MaxCFG Menu Editor

Editing BBS menu definitions with the MaxCFG menu editor

The menu system is the face of your BBS — it’s the first thing callers interact with and the last thing they see before logging off. MaxCFG’s built-in menu editor lets you design, tweak, and preview your menus live without ever leaving the configuration tool. You can see exactly what your callers will see, with full ANSI art rendering, lightbar colors, and layout — all updated in real-time as you make changes. Hit F3 from any menu form and there it is. (Jump to Live Preview details.)

Each menu lives in its own TOML file under config/menus/ (e.g., main.toml, message.toml, file.toml). No compilation step, no separate tools. Open a menu, change a title, add an option, save, done.

From the maxcfg main screen, navigate to:

Content → Menus

MaxCFG reads the menu TOML files from config/menus/ and presents every defined menu in a list. If you’re coming from another BBS package or setting up Maximus for the first time, you’ll find a set of default menus already in place — MAIN, MESSAGE, FILE, CHANGE, EDIT, CHAT, and so on. These are a good starting point; you can rename, rearrange, or replace them as you see fit.

Each entry shows the menu name, the title your callers see, and how many options it contains.

Key	Action
Enter	Edit the selected menu
Insert	Create a new menu
Delete	Remove the selected menu (asks for confirmation first)
Esc	Save all menus back to their TOML files and exit

When you select a menu, the properties form opens. This is where you set the basics — what the menu is called, what files it displays, and how wide the auto-generated option list should be.

Field	Type	What it does
Name	Text	The internal menu name (e.g., `MAIN`). Must be unique across all menus.
Title	Text	What callers see at the top. You can use `%t` for time remaining, and other Maximus tokens.
HeaderFile	File	A display file shown once when a caller first enters the menu (think: a welcome banner).
HeaderFile Types	Multiselect	Which help levels see the header: Novice, Regular, Expert, RIP.
MenuFile	File	A custom ANSI/BBS file that replaces the auto-generated option list. This is how you get those beautiful full-screen menus.
MenuFile Types	Multiselect	Which help levels see the custom menu file.
MenuLength	Number	How many screen lines your MenuFile takes up. Maximus needs this so it knows where to put the prompt.
OptionWidth	Number	Width for each option in the auto-generated list (6–80, default 20).
HotColour	Number	Color code for hotkey highlighting (-1 = none).
Customize…	Action	Opens the customization sub-form — this is where the magic happens.
Menu Options (N defined)	Action	Opens the option list editor.

The big feature: Press F3 from this form for a live preview of exactly what your callers will see.

Customization

Here’s where Maximus NG really shines. The customization sub-form lets you combine a full-screen ANSI art background with Maximus’s auto-generated option list — positioned, colored, and laid out exactly the way you want. You can build menus that look like custom ANSI art but still have Maximus handle the option rendering, hotkeys, and even arrow-key lightbar navigation automatically.

If you’ve ever wanted the look of hand-crafted ANSI menus without maintaining them by hand every time you add an option — this is it.

For the full deep-dive on how hybrid menus work, see Lightbar Menus and Canned & Bounded Menus.

Toggles

Field	What it does
Enable Customization	Master switch. Nothing below takes effect until this is on.
Skip Canned	Don’t generate the option list at all — your MenuFile is the entire menu. Useful for pure ANSI art menus where you handle everything with hotkeys.
Show Title	Print the menu title inside the bounded area.
Lightbar	Enable arrow-key lightbar navigation. Callers can arrow up/down through the options instead of typing hotkeys.
Lightbar Margin	Padding (in characters) around each lightbar item. A little breathing room goes a long way.

Boundary

The boundary defines a rectangle on screen where the auto-generated option list appears. Think of it as a window cut into your ANSI art. Coordinates are 1-based (row, column).

Field	What it sets
Top Row / Top Col	Upper-left corner of the option area
Bottom Row / Bottom Col	Lower-right corner
Title Row / Title Col	Where the menu title text goes
Prompt Row / Prompt Col	Where the input prompt sits

Getting these numbers right is the key to a good-looking hybrid menu. Use the live preview (F3) to dial them in — you can tweak a value, hit F3, and immediately see whether your options land in the right spot.

Layout

Field	Options	What it controls
Option Spacing	Toggle	Extra blank line between option rows — gives a more spacious feel.
Option Justify	Left / Center / Right	Horizontal alignment of option text within the boundary.
Boundary Justify	Left Top, Center Center, etc.	How the option block is positioned within the boundary rectangle.
Boundary Layout	Grid, Tight, Spread, Spread Width, Spread Height	How options fill the bounded area. “Spread” distributes them evenly; “Grid” packs them into columns.

Lightbar Colors

Four color pairs let you control exactly how the lightbar looks. Each one opens a 16×8 color picker when you select it — pick a foreground, pick a background, and you’ll see the result immediately in the live preview.

Field	What it controls
Normal Color	Default text for unselected options
Selected Color	The highlight bar on the currently selected option
High Color	The hotkey character in unselected options (so it stands out)
High+Selected Color	The hotkey character when the option is highlighted

Colors are stored as named pairs (e.g., “White on Blue”) in the [custom_menu.lightbar_color] section of the menu’s TOML file.

