Citadel (software)

The first Citadel came online in 1980[dubious – discuss] with a single 300 baud modem; eventually many versions of the software, both clones and those descended from the original code base (but all usually called "Citadels"), became popular among BBS callers and sysops, particularly in areas such as the Pacific Northwest, Northern California and Upper Midwest of the United States, where development of the software was ongoing.

[citation needed] Citadel's primary improvement over previous BBS packages was the introduction of the metaphor of rooms as a way to organize topics.

Most installations permitted any user to create a room, resulting in a dynamic ebb and flow closer to true conversation than most other BBS packages achieved.

By contrast, previous bulletin board software emphasized the availability of files, with a single uncoupled message area that could only be read linearly, forward or backward.

Version 2 debuted on David Mitchell's ICS BBS, and with the release of 2.11, Prothero's involvement with the project ended following a conflict centered around a user called "sugar bunny".

Initially, Bruce King, David Bonn (releasing under the name Stonehenge), Caren Park, and James Shields, amongst others, picked up the opportunity in the Seattle area.

Numerous suggestions from sysops and users, both local and national, guided the growth of Citadel-86, including the addition of a network capability as well as enhancements to the command set.

DragCit forked to several more versions, eventually leading to efforts to merge several code bases under the guidance of Matt Pfleger, Richard Goldfinder, Brent Bottles, Don Kimberlin, and Elisabeth Perrin, the end result being Citadel+, a multiuser capable version of the software, which also included advanced scripting, user control of message displays, and other features.