BinktermPHP 1.8.9 is now available! This is a broad feature release
touching nearly every part of the system. Highlights below.

INTERESTS
* Admins define named topic groups bundling echo areas and file areas.
Users subscribe with one click and are enrolled in all member areas.
* Card-based user interest picker at /interests with optional per-area
selection.
* New users are guided through interest selection during onboarding.
* Echomail reader gains an Interests tab and area list filter.
* Activity Statistics includes a Popular Interests tab.
* Controlled by ENABLE_INTERESTS in .env.

REAL-TIME EVENTS (BINKSTREAM)
* Unread badge counts for echomail, netmail, files, and file approvals
are now pushed from the server -- no more client-side polling.
* Message lists refresh silently in the background without a spinner.
* Marking a message read in one tab reflects in all other open tabs.
* realtime_server.php is now a core daemon alongside binkp_server.php.

ECHOMAIL & NETMAIL
* Right-click context menu (long-press on mobile) on message list rows.
* Per-user ignore rules: block by sender name, node address, or subject.
* Show Entire Conversation mode loads the full thread in one click.
* Raw Source mode (A key cycle) shows message bytes verbatim.
* Compose-time warning when approaching the 16 KB FidoNet message limit.
* Fixed pipe code false-positive rendering English words with green
backgrounds (e.g. |Advertise).

FILE AREAS
* Non-admin uploads land in a pending approval queue.
* New Admin -> File Approvals page to review, scan, approve, or reject.
* Users have a My Uploads view showing pending/approved/rejected status.
* Live notification badge on the Files menu for pending approvals.
* Activity Statistics excludes private file areas from public totals.

AREAFIX / FILEFIX MANAGER
* New admin tool at /admin/areafix for managing echo area subscriptions
with the upstream hub's robots.
* One-click quick-action buttons; incoming replies shown in a panel.
* AreaFix/FileFix subjects masked to protect passwords in all views.

QWK OFFLINE MAIL
* HTTP Basic Auth endpoints at /qwk/download and /qwk/upload for
scripted access by external offline-mail tools.
* Optional standalone FTP daemon (scripts/ftp_daemon.php).
* Users choose exactly which echo areas appear in their QWK packets.

BINKP CONFIGURATION
* Visual schedule builder for poll schedule cron expressions.
* On-demand connectivity check button per uplink on the BinkP page.
* Packet filenames in queue lists are clickable -- opens packet inspector.
* Session log now covers normal inbound and outbound sessions, not just
crash mail. Log records include process ID and log filename.
* Old session log rows purged after 30 days (configurable via
BINKP_SESSION_LOG_RETENTION_DAYS).

ECHOMAIL MCP SERVER
* Optional Model Context Protocol server gives AI assistants read-only
access to echomail. Per-user bearer keys generated from Settings -> AI.
* See docs/MCPServer.md for setup.

AI PROVIDER LAYER
* New abstracted AI provider layer supports Anthropic and OpenAI as
backends. Admin usage report at /admin/ai-usage.

TELNET / SSH BBS SERVER
* System news from data/systemnews.md shown after login in a framed
terminal screen.
* Interests menu (I) for browsing and subscribing to topic groups.
* QWK Offline Mail now supports ZMODEM download and upload -- no
external tools required.

USER SETTINGS
* Settings page reorganized into tabbed layout: Display, Messaging,
Notifications, and Account.
* Notification sound preview button added.
* Messaging tab includes an Ignored Echomail management section.

USER PROFILE
* New About Me field on the edit profile page. Content is rendered as
Markdown on the public profile page.
* Activity log timestamps now shown in the viewer's configured timezone.
* "Last seen" label corrected to "Last login".
* Edit profile page has a View Profile button linking to the public
profile.

DASHBOARD
* Today's Callers is now a table with User, Time, and Online columns.
* New Active BinkP Sessions card with live refresh.

ADVERTISING
* Content commands restricted to an approved whitelist.
* Ads now support a Click-through URL. Impressions and clicks tracked
and displayed on a new Ad Analytics page at /admin/ad-analytics.

BROADCAST MANAGER
* Campaign editor has a Clone action to duplicate a campaign.

APPEARANCE
* New Login tab lets sysops configure /login with a standard form or
an ANSI-driven login screen with the prompt appended after the art.
* ANSI size presets: 80x25, 132x24, 132x43, 132x50, and Full Screen.
* New Term Server tab for editing the telnet/SSH welcome, menu, and
goodbye ANSI screens from the browser.

MRC CHAT
* /join <room> slash command added.
* Restructured interface with connect screen and room dropdown.
* Users can set a custom MRC handle instead of their BBS username.
* Private messages now appear inline in the main message stream.
* Room updates delivered via BinkStream instead of client polling.

TELNET / SSH BBS SERVER
* System News from data/systemnews.md shown after login in a framed
terminal screen before the shoutbox.
* Interests menu (I) for browsing and subscribing to topic groups.
* QWK now supports ZMODEM download and upload -- no external tools
required.

CLI TOOLS
* New scripts/fix_date_received.php resets date_received to date_written
for echomail rows in specified areas. Useful after a %RESCAN import.

For a full list of changes please consult the UPGRADING guide located at:
https://github.com/awehttam/binkterm-php/blob/main/docs/UPGRADING_1.8.9.md

I hope you enjoy this release!

Matthew
https://lovelybits.org/binktermphp


~ awehttam @1:153/150 @gmail.com | www.lovelybits.org

... Even a stopped clock, keeps the right time twice a day

--- BinktermPHP v1.8.9
* Origin: Claude's BBS - https://claudes.lovelybits.org (21:3/236)
* Origin: This origin line was automagically created for (21:3/236.0)