guestbook

[hollyhats]

I use West Host and use the guestbook that they provide for my site. I needed to delete a bad entry and did so without any problem. But ever since then when you add an entry it will accept it but NOT post it in the guestbook. I contacted West Host but didn't get a response yet. I know that people have submitted entries (I can tell from my raw logs) and would like to retrieve them. Are they lost for good and how do I fix this problem.
Thanks

[martinibuster]

Log on to your ftp, navigate to your guestbook elements, and make sure your .db file has the correct chmod setting. It should be rw-rw-rw. Doubleheck your documentation for the correct chmod settings.

It sounds like your database setting was changed, and the new setting doesn't allow it to show publicly.

[hollyhats]

Thanks Martini but I still don't understand what to do. I am slow at this web stuff.
Can you give me more clear steps of how to do this?
Where do I go (html or westhost site manager) I've never seen rw-rw-rw?
Thanks

[martinibuster]

NOTE: WS_FTP is an "FTP Client". Internet Explorer is a "Web Browsing Client" There is a free Light version available for download, it's called ws_ftp le.

If you are using ws_ftp,

1>Log in to your ftp (usually ftp.mysite.com, check your email confirmation from when you first signed up).

2>Navigate to where your guestbook lives, probably inside your cgi-bin.

3>Find your .db file.

4>To the far right of the file name you should see your r(read) w(write) and x (execute) values.

These values tell the browser what privileges it has, (read only, write only, execute etc.). It sets up who gets to do what on your web site.

5>Right click the .db file and you should see a contextual menu pop up. Choose Chmod. Reset the .db file to: rw-rw-rw. That is the usual set up for the .db. It allows people to read it, and to write to it.

I would suggest to you that you purchase a book like "Web Design: The Complete Reference." This can give you the background of who what where that you may be lacking. The learning curve isn't as steep as you would think. And don't be intimidated by the size of the book.

Also, you may want to find the installation files for your particular guestbook and look up the correct chmod settings for all of the guestbook files.

[hollyhats]

Martini or anyone that knows. I emailed west host with the problem and the guy couldn't figure out what's going on. He forwarded this to management.
Here is my question now. If I make an entry in my guestbook and it accepts it but doesn't post it (due to some unkown problem), then where does it go. Does it record it somewhere, or is it deleted?

[martinibuster]

It depends on your chmod settings, most probably. Sometimes, when downloading then uploading these files, the chmod setting changes.

Also take care about uploading in the proper mode: You have to use ascii and not binary. If you use binary, then your script may not function.

The chmod setting gives your browser permission to do certain things (like to display something), and restricts access to other things (like change something).

The chmod settings are one of the most basic things to bug out on a guestbook.

This happened to one of my clients. The host upgraded the version of Perl running on the server, and everybody's guestbook stopped displaying.

The problem? The chmod setting had reset. When I corrected the setting, the guestbook came back.

Short answer to your question: If you download your .db file and take a look at it in notepad, you will probably see your guestbook entries.

[hollyhats]

I am sure this sounds stupid and I have tried to figure it out on my own. Where are the guestbook db files? I can't find it to download into notepad.

[martinibuster]

Try checking inside a directory called cgi-bin. Depending on the guestbook you are using, it is very likely in the .db file, resembling something like:
guestbook.db or gbook.db

You may have to dig down into a folder named guestbook, or whatever brand your guestbook is.

[hollyhats]

Okay. I do have a file called guestbook-cgi and have tried to look into it but it comes up as an error. There must be a problem with westhost. Hopefully they will be able to fix it today and retrieve the lost messages. Thank you for the help.