What It Looks Like in TOML

If you’re curious what all this produces, here’s an excerpt from a real main.toml with customization enabled:

name = "MAIN"
title = "Main menu (%t mins)"
menu_file = "display/screens/menu_main.ans"
menu_types = ["Novice"]
option_width = 14

[[option]]
command = "Display_Menu"
arguments = "MESSAGE"
priv_level = "Demoted"
description = "Message areas"
modifiers = []

[[option]]
command = "Goodbye"
arguments = ""
priv_level = "Transient"
description = "Goodbye (log off)"
modifiers = []

# ... more [[option]] entries ...

[custom_menu]
skip_canned_menu = false
show_title = true
lightbar_menu = true
lightbar_margin = 1
top_boundary = [8, 8]
bottom_boundary = [20, 61]
title_location = [22, 32]
prompt_location = [23, 1]
boundary_layout = "spread"
boundary_justify = "center center"

[custom_menu.lightbar_color]
normal = ["Light Gray", "Black"]
high = ["Yellow", "Black"]
selected = ["White", "Blue"]
high_selected = ["Yellow", "Blue"]

You never have to write this by hand — the menu editor builds it for you. But it’s nice to know it’s all plain-text TOML if you ever want to bulk-edit or version-control your menus.

Every menu is made up of options — the commands your callers can choose from. The option list shows them all at a glance:

Each line shows the description callers see, the command it runs, and the minimum privilege level needed to use it. Options appear in the order callers see them — the order in this list is the order on screen.

Key	Action
Enter	Edit the selected option
Insert	Add a new option at the current position
Delete	Remove the selected option (asks for confirmation)
Esc	Return to the properties form

Option Editor

Select an option and you get a form with everything that defines it:

Field	Type	What it does
Command	Select	What this option actually does. Opens a command picker grouped by category.
Arguments	Select/Text	For `Display_Menu`, press F2 to pick from your menu list. For other commands, type freely.
Privilege	Select	Minimum access level. Opens a picker with your defined levels, or press Space to type a custom string like `Normal/1C`.
Description	Text	The text callers see. The first character automatically becomes the hotkey.
Hotkey	Text	Override the auto-hotkey if you want a different key.
Modifiers	Multiselect	Special behavior flags (see below).

Command Picker

You don’t have to memorize command names — the picker groups them by category:

Category	Examples
Misc	Display_Menu, Display_File, MEX, Link_Menu, Cls, If, Return, Key_Poke
External	Xtern_Erlvl, Xtern_Dos, Xtern_Run, Xtern_Chain, Xtern_Concur
Main	Goodbye, Statistics, Yell, Userlist, Version, User_Editor
Message	Msg_Area, Read_Next, Enter_Message, Msg_Reply, Msg_List, Msg_Browse, Msg_Tag
File	File_Area, Locate, File_Titles, Upload, Download, File_Tag, Newfiles
Change	Chg_City, Chg_Password, Chg_Help, Chg_Video, Chg_Editor, Chg_Protocol
Edit	Edit_Save, Edit_Abort, Edit_List, Edit_Edit, Edit_Insert
Chat	Who_Is_On, Page, Chat_CB, Chat_Toggle, Chat_Pvt

Modifier Flags

Modifiers change how an option behaves without changing the command itself:

Flag	What it does
NoDsp	Hides the option from the menu display, but callers can still use the hotkey. Great for secret sysop commands or shortcut aliases.
NoCLS	Don’t clear the screen when chaining to another menu (Display_Menu only).
RIP	Only show to callers with RIP graphics.
NoRIP	Only show to callers without RIP graphics.
Local	Only show when the area is a local-style area.
UsrLocal	Only show to locally connected users (console).
UsrRemote	Only show to remote (telnet/modem) users.
ReRead	Re-read the user record after an external program returns. Use this when a door game might change user data.

Privilege Levels

The privilege picker shows the standard levels defined in your access.ctl:

Demoted — the lowest level; everyone can see and use the option
Transient — temporary/guest access
Normal — your everyday registered user
Privileged — elevated access (co-sysops, trusted users)
Sysop — full system access
Hidden — invisible to regular users entirely

You can also type custom privilege strings with key restrictions. For example, Normal/1C means “Normal level, but only if the user has keys 1 and C set.” This gives you fine-grained control over who sees what.

Live Preview

This is one of the best features of the menu editor. Press F3 from the properties form or the customization form, and MaxCFG renders your menu exactly as a caller would see it — right there in a popup window.

MaxCFG Live Menu Preview

Here’s what happens under the hood:

If you have a MenuFile (ANSI art), it’s rendered with full MCI color translation — pipe codes, cursor positioning, the works.
The auto-generated option list is overlaid within your boundary rectangle.
Lightbar colors and layout settings are applied from whatever you have in the form right now — even before you’ve saved.
The result pops up on screen.

This means you can tweak a boundary coordinate, hit F3, see if it looks right, adjust, hit F3 again — a fast, visual feedback loop. No more guessing at row numbers, saving, restarting the BBS, and logging in to check. You see it instantly.

Tips

Start with ANSI art. The most impressive menus combine a hand-drawn ANSI background (set as the MenuFile) with a bounded option area. Draw your art in your favorite ANSI editor, leave a blank region for options, then use the boundary settings to fill it in. The live preview makes dialing in the coordinates painless.

Use NoDsp for hidden commands. Want a hotkey that works but doesn’t appear on the menu? Add the NoDsp modifier. This is how experienced sysops add things like quick-jump shortcuts or secret sysop backdoors.

Test at different privilege levels. Options with higher privilege requirements are invisible to users below that level. Your MAIN menu might look quite different to a Demoted guest versus a Sysop. Use the preview to think about what each class of user sees.

Don’t delete the EDIT menu. Maximus requires a menu named EDIT for its built-in message editor. If you remove it, message editing breaks. You can customize its options all you want, just keep the menu itself.

Explore the customization features. If you haven’t tried lightbar navigation yet, turn it on for your MAIN menu and see how it feels. Between the boundary system, layout options, and per-menu colors, you can make every menu on your BBS look and feel distinct. See Lightbar Menus and Canned & Bounded Menus for the full story on what’s possible.

Maximus BBS

Documentation for Maximus BBS — Next Generation