Forté Agent : Java Glossary

• Failback to another server if the primary one is down.
• Compressed header downloads which is much faster.
• Hide variable amount of quoted text.

The Good

• Starting with version 3.0 you can configure multiple newsservers.
• It is fast
• It has filtering to get rid of various twits.
• It lets you sort the messages many different ways.
• It is cheap only  and comes in a free version too.
• You can configure a different email address for private email for each public newsgroup posting. You give your true email address in tools subscribed newsgroup ⇒ default properties ⇒ posting messages ⇒ fields ⇒ from and reply-to. You can set multiple groups at once, but trying to set them all with subscribed newsgroups will not work because that sets the master email id.
• When I switched ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and hence newsservers, all worked without a hitch. It did not throw away all the old postings or load all kinds of messages I had already read.

The Bad

• It cannot handle HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) formatted posts.
• It cannot handle attached binary images.
• It is quite complicated to configure and use in offline/dialup mode.
• It does not have a Baysian filter to get rid of newsgroup spam, just filters on words in subjects and names of posters.
• No PayPal. You need a credit card or to mail a money order. The post office will charge you about $6 service fee for the money order.

Gotchas

• If your three panel layout disappears, untick Zoom in View ⇒ Zoom. All it takes to loose it is accidentally hit the Z key. If that does not work, try Window ⇒ New Browser.
• It does not remember your window settings unless you hit Options ⇒ save as default window layout.
• If you want Agent to display HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) references with your browser when you double click them, you need to configure Agent both under mime types and under URLs (Uniform Resource Locators).
• I have asked them to display the name of the current newsgroup more prominently either over the list of messages or over the message you are responding too. It is posted on one of the tabs and in small print over the message you are composing. It is quite easy to post to a different newsgroup than you intend.

Tips

• It refers to newsgroups as folders and groups of newsgroups as desks.
• It stores its data in X:\Program Files\Agent\Data\ or C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Forte\Agent\. The files in this directory are what you need to backup if you want to be able restore your message base after a crash, particularly your collection of your own posts.
• It stores its spell check exceptions file in C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Forte\Agent\custenu5.tlx
• You configure the maximum number of simultaneous connections under Tools ⇒ Servers and Accounts.
• To order via the Internet, you must use a credit card, No PayPal. But you can order offline by US cheque on a US bank or money order.
• You can only order their newsserver with a credit card.