Nonetheless, if you're shopping for a powerful Unix solution and don't insist on a user-friendly front end, you'll find Motet's administration and customization features impressive. Seasoned Unix administrators won't find the installation difficult. The Install file walks you through the steps necessary to configure Motet with your Web server. The entire installation connects to your server's CGI-bin, and all the system's functions run as CGI programs attached to your server. The administration tools are simple to use yet powerful.
Installation creates the default forum and basic user interface.
The administrator has the power to require that a new user submit a valid e-mail address upon registration, a system that can curtail spamming. Customizing discussions requires considerable effort. You can adapt a configuration file to reflect changes in background color or art, and an administration utility lets you customize banners, headers, footers, and log-on and exit screens, but extensive changes require you to edit HTML directly. Motet's threaded model lacks the ability to collapse threads, making reading and posting messages more time-consuming. Motet's shortcomings are balanced by strong user-definable sorting features that let you view messages by date, topic, and read status.