| Options |
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Select Menu > Preferences > Options… or Option Button on the toolbar, to open the Newsbin Pro Settings screen where you can configure the following NewsBin settings: Setup, Switches, Dial Up, Firewall, File Descriptions, Logs, Network, Thumbnails and Advanced. |
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| Options > Setup Tab |
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| Options > Setup Tab > Download Path |
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Enables you to specify the directory where files are to be downloaded. If the Folder Mode switch is selected in the Switches tab, then a folder with the same name of the newsgroup will be created in this directory. Otherwise, files will be dumped here directly. Selecting the Browse button helps you select a path. The default is a folder called Download created in the same folder where NewsBin was installed. |
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| Options > Setup Tab > Connections |
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This specifies the number of connections NewsBin uses for downloading binaries from your news server(s). This is the global connection setting and is separate from the individual server connection limit that can be specified for each server under the Menu > Preferences > Server Options… > Server Add/Modify > Advanced Options. NewsBin uses one additional connection not included here for header downloads. For tips on how to determine the best setting for the number of connections, read the Tips and Tricks section of our website. The number of connections is tied to the number of picture thumbnails displayed if you are downloading pictures. The number of connections can be changed on the Thumbnails Bar, too, by clicking the up or down arrows under the number of connections. |
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| Options > Setup Tab > Max Retries |
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This specifies the number of times NewsBin will retry to download a file if a network or news server error occurs. Setting it to 0 will try forever. This may be used on dialup to keep retrying until the dialup connection is re-established. The default is 10. |
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| Options > Setup Tab > Max Header Retries |
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This specifies the number of times NewsBin will retry to download headers if a network or news server error occurs. Setting it to 0 will try forever. This may be used on dialup to keep retrying until the dialup connection is re-established. The default is 10. |
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| Options > Setup Tab > Max Record Age |
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Tells NewsBin how long to keep old records on disk before purging them. NewsBin purges on startup and will delete anything older than the number of days specified here. If you leave NewsBin running on your machine for days at a time, this purge will not take place until the next time you restart NewsBin. Note that setting this too high might result in memory problems. |
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| Options > Setup Tab > First Time Records (FTR) |
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Specifies the number of headers to download the first time NewsBin accesses a newsgroup. On all subsequent accesses, NewsBin will download all headers from the last access to the most recent available record. Also, read the Tips and Tricks section of our website to determine the optimum FTR setting for you. Default is 20000. Note that setting this too high might result in memory problems. |
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| Options > Setup Tab > Enable Post Limiter/Maximum Posts |
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If you enable the Post Limiter and enter a number in the box labeled Maximum Posts, NewsBin will only download the number of headers specified. This will use the FTR setting the first time to determine how far to go back and then each subsequent newsgroup access will only download the number of headers specified starting with the last header downloaded. This option may be used in conjunction with Menu > Preferences > Options… > NewsBin Pro Settings > Switches Tab >Automatic Download Mode and Recycle Servers to control the amount of bandwidth consumed when running unattended. |
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| Options > Setup Tab > Default Settings |
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If you enable the Post Limiter and enter a number in the box labeled Maximum Posts, NewsBin will only download the number of headers specified. This will use the FTR setting the first time to determine how far to go back and then each subsequent newsgroup access will only download the number of headers specified starting with the last header downloaded. This option may be used in conjunction with Menu > Preferences > Options… > NewsBin Pro Settings > Switches Tab >Automatic Download Mode and Recycle Servers to control the amount of bandwidth consumed when running unattended. |
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| Options > Switches Tab |
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| Options > Switches Tab > Folder Mode |
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When selected, creates a folder with the same name as the newsgroup in the folder specified under the Download Path option on the Setup Tab. Otherwise, files will be dumped into the Download Path folder directly. The default is on. |
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| Options > Switches Tab > Image Thumbnails |
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When selected, displays thumbnails when .jpg images are downloaded. The ALT+6 shortcut does the same thing as well as the option under Menu > View > View Thumbnails. One thumbnail per connection is displayed. Default is on. |
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| Options > Switches Tab > Low Res Thumbnails |
