Custom ANSI Screens
ANetBBS supports replacing every built-in menu header and session screen
with a sysop-supplied CP437 ANSI art file. If the file is present it is
displayed; if absent the built-in menu renders as normal. No restart needed —
the file is read fresh on every menu entry.
How it works
Drop a standard CP437 .ans file (Moebius, PabloDraw, TheDraw, etc.) into
the correct directory with the slot name shown below. The BBS reads it as raw
bytes and sends it directly to the terminal, so every block graphic and color
code reaches the user exactly as drawn.
Slot reference
Session screens — data/text/<slot>.ans
These appear at connection time, not inside a menu loop.
| Filename | When it appears |
|---|---|
welcome.ans |
Login / welcome screen (shown before the main menu) |
newuser.ans |
Shown to a user who just created an account |
goodbye.ans |
Logoff screen |
Menu headers — data/text/menus/<slot>.ans
These replace the banner at the top of the named menu. The menu items
(hotkeys, labels, prompt) are still rendered below the ANSI art.
| Filename | Menu |
|---|---|
main.ans |
Main BBS menu |
game_center.ans |
Game Center (top-level games menu) |
door_games.ans |
Door Games list (shows installed doors) |
chat.ans |
Chat Systems menu |
irc_chat.ans |
IRC Chat menu |
dialout.ans |
Dial Out — Visit Another BBS |
Any menu you create through Admin → Menus also supports a file override
using the menu's name as the filename (e.g. a menu named utilities →
data/text/menus/utilities.ans).
File format
Standard CP437 ANSI art. SAUCE records (metadata appended by editors) are
harmless — the file is sent as-is, so keep the file 23–25 lines tall to
avoid pushing the menu items off screen.
Recommended editors:
- Moebius (cross-platform, free)
- PabloDraw (Windows/Mac)
- TheDraw (DOS classic, runs in DOSBox)
Permissions
Files must be readable by the service user (anetbbs). After copying via
SCP as stingray, set ownership:
sudo chown anetbbs:anetbbs /home/stingray/anetbbs/data/text/menus/game_center.ans
Or fix the whole directory at once:
sudo chown -R anetbbs:anetbbs /home/stingray/anetbbs/data/text/
Removing an override
Delete (or rename) the .ans file. The built-in menu returns on the next
visit — no restart needed.
See also
- Themes — web UI color palette
- Sysop Guide