Table of Contents
II. Creating and Maintaining Books
1. Using the Master Admin program
2. Creating a new book
(a) using a template
(b) using custom options
3. Modifying a book
(a) book options
(b) field options
(c) html and templates
(d) banning options
4. Deleting a book
III. The User Admin Program
1. Controlling user access
2. Overview of user abilities
Creating a new guestbook with the master admin program is typically very quick and painless. Depending on your needs, you can set up a book from scratch or use a pre-defined layout. We will cover both methods on this page. Regardless of which method you choose, some basic information is required that both methods use. So, we will describe the setup process up until the point where you choose what method you'd like, and then we'll describe what to do for each method.
First, begin by pressing the button marked "New VisitorBook". This will bring you to the first page of the setup process. You are asked to fill in a few required fields:
- Book Name
- This is the name of the book. You can use a word or series of words for this value; it is simply used by the admin program to identify the book. (For example, "Company Guestbook", "Public Guestbook", "Visitors", etc..)
- Book ID
- Every guestbook in the system must have a unique ID so that the scripts know what book to deal with. Type in a short but meaningful identifier.
- Login Password
- Using the user admin program, you can let the "owner" of this book (if it is not you) to log in and modify current entries and book preferences.
After you figure out these fields, click next to continue the setup process. The next page details setup of the live directory.You must create a live directory on your web site where all web files will be stored. This is where the guestbook will actually be located on your site. Specifically, the default thank you page and actual guestbook page will be created in this directory.
- Live Directory Path
- A base path is defined and displayed above this text input. If you want to place the live directory in some pre-existing directory in this base path, enter it here. This can safely be left blank if the base path was setup correctly.
- Live Directory Name
- This is the name of the directory that will be created -- in fact, it is the live directory where entry files and such will be stored. You should probably leave this as the same name as the book ID unless you have some compelling reason not to.
- Entry File
- File that will be created to store the actual guestbook (with entries).
You must choose a name for the live directory, and a location for it. For example, if you wanted to store your guestbook files in www.mysite.xyz/html/guestbook, you would set the Live Directory Path to html and Live Directory Name to guestbook.
Also, note that only the actual Live Directory will be created. For example, if you set the path to html/pages/morestuff, all of those directories must first exist. In other words, the system will not make any other directories to accomodate your path.
The value for Entry File is the name of the file (that will be created by the system) which will print guestbook entries.
Creating a new book: using a template
VisitorBook Pro's built-in templates let you quickly build a new guestbook based on one of a variety of HTML layouts and styles. This method should work well for most situations; unless you have a specific idea of exactly what fields you want and other such options, you should be able to find a suitable template with which to base your new book.
The important thing to understand about templates is that they merely exist in the setup program; if you make a new book using the "Standard Guestbook" template, you can always change any setup information at a later date. Think of templates as a way to transparently fill in default values for book options, field information, and HTML layout.
Most users choose to create a new book based on a template, and customize it later as their needs see fit.
If you re going to create your book based on a template, select the template from the pop-up mennu and click "Use Template". Command-O Software includes a few sampler templates that should be enough to get you started; you can create additional templates on your own or check visitorbook.com for updated template downloads.
The next page you will see is the last page of the book setup. It gives you a chance to review and modify any setup parameters you wish. Once you have made any changes you desire, click on the "Create Book" button and your new book will be created.
Creating a new book: using custom options
VisitorBook Pro's master admin program has the powerful ability to create an entirely new guestbook through your web browser. You can specify every parameter of the book, define any number of fields, and set all relevant options online so your new book is ready-to-go once you create it!
Though this method is powerful, it is more time consuming than setting up a book with a template. Review this method prior to cerating a book with it; you will need to prepare some HTML ahead of time to paste into a form input, for example.
Click on the "Custom Book Setup Assistant" button. You see a form where you can add fields. You can create a new field of your own by typing in the expected form input and a title, or you can use one of several built in fields. Specifically:
- System Date
- The date, according to your server, at the time the form was submitted.
- System Time
- The time, according to your server, at the time the form was submitted.
- User IP Address
- The remote address of the user. If the user's web browser send VBPro the user's hostname (eg, user005.serviceprovider.xyz), VBPro will record that value. Else, it will simply record the user's IP address (eg, 192.168.1.5).
Below the form section, you will see a section of all fields currently in the new guestbook. Click on the number next to the field to remove the field.
You can play around on this screen all you want, adding and deleting fields at will. Remember, your changes are not saved until you click the submit button near the bottom of the page, labeled "Continue Custom Setup".
Next, you will be asked to fill out a few template fields. Follow the directions on the page to get a better understanding of how these work and what they do. You may wish to write this part of the setup ahead of time so you can just paste your HTML in; if you spend too long on this page, you might get logged off. Also, it is a good idea to keep a copy of your HTML on your local hard drive (rather than simply typing your book's HTML into the form input) in case you encounter problems later when creating the book. In this manner, you will have a backup offline.
Alternatively, you could leave these fields blank for now and edit the actual data in the useradmin or masteradmin programs later when you actually want to use the new book.
When you finish with this page, the next page will present you with a handful of options that you can set on the new book. These are pretty much the same value that you can set and modify later with the admin programs.
Finally, when you are ready, click "Continue Custom Setup" on this page and you will arrive at the summary page. If all information looks to be in order, click "Create Book". If, however, you see any changes that need to be made, you must usse your browser's back button to return to the appropriate setup stage.