How do the Guestbooks work?

Each member on the site has a built-in guestbook that allows visitors to post public comments. This guestbook feature is a popular way to share testimonials and fan comments, as well as collecting constructive criticism.

At any time members can turn off their guestbook (without deleting all comments or the account) if there is a reason to temporarily turn off the guestbook. Members can also log in and delete any entries from their guestbook. This is important in the event that spammers or discourteous visitors post on the site.

Here is how the process works. When a visitor clicks on a link to sign a guestbook, the visitor must enter a name and a comment. The site then analyzes comments for certain content and blocks many posts that are blatant spam. We have three behind-the-scenes levels of anti-spam protection built into the system, which will block most spam. But the system can never be fail-proof, as guestbooks are a popular place for spammers to try and exploit holes. For the most part, spammers will get too frustrated to try and post to our site.

When a guestbook entry is posted, the visitor's IP address is logged with the post, and a copy is sent to a site administrator and another copy to the guestbook owner. Our administrators habitually scan these posts for spam or inappropriate content--and will delete any obvious infractions to the site's terms and conditions. The owner of the guestbook may also delete posts by logging into their account and then going to their guestbook. When logged in, each entry in your guestbook will include a link to delete that post.

When members are logged into the site and post in other members' guestbooks, the posting party may delete that entry as well while logged in. This is useful for members who misspell a comment and/or post in the wrong guestbook.



We also have a built-in spam filter system that each member can control for their guestbook; as a member, you can block keywords (and profanity, email addresses, etc) outright, automatically mark messages as spam that contain specific keywords (or phrases) or give weight to keywords and phrases that build up the spam value of any post.

We have future options being built into the system that will allow members to customize the look, layout and feel of their guestbook.