Copyright © 2015-2026 Bill Kochman

Published On :
Last Updated :

If you are familiar with the environment of a Hermes II bulletin board system -- or BBS -- one thing you will quickly discover upon logging in to a Hermes 4 board, is how much easier it is now to perform different tasks. For example, such is the case with downloading files from a Hermes 4 BBS. In a word, it is a breeze.

With Hermes 4, certain operations are automated, and you don't even need to worry about them. Regarding file uploads and downloads, in the old days of Hermes II, a user had to mess with determining which file transfer protocol to use. But what if that person was a novice who had absolutely no idea what file transfer protocols were, or much less, how to even use them.

Hermes 4 handles all of this background work both elegantly and automatically. There is no need for a user to have to guess the correct FTP -- or File Transfer Protocol -- or to ever become frustrated when things don't work out right, because the Hermes 4 server already knows what to do. If a user is logged into the system via a terminal app, Hermes will default to using the ZModem transfer protocol.

On the other hand, if the user is logged in to the BBS via a web interface, then Hermes 4 knows to fall back on that transfer mode. Meanwhile, the user is left totally in the dark, and he doesn't even have to worry about that decision. He can just download files and enjoy his time on the board.

Below you can see a screen capture of the current state of the Armageddon BBS Download Menu, as of October 14, 2026. If at some point in the future Will Price should make changes to the backend which affect menu commands, or if I should change them myself, this image will be updated to reflect those new changes. BTW, parts of this screen are actually animated.



This screen is what Armageddon BBS members see when they type the letter D. As you will notice, download instructions are right there in front of their eyes, making the download process even easier. While the instructions are right there, let's run through them real quick.

The above instructions begin AFTER the BBS member has typed the letter T at the Main Menu in order to see a list of the various file directories the BBS has to offer. By default, Hermes 4 has the menu command set to the letter F. However, I changed it on my board to T in order to reflect the menu command layout that was previously implemented by Hermes II. After all, people love familiarity, right? So after typing the T to display the actual file directories, that is where these instructions pick up the story. And so, if we start from the top, the process looks like this:

1. Type T at the Main Menu to go to the File Transfer Menu, or Files Menu.

2. Type an actual number to go to/select a specific file directory that you are interested in.

3. Type the letter L to list the files that are included in that directory. The BBS will list the files a pageful at a time.

4. At this point, you have two options:

    a. Hit your return key to list more files that are included in the directory, one page at a time.

    b. Type the letter Q to stop listing additional files.

Once the BBS has displayed all of the files in that directory a page at a time, if you continue to hit your return key, the board will begin displaying one file at a time, with information about each file. At this point, you have another choice to make:

    a. Hit your return key to skip/ignore that file and keep moving forward in the list.

    b. Type the letter D to immediately download that file.

    c. Type the letter T to tag that file, and then continue forward, tagging other files along the way that you wish to download.

5. Once you have tagged all of the files you are interested in, type the letter D to batch download them all at once.

6. As the above graphic reveals, you can also use the S command to search for specific files to download.

That is basically it, my friends. Will Price made it as easy as possible for users to download files from a Hermes 4 BBS. So what comes next?

Well, obviously, my shameless plug. So here it is: "Get your butt on over to the Armageddon BBS and enjoy everything that you find there. Read and post messages, download a few files, check out the GFiles section, see if anyone else wants to chat with you, or play some games by typing X at the Main Menu. Is that clear, Private? :)

This concludes this tutorial for the Armageddon BBS. I hope it was helpful to you. Below are some additional resources.