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When selected, NewsBin will not display all the pixels in the thumbnail to save memory and processor speed. On slow machines with fast internet connections, you will see and increase in download speed when this option is selected because the processor is free to process the download instead of spending time rendering any images. Default is off. |
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| Options > Switches Tab > AutoSave Settings |
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When selected, NewsBin will automatically save any configuration changes upon exit. If this option is not selected, NewsBin will prompt you on exit asking if you want to save the configuration. Default is on. |
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| Options > Switches Tab > Sort, Ignore RE |
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When selected, all sorting on subject fields ignores the "RE:" on replies to newsgroup posts so they are grouped together when sorted. When this option is not selected, all the subjects starting with "RE:" will be grouped together with subjects starting with the letter "R". Default is on. |
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| Options > Switches Tab > Recycle Servers\Restart Delay |
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This is used in conjunction with the Auto Download setting on this tab. When Recycle Servers is selected, NewsBin uses the value specified in the Restart Delay (secs) to start at the beginning of the server list and download from all selected groups after the amount of time elapses. This feature is initiated by pressing the Start Button on the toolbar. If Auto Download is not selected, NewsBin will cycle through the selected servers and newsgroups downloading headers only. If Auto Download is selected, NewsBin will cycle through the selected servers and newsgroups downloading all attached files meeting any configured filter criteria. The Restart Delay (secs) must be entered in seconds. Default is off for this option. |
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| Options > Switches Tab > Auto Rename |
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Occasionally, someone will post a file with the same filename someone else used, even if the actual file is different. If you have Auto Rename turned on, NewsBin will save this file with a slightly different filename if it is not a duplicate. If Auto Rename is turned off, NewsBin will save the file without checking if it is a duplicate. Files are named depending on the copy style specified with the Copy Style Rename option. |
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| Options > Switches Tab > Copy Style Rename |
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Allows you to choose one of two different ways of renaming files named the same as an existing file in the folder. When this option is selected, files are named using a standard Windows convention of appending a "Copy(X) of ..." to the filename. When this option is off, NewsBin appends a number to the end of the filename, but before the extension. For example "dupfile.jpg", "dupfile1.jpg", "dupfile2.jpg". |
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| Options > Switches Tab > Auto Download |
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| Options > Switches Tab > Auto Startup |
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When selected, NewsBin will automatically click the Start Button on the tool bar when you start NewsBin. If Menu > Preferences > Options… > NewsBin Pro Settings > Switches Tab > Auto Download is selected, attachments will be downloaded, if Auto Download is not selected, only headers will be downloaded. |
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| Options > Switches Tab > Auto Shutdown |
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When selected, NewsBin will automatically close itself after all servers and newsgroups have been processed and files saved. |
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| Options > Dial Up Tab |
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Enables you to configure NewsBin to know about your dialup connection. When you enable this feature by clicking the Enable Dial Up Networking checkbox, NewsBin will dial the ISP selected in the Dialup to Use box whenever you access your news server. If the connection drops, NewsBin will automatically re-connect. The Dialup to Use box allows you to select dialup profiles you have configured from Windows. The Edit Account button brings up the Windows Dialup Networking screen for editing the configuration for the dialup connection. Selecting Disconnect when Finished tells NewsBin to hang up the connection when it is finished processing all groups or when the program is closed. Default is off. |
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| Options > Firewall Tab |
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Information you provide on this tab will configure NewsBin to go through a firewall or proxy. NewsBin supports Socks 4 and Socks 5 protocols. If your firewall is really a TCP forwarder, you do not have to use this option to get through the firewall, just configure a news server to be the firewall address and your firewall should be configured to access the news server. To use a Socks firewall, select the Use Firewall Settings checkbox and enter the IP address of the firewall in the Firewall Address box. If your firewall requires a username and password, enter them in the username and password fields. Be sure to select the Use Socks 5 checkbox if this is a Socks5 firewall. The default Socks port is 1080, you only have to change this if Socks is running on an alternate port. The default is off for the firewall feature. |
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| Options > File Descriptions |
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This option allows you to configure the type of information stored in a description file. NewsBin follows the format used by many picture viewers such as ACDSEE in a file named "descript.ion". When this option is enabled, NewsBin will store the Subject, Poster, and/or Date of the file as posted in the newsgroup. This information is then displayed along with the picture when using a picture viewer that supports this file format. |
