Bob Savage writes:
> I am trying to set up a new user -- which I did successfully once before
> about a month ago -- by following the instructions in the manserver. I
> edited the passwd file,

Did you use vipw(8)?

Did you edit master.passwd (and not passwd!)

> One problem is I do not know how to actually set the newuser's initial
> password,

use passwd(8).

Perry