Guestbook

Here you will find Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Bravenet Guestbook.

1. What is the Guestbook service?
The Guestbook service allows your visitors to post public or private messages onto your site.

You can also customize your own questions to ask visitors.

2. How does the Guestbook service work?
You must place the copy/paste code from this service onto a webpage, and then save and publish or upload the revised file to your web server.

The copy/paste code will embed the Guestbook into your webpage. If you would prefer to link directly to a separate Guestbook page, we provide codes for that also.

If using the separate page, your visitor can return to your website by clicking on the 'Home' button. The Home URL can be changed in your General Settings.

3. How do I customize the colors and fonts used in my Guestbook service?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click any of the orange edit buttons to make changes to that area.
c. In the box that opens, click on the colored square to customize the colors. Click 'Open Font Picker' to choose your text style.
d. Click on the "Save" button when done

4. What added features will I receive if I upgrade to Guestbook Professional?
The Professional Guestbook service provides the following features:

-All advertising is removed
-Post limit increases from 1,500 to 22,000
-You'll have an added option to archive/back up your Guestbook entries
-You may disable the Profanity Filter (default is on)
-The character limit of the entries is increased from 5,000 to 10,000

5. How do I change the width of my Guestbook service?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on "Edit Page"
c. Click on the "Size" tab
d. In the "Guestbook Width" section, type in how wide you'd like your Guestbook to be
e. Click on the "Save" button

6. How do I select or change the number of entries per page on my Guestbook?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on "Edit Page"
c. Click on the "Size" tab
d. In the "Entries Per Page" section, choose the number of entries you would like to show per page
e. Click on the "Save" button

7. How do I set or change the Home Page URL for my Guestbook page?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on "General Settings"
c. In the "Home Page URL" section, enter the URL that you wish your visitors to go to when they return to your website
d. Click on the "Save" button

8. How do I allow or prevent HTML in my Guestbook's entries?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on "General Settings"
c. Click the "Security" tab
d. Beneath "Allow HTML in Guestbook Entries?", select 'Yes' to enable HTML in your Guestbook entries, or 'No' to disable HTML
e. Click on the "Save" button

Allowing HTML code in your Guestbook postings means that visitors who know HTML may post more than just text. Entries may include an active link to a website or file, a photo, or a script.

The downside is that there is the possibility that these entries may cause an executable file to run or may contain inappropriate images.

You should monitor your Guestbook for such entries and delete them, or do not allow HTML to be used to avoid these problems.

If younger people will be viewing the Guestbook, you might want to consider enabling Post Approval. This will give you a chance to review all entries before they appear.

9. How do I allow or prevent multiple posts per user for my Guestbook?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services b. Click on "General Settings"
c. Click on the "Security" tab
d. Beneath "Enable Post Flood Protection?", select 'Yes' to stop multiple posts per user, or select 'No' to allow people to post as many times as they like
e. Click on the "Save" button

10. How do I allow or prevent the use of Smilies in my Guestbook?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on "General Settings"
c. Click on the "Security" tab
d. Beneath "Allow Smilies in your Guestbook?", select 'Yes' to allow visitors to use smilies, or select No to prevent smilies
e. Click on the "Save" button

11. How do I customize the background of my Guestbook?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on the "Edit Page" button at the top of your Guestbook editor
c. Click on the colored squares, and choose the colors you'd like. The Post Background colors will alternate
d. To use a tiled background image, click on the "Image Picker" link below Background Image. In the window that opens, you can select the picture from your account.
e. Click on the "Save" button

12. Some words in my Guestbook are appearing as ******. Why?

This is our profanity filter. You can upgrade to the Professional version pf the Guestbook to have the option to allow profanity.

13. How can I customize the alignment of my remote Guestbook page?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on "General Settings"
c. In the "Service Alignment" section, choose left, center or right alignment
d. Click on the "Save" button

Please note, this option is only needed if you're using the remote Guestbook. Embedded Guestbooks will need to be aligned manually in your HTML code.

14. How do I change the subtitle of my Guestbook?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on the "Edit Title" button
c. Click on the "Subtitle" tab
d. Customize your font and color options, and enter your description below
e. Click on the "Save" button

Please note: This will also update the font settings for your questions on the "Post" page.

15. How do I change the title area of my Guestbook?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on the "Edit Title" button
c. Beneath "Title Image" enter the URL of the image you'd like to use. If you don't want one, you can leave the area blank.
d. Beneath "Guestbook Title", enter or edit your title text
e. Choose your font and color options below
f. Click on the "Save" button

16. How do I edit the thank you email sent to my Guestbook visitors after they make a post?

1. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
2. Click on "General Settings"
3. Click on the "Email" tab
4. Enter your email message and subject into the boxes provided
5. Click on the "Save" button

17. How do I start or stop receiving email notifications when someone signs my Guestbook?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on "General Settings"
c. Click on the "Email" tab
d. Beneath "Receive an Email Notifying you of New Posts?", select 'Yes' to enable the emails, or select 'No' if you don't want to be notified
e. Click on the "Save" button

18. Can I change the questions in my Guestbook?

Yes, you can. Follow these steps to manage your Guestbook questions:

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on the "Edit Post Styles" button
(please note that there needs to be at least one post in your Guestbook for the "Edit Post Styles" button to appear)
c. Click on the "Questions" tab

You can edit your questions from here.

To add a new question click "show disabled". Click on the gray circle to enable one of the questions, and customize it to your liking.

To delete a question, remove the text you added, or disable it by clicking on the green 'Enabled' button.

When done making your changes, click on the "Save" button.

19. How do I edit or delete messages in my Guestbook?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook" in the list of registered services
b. Click on "Manage Posts"

To edit a message, first click on the pencil and paper icon beside the message. Make your changes, and then click the "Save Changes" button below.

To delete a message, click on the red X next to it. To delete several, use the checkboxes on the right and then click "Delete Selected".

20. How do I add music to my Guestbook?

a. Log into your Bravenet account and click on "Guestbook"
b. Click on "General Settings"
c. Beneath "Embed a Background Sound URL" section, enter the URL of the sound file which you want to play when your Guestbook is opened. You can use MIDI, AU, WAV or MP3.
d. Click on the "Save" button

Please note: Remote linking is not allowed with many free webspace providers. Do not enter the URL of a sound file on a free non-Bravenet web hosting server; Upload the file to your Bravenet webspace.