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| Options > Logs Tab |
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This option is mainly used for debugging purposes but some users like to use it to save a list of filenames or headers that have been downloaded from usenet. When the Enable Logging checkbox is checked, NewsBin will create a file in the folder where NewsBin was installed called LOGFILE.TXT. On this screen, you can configure NewsBin to log News Server Errors, Filenames downloaded, Text portion of posts downloaded, and complete headers downloaded (not just the subjects, all the NNTP header information). There is also an option to overwrite the log when NewsBin is started. |
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| Options > Logs Tab > Log Errors |
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Any errors that occur when accessing the news server will be logged. |
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| Options > Logs Tab > Log Filenames |
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Each filename downloaded will be listed in the logfile. |
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| Options > Logs Tab > Log Post Body |
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The text portion of each post (not the encoded binary portion) will be logged. |
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| Options > Logs Tab > Log Headers |
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All the headers of each downloaded post are logged. |
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| Options > Logs Tab > Overwrite Logs File |
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Selecting this option will create a new file the next time you download on a clean start of NewsBin. |
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| Options > Network Tab |
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NewsBin provides several ways for you to tweak how NewsBin accesses your news servers. You provide this information on the Network Tab. |
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| Options > Network Tab > Sequential Servers |
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With this option enabled, NewsBin will download headers from all selected servers in turn instead of hitting all of them simultaneously. This was primarily put in place for NewsFeeds news server users (www.newsfeeds.com) because NewsFeeds sold access to multiple servers but did not allow simultaneous access to them. |
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| Options > Network Tab > Close Connections |
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When enabled, NewsBin will close each connection to the news server upon completion of a download. When off, NewsBin keeps the connection open and uses the same connection for subsequent downloads. This configuration exists because some news servers do not recognize that a connection has been closed in a timely fashion and a subsequent connection to download more from the server may push you over the server imposed connection limit. By default this is turned off, meaning connections are left open. This increases performance because you don't have the extra time required to close and re-open connections to the server. |
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| Options > Network Tab > TCP Window Size |
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This does nothing. Please leave it set as 0. |
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| Options > Network Tab > Socket Timeout |
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This is the amount of time to wait, in seconds, for a response from the news server. When set to 0, NewsBin will wait indefinitely for the server to respond. This should be set to 0 for dialup connections if the connection frequently gets dropped and re-established. |
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| Options > Network Tab > Show Commands |
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Show Commands gives more detail in Main Screen > Status Messages Tab. Specifically, it shows the NNTP commands that are sent to the news server and the NNTP responses received from the server. Only used for debugging or for the curious. |
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| Options > Network Tab > Bandwidth Limiter/Bandwidth Limit |
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When this option is enabled, NewsBin uses the value entered in the Bandwidth Limit field to limit the amount of bandwidth used for downloads. This is useful if you want to run NewsBin in the background and still have enough bandwidth to surf the web. Or if you are at work on a very high speed connection so you don't draw attention to yourself by using all the company's bandwidth (yes, NewsBin will use all your company's bandwidth to the internet if the news servers on the other side are up to supplying that much and you are on a fast LAN.) The bandwidth limit needs to be set in bits per second so if you are on a T1 but only want to use 500Kbps of the bandwidth, set the bandwidth limit to 500000. |
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| Options > Network Tab > Current Connections |
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The Current Connections box is experimental and is not in use yet. |
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| Options > Thumbnails Tab |
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NewsBin gives you the capability to save thumbnail sized images of any pictures you download from usenet in addition to the full sized images. Thumbnails are only stored in .jpg format. This screen allows you to turn this option on and to specify the resolution of the thumbnail image to save using the following options: |
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| Options > Thumbnails Tab > Enable Save Thumbnails |
