Guestbook

The guestbook script enables you to include a fully-featured guestbook on your site, where visitors can leave comments, or view comments left by others.

The Miva-based guestbook can be easily configured by specifying a few variables, and only a basic knowledge of HTML is required to completely customize the guestbook interface.

How to Add a Guestbook

Follow these simple steps to add a guestbook to your web site:

Basic Method

Use this method if you are not familiar with HTML, and you wish to configure a simple guestbook using the default settings.

1. Visit the "Hosting" area of your account control panel, click "Free CGI Scripts" and select "Install and configure guestbooks".
    
2. Follow the step-by-step instructions to configure your guestbook, then follow the provided link to view and test your new guestbook.

Custom Method

Use this method if you wish to download and customize the guestbook script.

1. Download and extract the script template "questbook.mv" to your computer from the appropriate link below.
    
2. Change lines 30-35 of "guestbook.mv" to reflect your preferences. You can open the file in any text editor (i.e. Notepad):
    
   • topgraphic: the image you want to display on your guestbook pages
   • numberofentries: the number of entries to show on each guestbook page
   • mailtome: receive an email notification whenever a guestbook entry is made
   • mailto: your email address
   • mailhost: your mail server (mail.yourname.com)
   • mailfrom: your email address
3. Upload the template to your domain using FTP, Webby or FrontPage and you're done. Visit and test your new guestbook.

Note: Remember to upload questbook.mv in ASCII mode. Most FTP programs allow you to configure the transfer mode for extensions you specify, so simply add ".mv" to your ASCII file types. Then you won't need to worry about future Miva uploads.

Download the Guestbook Script

The guestbook script is compressed, and is available in both .zip and .sit formats. You will need a program such as WinZip or StuffIt to extract this file.

Customizing Your Guestbook

Customizing your guestbook interface requires only a basic knowledge of HTML. You can open the file in any text editor (i.e. Notepad). Simply change the code as per your requirements, making sure you leave any Miva-specific variables in place, then upload the file to your domain as above.

Deleting Guestbook Entries

Guestbook entries are saved to a text-based database file, named "guestbook.dat". This file is stored in the "mvdata" directory, which is one level above your document root ("htdocs"). Each guestbook entry is on a separate line. Simply open the file using FTP or Webby (you cannot access this directory using FrontPage) and delete the entries you don't require.

Remember to transfer this file in ASCII mode, as explained above.

Maintaining Multiple Guestbooks

You can easily maintain multiple guestbooks on a single domain. However, each guestbook should use a separate data file. Simply copy "guestbook.mv" to a new file, and edit line 36 to specify a different data file.

Changing Default Time/Date Stamps

The guestbook stamps all entries in Pacific time (PST). You can change this by editing the "timezone" and "timezone offset" variables on lines 67-68 of the guestbook file.

Find Out More

The guestbook is written in Miva Script; a server-side scripting language, which is easy to learn, standards-compliant, and makes it easy for those new to scripting to develop interactive web content. To find out more about Miva Script, please see the Miva Overview.