Well, the "Mudcat Format" can't really be marketed because it is built on a very old version of the ColdFusion software package. ColdFusion is a database program that stores and indexes records (messages, digital tradition songs, and what-have-you). ColdFusion creates a Forum Menu of links, and clicking on one of those links queries the database and builds a page based on a query, like this page you are looking at now. The general appearance of this page came from ColdFusion, and then Max and Jeff have customized and personalized and perfected it over the years. There have been contributions from a few other people, but Mudcat is mostly the work of Max and Jeff, built on ColdFusion.

I used to be able to Google for thread.cfm and find other forums with the same format, but the results were a bit different this time. Maybe our version is so out-of-date that other places don't use it any more.

Yes, it's true that you can't edit Mudcat posts after you've clicked "submit," but you can use the preview function to double-check your post before you submit it. If there's still a mistake, post a complete, corrected message under the incorrect one - our volunteer editors are supposed to delete duplicate messages, leaving the most recent duplicate. I tend to grumble about the requests that ask us to change the third word of the fourth line of the sixteenth paragraph of a BS message. Better to post the message a second time, exactly as you want it. You can even add [corrected message] in the first line of the corrected message, so we'll be exactly clear on what you want.

If you need help with spellchecking, you can use Firefox or some other browser that has a spellchecker. Otherwise, you can type your message in a word processor and then paste it into Mudcat.

-Joe-


Has Max been changing his hair color again? I'm beginning to think there must be grey underneath.