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Select this checkbox to enable the feature of saving thumbnails of any images downloaded. |
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| Options > Thumbnails Tab > Maximum X Resolution |
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Specifies the maximum width, in pixels, of the thumbnail. The actual resolution may not be exactly this because NewsBin preserves the aspect ratio of the picture. NewsBin will not go over this setting though. |
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| Options > Thumbnails Tab > Maximum Y Resolution |
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Specifies the maximum height, in pixels, of the thumbnail. The actual resolution may not be exactly this because NewsBin preserves the aspect ratio of the picture. NewsBin will not go over this setting though. |
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| Options > Thumbnails Tab > Progressive JPG's |
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| Options > Thumbnails Tab > Place Thumbnails in Another Folder |
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Enable this option if you want to specify a folder to receive thumbnail images other than the default. |
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| Options > Thumbnails Tab > Thumbnail Path |
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The default path is a folder called "Thumbs" under the folder where the full size images are downloaded (specified by the Download Path on the Setup Tab and by the Folder Mode setting on the Switches Tab). If you want to keep the folder relative to the folder where the full size images are stored, use a ".\" in front of your path name indicating you want to start from the current folder and go down. |
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| Options > Advanced Tab |
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The Advanced Tab allows you to configure some miscellaneous settings in NewsBin. |
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| Options > Advanced Tab > Use Signature Cache |
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When enabled, NewsBin creates a digital signature of each binary file downloaded and stores them in a file called signature.dat in the folder where NewsBin is installed. The signature is a special algorithm applied over the first 25K of the file and stored as a 22 byte number representing the signature. The signature of every file is checked against this database to determine if it has been downloaded before. When this option is enabled, NewsBin will mark the file as a duplicate with a "D" on a yellow background in the checkbox to the left of the header in the Main Screen > Post List Tab and in the Main Screen > Failed Files Tab list. NewsBin will not store this file to disk unless the signature cache is disabled. |
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| Options > Advanced Tab > Old Style Signature |
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When enabled, NewsBin dumps the connection to the server as soon as a duplicate is detected. This option is called Old Style Signature because this is how previous versions of NewsBin did it and there are advantages to this method for people on slow or metered connections. With this option disabled (by default), NewsBin will continue to download the entire post even after it determines it was a duplicate but will not store it to disk. If it is a multi-part post, only the first part will be fully downloaded. The advantage is that this method is friendlier to news servers because an open connection is maintained. Using the Old Style Signature method may cause your server to think you are using too many connections since there is some delay before the news server notices that you dumped the other connection. |
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| Options > Advanced Tab > Use Post ID Cache |
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Every post to usenet has a globally unique identifier. NewsBin uses this identifier to determine if it has previously downloaded this post. When this option is turned on, NewsBin will not download a post that it has already seen. |
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| Options > Advanced Tab > Save Download Chunks |
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When NewsBin downloads multi-part posts, it saves each post as a file in the "SPOOL" directory with a filename made out of the subject of the post with an extension of ".chunk". When all the parts are downloaded, NewsBin then appends all the chunks together and creates the complete file. When this option is enabled, NewsBin will copy the resulting file to the download folder but will not delete all the chunk files it used to create the file. With this option disabled, chunk files are cleaned up automatically. This option is primarily used for debugging and the default is off. |
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| Options > Advanced Tab > Save Download Text |
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Binary attachments to usenet are actually saved in special encoding formats that are ASCII text but not human readable. This option tells NewsBin to save these non-decoded files in the "SPOOL" directory using the subject as the filename and an extension of ".txt". This is primarily used for debugging and is off by default. |
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| Options > Advanced Tab > Poster Lockout Filename |
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Specifies the file for NewsBin to use when storing the list of posters or keywords occurring in a poster name for the poster lockout function. The default is "POSTER.DAT" in the folder where NewsBin was installed. |
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| Options > Advanced Tab > Dirty Rotten Spammers |
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This window allows you to remove any poster email addresses or portions of poster names that were stored as a result of using the Poster Lockout function. |
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| Copyright 2003 DJI Interprises |
