The flashGuestbook component's back-end files must be installed on servers running PHP 4.3 or higher as well as MySQL 3.23 or higher.
Before beginning the installation process you need to setup a MySQL database for the guestBook to use. You should contact your server administrator or webhost about this.
Note that the screenshots in this tutorial may vary from what you see depending on the operating system and browser that you are using.
1. Locate the 'script' folder that came with your download.
2. If you would like to censor specified words, locate the file called BWFilterVars.php which is in the script/php folder and open it in a text editor (ensuring that you are in text mode):
Edit the line which reads: $gbBadWords=array("censoredword1","censoredword2", "censoredword3");
Replacing the words censoredword1, censoredword2, censoredword3 with the words that you wish to censor. You can also add additional words, following the same pattern.
For example:
$gbBadWords=array("word1","word2", "word3", "word4", "word5", "word6");
Save this file when completed.
3. Using FTP software upload the 'script' folder and all of its contents to your webspace.
4. Using your FTP software navigate to the 'config.php' now located on your server (it is located inside the 'php' folder that is inside the 'script' folder). Set the file's permissions to 777.
5. Using a web browser open the 'GB_install.html' file inside the 'php' folder, inside the 'script' folder. (Depending on where you have uploaded the files the url should be something like 'http://www.mysite.com/script/php/GB_install.html'.)
6. Enter your host name (in most cases this would be localhost). Next enter your MySQL Username, MySQL Password and your database's name (if you are not sure of these details please contact your server administrator or web host). Then click Save configuration settings.
7. Enter a table prefix. You can leave this as the default "gb_" or you may enter a different prefix if you are installalling multiple flashGuestbooks using the same database.
7. A new form will appear, beneath which you'll see a message telling you the file was successfully created.
8. You now need to enter a user name and password for the administration part of the guestBook. We recommend that you use something difficult for another individual to guess but easy for you to remember.
9. Enter the details for e-mail notification, if you would like to receive notification when an a new message is posted to your guestbook.
Note: If your script folder is located at: http://www.yourdomain.com/guestbook/script, you would enter the URL as being:
http://www.yourdomain.cm/guestbook/
10. Click Install database.
8. Finally, you should see a message confirming that the flashGuestbook database has been installed properly. At this stage, you should delete the following files from the php folder on your server: GB_install.html, install.php, createConfig.php
You can now close the browser window and proceed with the Basic Tutorial.