Guestbook on www.uaf.edu

Guestbook Version 2.3.1 by Matt Wright is available for use on www.uaf.edu. Note: Our version has been significantly modified from the original. This program is a perl script which adds entries supplied by visitors to your guestbook file. For an example, you may wish to visit the Webauthors Guest Book.

The guestbook consists of the perl script and three HTML files. The perl script must be customized for your use, and will be installed by the SysAdmin. The three HTML files (described below) may be modified as necessary to fit your needs (according to rules stated in the description below).

There are several options that you have to decide whether or not to use. Below is a brief description of what each one does.

Option 1:: mail - (Yes or No) This option will allow you to be notified via an E-Mail address when a new entry arrives in your guestbook. The entry will be mailed to you as a notification.; recipient - Your E-Mail address, so that the mailing program will know who to mail the entry to.
Option 2:: uselog - (Yes or No) This will allow you the ability to use the short log feature.
Option 3:: linkmail - (Yes or No) Turning this option on will make the address links in your guestbook become hyperlinked. So instead of simply having (name@some.host) it will put (<a href="mailto:name@some.host"> name@some.host</a>) so that anyone can simply click on the address to email them.
Option 4:: separator - (Yes or No) You may choose to separate entries with a Horizontal Rule <hr> instead of a Paragraph Separator <p>.
Option 5:: entry_order - (Top or Bottom) You may choose to have the newest entries added below the rest of the entries or have the newest entry added to the top.
Option 6:: remote_mail - (Yes or No) A form letter can be automatically sent to the remote user when they fill in the guestbook. Selecting this option will tell the script to automatically mail any user who leaves an email address. It sends a message that says, "Thank you for adding to my guestbook." and then shows them their entry. If you should choose this option, you will need to fill in the variable that goes along with it:; recipient - Your E-Mail address, so that the mailing program will know who to mail the entry to.
Option 7:: line_breaks - (Yes or No) This option allows you to decide whether or not you want line breaks in the comment field to be turned into <br>'s in the html thing to retain the look of the guestbook entry. Common setting would be off, because sometimes people accidentally put in extra line breaks.

The HTML Files

GUESTBOOK.HTML - This is the file that you will link to that will contain the Guestbook Entries. You will need to have this set at write/read permission for the users (chmod a+rw). [Note: You may wish to have your SysAdmin assist you with changing the file permissions.] You will probably need to edit the url for the link to the addguest.html file and edit the url at the end of this page to point back to your home page. You will also want to edit the title and heading spaces. Do not delete the line  from this guestbook, or else the script will have no way of knowing where to begin the editing. The  line is the only necessary line in your guestbook.html file, but the link to the addguest.html file is also a good idea. :)

ADDGUEST.HTML - This is a fill-out form to add a new entry into the guestbook. You will need to edit parts of it to correct urls and names of things, but leave the basic field names in place in the form. You will also need to change the action of the form to point to the dept.guestbook.pl (where dept is your account name; e.g., dcc.guestbook.pl would be the name for the perl file for the dcc account) file you placed in your cgi-bin.

GUESTLOG.HTML - This is a short log that lists domains and times that entries were created. Much easier to browse, and it will point out those failed entries when users did not specify a name or comments. This file will also need read/write permission given to it. The log file is set so that newest entries are added at the bottom. This should be apparent though since the entries all come with a short date added.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is an AffirmativeAction/Equal Opportunity Employer and Educational Institution.

Office of Information Technology - PO Box 757700 - Fairbanks, Ak 99775-7700
ph: 907-474-6564 / fax: 907-474-5910

Last modified 08/08/2006
by fxdjl@uaf.edu