GBook 1.0.1
PHP guestbook script

PHP guestbook (GBook)
Version: 1.0.1 from 25th July 2004
Written 9th July 2004 by Klemen Stirn (info AT phpjunkyard DOT com)
PHPJunkYard.com - Free PHP scripts
PHP guestbook

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Copyright 2004 Klemen Stirn. All Rights Reserved.

The GBook may be used and modified free of charge by anyone so long as this copyright notice and the comments above remain intact. By using this code you agree to indemnify Klemen Stirn from any liability that might arise from it's use.

Selling the code for this program without prior written consent is expressly forbidden. In other words, please ask first before you try and make money off this program.

Obtain permission before redistributing this software over the Internet or in any other medium. In all cases copyright and header must remain intact. This Copyright is in full effect in any country that has International Trade Agreements with the United States of America or with the European Union.

DESCRIPTION

PHP guestbook where you visitors can post comments about your website.

Requirements

• UNIX or Windows server (it *might* work on others too)
• PHP4 support
• FTP access and a FTP program

>> Quick installation

Open file settings.php in your favorite PLAIN TEXT editor (like Notepad or Wordpad on Windows systems, DO NOT use MS Word or similar editor) and set these variables:

• $settings['system'] - set to 1 if your website is on a server under Linux (most servers are), set to 2 if it is under Windows (your SERVER, not your computer!). If you are not sure which operating system your server runs under try with $settings['system'] set to 1 first or consult your web hosting company. If you are under some other OS (not Linux nor Win) you can try setting it from 1 to 3 and see if it works
  
  
• $settings['apass'] - this will be your password for the admin panel. Change it from the default password demo. Use only letters a-Z, A-Z and numbers 0-9
  
  
• $settings['website_title'] - A short title of your website, eg "My lovely website"
  
  
• $settings['website_url'] - URL of your website. This is the URL your link partners will have to place on their website.
  
  
• $settings['gbook_title'] - Title of your guestbook, eg "My guestbook"
  
  
• $settings['smileys'] - If set to 1 text like :), ;) etc will be replaced by smileys (image icons). Individual visitors will still be able to disable smileys for their entry. If you don't want to allow smileys set to 0.
  
  
• $settings['notify'] - If set to 1 you will receive an e-mail notification at your admin e-mail address every time a new entry is added to your guestbook. Set to 0 if you don't want to be notified.
  
  
• $settings['admin_email'] - Your e-mail address where new entry notifications will be sent. Only required if $settings['notify'] is set to 1.
  
  
• $settings['gbook_url'] - URL of the gbook.php script. For example http://www.yourdomain.com/guestbook/gbook.php
  
  
• $settings['logfile'] - File where all the data (entries) will be stored (advanced users only). You may leave this as it is.
  
  

Save and close the settings.php file.

Go to your FTP client and FTP to the public directory on your server (where the rest of your website is; usually "public_html", "www" or "site") and create a folder where you will install GBook.
Example: /public_html/gbook
Corresponding URL: http://www.yourdomain.com/gbook

Upload all GBook files to this folder. The "images" folder (all files in this folder) must be transferred in BINARY mode, other files in ASCII mode (refer to your FTP client instructions for details on how to set transfer mode properly).

Make sure that the PHP scripts have permission to write to file entries.txt - on UNIX (Linux) servers you must CHMOD (set permissions for) this file to 666 (rw-rw-rw).

If you have done all this your guestbook should work now. In your browser open your GBook, for example:
http://www.yourdomain.com/gbook/gbook.php and test it. You can delete messages by clicking the red [X] icon and entering your admin password.

You may edit header.txt and footer.txt files to add your own header and footer to the links page. You will have to use full image URLs in the code. For example instead of <IMG SRC="images/image.jpg" ... > use <IMG SRC="http://www.yourdomain.com/images/image.jpg" ... >! Same goes for any Javascripts or CSS files if you are calling them from within the header or footer.

Good luck with the script!

>> Troubleshooting

My guestbook doesn't work, HELP!

Here are a few things to check:

1. did you upload the images folder in BINARY mode and all other files ASCII mode?
2. is entries.txt file world writable? CHMOD it to 666 (rw-rw-rw) if you are on a UNIX server
3. if images don't display correctly check if you uploaded them (the entire "images" folder) correctly. The images folder must be place within the guestbook folder, for example http://www.yourdomain.com/guestbook/images
4. go through the entire setup process again carefully

Since these scripts are free no support is guaranteed. However, I may provide e-mail support as and when time allows. If you can't get the script to work please go through this readme file again carefully and repeat the installation step-by-step (also delete old files and folders from the server). You may also ask for help your friends or anyone you know who has some experience with PHP scripts. Please understand I have to ignore most e-mails like "please help me install it", "I can' get it to work" and similar or I would have to sit here and answer e-mails all day long...

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>> What else?

That's it! If you use PHPJunkYard free scripts or any portion of their code please place a link to PHPJunkYard.com on your website. I won't sue you if you don't, but I believe it is a fair trade for a free script/code. Think about it. You can find link suggestions here.

Best regards,

Klemen Stirn
PHP JunkYard
http://www.PHPJunkYard.com