → Find links containing "BBS"

github → Find GitHub-related links

"retro computing" → Exact phrase search

🃏 WILDCARD PATTERNS

*tech* → Contains "tech" anywhere

proto?ol → "protocol", "protobuf", etc.

*.org → All .org domain links

ansi*art → Starts with "ansi", ends with "art"

🔧 ADVANCED OPERATORS

linux AND terminal → Must contain both terms

mac OR apple → Contains either term

programming NOT java → Programming but not Java

category:vintage → Search within specific category

📱 PWA INSTALLATION & FEATURES

📲 INSTALLATION

🤖 Android:

Open in Chrome/Edge
Tap menu (⋮)
Select "Add to Home screen"
Tap "Install"

🍎 iOS/iPadOS:

Open in Safari
Tap Share button (📤)
Select "Add to Home Screen"
Tap "Add"

💻 Desktop:

Open in Chrome/Edge
Look for install icon in address bar
Click "Install Railway BBS"
Confirm installation

📤 SHARE TARGET

Once installed, Railway BBS appears in your device's share menu:

Share URLs from any app directly to your bookmarks
Automatically extracts page title and description
Prompts for category and privacy settings
Works offline - queues for later sync

📶 OFFLINE MODE

Railway BBS works even without internet:

Browse your cached bookmarks
Add new links (synced when online)
Search your personal collection
Export data for backup

💾 DATA EXPORT & IMPORT

📁 SUPPORTED FORMATS

HTML: Netscape bookmarks format (browser-compatible)

JSON: Full data with metadata, votes, and tags

CSV: Spreadsheet-compatible tabular format

TXT: Simple plain text URL list

NFO: Retro BBS-style with ASCII art

OPML: Feed reader compatible format

⚙️ EXPORT OPTIONS

Include/exclude public vs private bookmarks
Filter by category or date range
Include metadata (tags, votes, descriptions)
Automatic scheduled backups

📥 IMPORT SOURCES

Browser bookmark exports (HTML)
Railway BBS JSON backups
URL lists from text files
CSV data from spreadsheets
OPML from feed readers

🔧 TROUBLESHOOTING

❓ COMMON ISSUES

Can't log in:

Clear browser cache, ensure JavaScript enabled, try incognito mode

Bookmarks not syncing:

Check internet connection, force refresh with F5, try manual sync

Share feature not working:

Install PWA first, check browser compatibility, try desktop version

Offline mode issues:

Clear app cache, reinstall PWA, check storage permissions

🌐 BROWSER SUPPORT

Chrome 80+ ✅ Full Support

Firefox 75+ ✅ Full Support

Safari 13+ ✅ Full Support

Edge 80+ ✅ Full Support

Internet Explorer ⚠️ Limited Support

📞 CONTACT SUPPORT

📧

Email Support

WEB-SPAM@supported.systems

Response within 24 hours

🐛

Bug Reports

GitHub Issues

Include browser & OS details

💡

Feature Requests

Community Suggestions

Vote on popular features

📻

Ham Radio

KG7QCC on 2 meters

73's from Idaho!

📑 TABLE OF CONTENTS

🚀 GETTING STARTED

📌 BOOKMARK MANAGEMENT

🔍 SEARCH & DISCOVERY

📱 PWA FEATURES

⌨️ COMMANDS & SHORTCUTS

🔧 TECHNICAL SUPPORT

🚀 SYSTEM OVERVIEW

Classic File Areas

Community Sharing

Modern PWA

Data Portability

🏁 FIRST STEPS

Create an Account

Add Your First Bookmark

Explore the Community

Install the PWA

⌨️ KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

🏠 MAIN MENU

📁 FILE BROWSER

🔍 SEARCH MODE

📱 PWA FEATURES

🔍 SEARCH COMMANDS

🎯 BASIC SEARCHES

🃏 WILDCARD PATTERNS

🔧 ADVANCED OPERATORS

📱 PWA INSTALLATION & FEATURES

📲 INSTALLATION

📤 SHARE TARGET

📶 OFFLINE MODE

💾 DATA EXPORT & IMPORT

📁 SUPPORTED FORMATS

⚙️ EXPORT OPTIONS

📥 IMPORT SOURCES

🔧 TROUBLESHOOTING

❓ COMMON ISSUES

🌐 BROWSER SUPPORT

📞 CONTACT SUPPORT

Email Support

Bug Reports

Feature Requests

Ham Radio

☎️ contact.info // get in touch