Smart Guest Book 2.0 - Installation

Installing Free Smart Guest Book 2.0 for Access Database

A. Contents of the zip file

You will find the following files:

SmartGuestbook.mdb (Access Database)
SmartGuestbook.swf (Flash Interface)
SmartGuestbook.asp (ASP file where the Flash interface is placed)
SmartGuestbookCode.asp (ASP file accessed by the .swf file)
scripts.js (Javascript code)
badwordfilter.txt (comma delimited bad words list)
CloseWindow.htm (to automatically close the window)
Readme.txt (content similar to this page section)

Note: If you have your own site and want a quick installation just follow the 1st and 3rd steps. That's lt!

B. Installation steps

Important: Place all the above files in a folder called SmartGuestBook under your site root.
Very Important : Please give the folder write permission (If you don't know how to do this, please contact your site administrator).
If your site is being hosted by another site i.e. your site is a freely hosted site, you would have to most probably place the access database file in a specified database folder as assigned by your service provider. You will thus need to make a few changes to the pages to give the correct path to the SmartGuestBook files :
1. Change the path to the access database (SmartGuestBook.mdb) in the SmartGuestBookCode.asp page. This can be done very simply by opening the page and going to the top of the code. Here you will find the following lines:
  
  '------------------If your site is hosted by another site then change your path in the DBQ value below i.e. in place of Server.MapPath("SmartGuestBook.mdb") type in Server.MapPath("/Your_site_database_folder_path/SmartGuestBook.mdb")-----------------
  
  strDB = "DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=" & Server.MapPath("SmartGuestBook.mdb") & ";DefaultDir=" & Server.MapPath(".") & ";DriverId=25;FIL=MS Access;MaxBufferSize=512;PageTimeout=5"
  
  '------------------End of Database connection string -----------------
  
  Just give your database's (SmartGuestBook.mdb file's) path in the DBQ value i.e. in place of Server.MapPath("SmartGuestBook.mdb") type in Server.MapPath("/Your_site_database_folder_path/SmartGuestBook.mdb").
2. Important : After finishing the installation, if the guestbook doesn't save and display entries in and from the database please make sure that the database folder has been given write permission (sometimes the service provider sets the permission only when requested).
Now you are ready to call your Guestbook from anywhere in your site. To do this, use the following link in your page (Hint: If you are using dreamweaver, copy and paste the following link in the Code View):

<a href="javascript:{var xwin=window.open('/SmartGuestBook/SmartGuestbook.asp','GuestBook','width=350,height=350, resize=no')}">Guest Book</a>

Note: for a site hosted by another site use the following link with your correct site path :-

<a href="javascript:{var xwin=window.open('/Your_site_path/SmartGuestBook/SmartGuestbook.asp','GuestBook','width=350,height=350, resize=no')}">Guest Book</a>
If you wish to keep the guest-book inside one of your site pages (i.e. the guestbook will be visible always on the page instead of popping out on clicking a link), you should place the SmartGuestBook.swf file and related scripts in your page body by adding the following code wherever you want the Guest-Book to appear (do not copy the 'Start of Code' and 'End of Code' lines). After you copy-paste the code please follow the important directions given below it.

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="VBScript">
Sub guestbook_FSCommand(ByVal command, ByVal args)
call guestbook_DoFSCommand(command, args)
end sub
</SCRIPT>
<script language="JavaScript">
var moviecolor = '#000000';
</SCRIPT>
<script language="JavaScript" src="scripts.js"></SCRIPT>
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#5,0,0,0" width="350" height="350" id=guestbook><param name="MOVIE" value="SmartGuestBook.swf"><PARAM NAME=bgcolor VALUE="#4B88C4"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="QUALITY" value="high"><param name="LOOP" value="false"><embed src="SmartGuestBook.swf" name="guestbook" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="350" height="350" bgcolor="#4B88C4" menu="false" loop="false" quality="high" swliveconnect="true"></embed></object>

Important Directions:
1. Place this page of your site inside the SmartGuestBook folder only.
2. Change the path to the SWF file in the param tag named 'MOVIE' and embed tag 'src' value for a site hosted by another site.
3. Change the background color of the guest book in the param tag named 'bgcolor'.
4. CAUTION: Do not change any other part of the code in any other place as the guest-book will not function properly.
5. DO NOT place the code inside a form i.e., in between a <form> </form> tags (since the guestbook add new entry page will not work).
The CloseWindow.htm page can be used to close any web page in your site. Use it if required by using a simple link as below.
<a href="/SmartGuestBook/CloseWindow.htm">Close</a>

C. Troubleshooting

If your Smart Guest Book is stuck i.e., just displaying the "loading guestbook entries" frame, then please check if the URL : http://Your_site_path/SmartGuestBook/SmartGuestBookCode.asp?size=50 is giving an error. If yes please recheck if you database folder is given write permission.
If your guestbook is still not working please check if your site supports ASP (Active Server Pages) and MS Access databases. If yes check if your installation steps were correct.
If you have any other problems please visit our FAQs page or email us (admin@smartwebby.com). Your suggestions and comments are always welcome :-)

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