If you're on the web (as you must be, or you wouldn't be reading this) you probably won't have too much trouble connecting to our news server at news.basis.com. You can access our news server using any program you like, but the two most common web browsers out there -- Netscape and Internet Explorer -- do have newsreaders built into them. Here's how to hook up:

You must be using a Netscape package that includes the Messenger subsystem; the standalone Netscape Navigator 4.0 install does not include newsgroup capability.

• Select "Communicator/Message Center".
• Select "File/New Discussion Group Server".
• Enter news.basis.com as the server name. The port should be set at 119 (the default) and the "Secure" and "Always use name and password" checkboxes should remain unchecked. Click "OK".
• Right-click on the news.basis.com server name and select "Subscribe to Discussion Groups...".
• Click on "Get Groups" to make sure the list of available groups is up to date, then subscribe to the groups you're interested in. Click "OK".
• To read the groups you're interested in, double-click on the group name. The way articles are presented is set under the "View" menu, with the "Sort", "Messages", "Headers", and "Attachments" submenus.

• Select from the menu bar: "Window/Netscape News".
• Select from the new menu bar: "File/Open News Host".
• Enter news.basis.com in the dialog box provided. Once you enter the host name, news.basis.com should appear in the "News Server" pane of the Netscape News window.
• Expand the news.basis.com folder to see the groups on the server. If you don't see all the groups listed above, right-click on the news.basis.com name and select "Show All Newsgroups".
• Subscribe to the groups you're interested in by filling in the checkboxes associated with those groups. Netscape News will only check for new messages in the groups you subscribe to.
• To read messages in a group, click on the group's name. You can tell Netscape News which messages to show you by selecting the appropriate settings in the "Options" menu.

• Click on Mail/News icon. (This is sometimes just labeled "Mail" but should show "Mail and News" in the tooltip when you mouse over it.) Select "Read News".
• Select "News/Options" from the menu bar.
• Select the "Server" tab in the options window.
• Click on the "Add" button in the "News server(s)" pane.
• On the "General" tab, enter news.basis.com as the News Server Name. Leave the "This server requires me to logon" checkbox unchecked.
• On the "Connection" tab, set up as appropriate to your Internet connection.
• On the "Advanced" tab, check the "Use newsgroup descriptions" checkbox.
• Click "OK". You should be asked whether you want to subscribe to groups on the new server. Say yes. IE will download a list of newsgroups from news.basis.com.
• Make sure news.basis.com is highlighted in the "News servers:" column.
• Select the groups you want to subscribe to and click "Subscribe", then click "OK" back to the Internet News window.
• You should now be able to navigate the various BASIS newsgroups through the "Newsgroups:" dropdown menu in the Internet News window.

(Assumes that Outlook Express was installed during the Internet Explorer installation)

• Click on Mail icon. Select "Read News".
• Select "Tools/Accounts" from the menu bar.
• Select the "News" tab in the Internet Accounts window.
• Click on the "Add" button in the "News" pane and select "News".
• Enter the name you want displayed with the messages you send and select the Next button.
• Enter the email address you wish to have available for private responses to your news messages and select the Next button. (Hint: you may want to munge this address so as to prevent spam. You can enter an address with an obvious type of munge such as "joel@remove_me_for_spam_control.basis.com".)
• Enter news.basis.com as the News Server Name. Leave the "This server requires me to logon" checkbox unchecked. Select the Next button.
• Select the Finish button.
• Select Yes in response to the dialog box asking if you wish to download newsgroups from the account just added.
• Select the newsgroups that you wish to participate in and select subscribe.
• Once you have selected all the newsgroups you want select the OK button.
• You should now be able to navigate the various BASIS newsgroups.

Current versions of Compuserve's software for Windows come with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x, but you may need to download the Microsoft Mail and News add-on from Microsoft's web site in order to have access to newsgroups. Once you are sure your copy of IE3 is equipped with Microsoft Mail and News and your CIS connection is set up to allow you to browse the web, the IE3 instructions above should get you hooked up to our news server.

There are a large number of commercial, shareware, and freeware newsreading tools available for a wide variety of platforms. Popular UNIX packages include trn, nn, and emacs/Gnus; commercial Windows newsreading tools include Agent and Gravity. Many commercial email packages also include newsreading tools. Please consult the documentation for your software for details on how to use it with our server.

If you get a message like "connection refused" or "no route to host" when you attempt to connect to news.basis.com, the problem is probably with how your system is connected to the Internet. Many companies are behind security firewalls that do not allow connections to outside news servers without a specific business justification, so you may need to have your local network administrator change the configuration of your machine or network to allow access to our news server. Please check with your local admin first; otherwise, email webmaster@basis.com with a description of your network setup and the software and OS you are trying to use to connect.