BleepingComputer.com: HTML Guestbook Will Not Work

The guestbook at my website ( http://www.fett1138.net/guestbook.htm ) won't allow comments to be posted, I have the permissions set to -rw-rw-rw- (666), I have guestbook.pl uploaded (though I'm not sure if it works), and I have guestlog.htm - though I have no clue what to put on it or even what to do with it. My hosting is with GoDaddy (Linux Hosting). I've also tried both guestBook.pl and guestBook.cgi. I got the guestbook code at http://homepage.nauvoo.net/homepage/guest.html (guest4.html).

Every time I try to add a comment it says,

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, support@supportwebsite.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Apache/1.3.33 Server at www.fett1138.net Port 80

I have no idea what to try or do next, if anyone can help, please do.

You need to contact your host and verify permissions.

EDIT: After re-reading your post, did you actually add the perl script to your website and configure it? Since you state that you have no clue what to do with it, is it safe to assume that you have not done one of those two things?

EDIT2: And after reading our post again (sorry, I'm tired), did you put the perl script (guestbook.pl) in the proper location, and did you add a form element to your HTML?

I added all the forms, I put guestbook.pl at /cgi-bin/guestBook.pl, and I have no idea whether or not I configured it, my only experience is with html, I had never even heard of perl until about four days ago.

Also, I am considering a flash guestbook and would like "Simple Flash Guestbook", but it seems to have dropped off the face of the internet. If anyone knows where to actually find it please tell me.

if your host supports php there are a lot of really simple php guestbooks around, even better if you have mysql also

Here's one that i have used in the past, http://woork.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-i...l-facebook.html

I would much rather use html, as I have no knowledge of php, but I suppose if I have to I will resort to that. I've seen html guestbooks function on several occasions so I know it's possible, I just can't seem to make it work for myself.

If you are sure that you have everything set up properly, then you need to contact GoDaddy to verify that you have permissions set up properly.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but you can't just use html to produce a guestbook can you? There would have to be some sort of server side scripting involved.

Well, I added the php guestbook, and it seemed to work at first but once I refreshed the page, the comment went away. Anyone know what the problem is?

@KamakaZ, the contents of the form are read by the Perl script, so yes, you can produce a guestbook just using HTML, but you can't really do anything with it without some sort of scripting.

@Fett Unless you have some way of storing comments on the server, they will not be saved. That requires (again) some server side scripting, and then you are moving out of the realm of simple HTML pages and into PHP, ASP, and other languages that can dynamically add comments to the page.

Do I need to use MySQL. If so how would I go about doing that? GoDaddy has MySQL built in but I don't know what to do in order to actually use it.

MYSQL is one way to do it. Storing text in a database is sort of a standard for dynamic web creation. It takes a bit of work though. First, you have to upload the data to the server. Once the server gets it, then it has to turn it into a message that the database understands. Once it does that, then it stores it in the database. When a page loads, the opposite happens. The server gets the data from the database and converts into a message that the browser can parse.

It isn't really something that I can show you in three easy steps how to do because there are multiple parts to the procedure.

I have seen some guestbooks which store comments using plain text files. Google "guestbooks using text file".
But still you need a server side scripting language like PHP or ASP etc. These guestbooks are not so fast as SQL ones and when you add lots of entries they will surely slow down.

Ok, I like the sound of using .txt file (at least until learn to use MySQL), but one more (hopefully my last) question, to make the guestbook function with txt, would I need to set the link on the submit button to "guestbook.txt" or whatever, or something else? Also, is there anything I'd need to put on the text file or do I just leave it blank?

Hopefully this will be the last time I have to bother all of you with my problems.

Oh yes, and the guestbook page is written in PHP.

This post has been edited by Fett 1138: 31 October 2009 - 01:17 PM

No, that will not work.

The comments still need to be received by PHP on the server side, and the PHP will have to write the comments to the file. Then when the page is requested from the server, you will have to use PHP to read the text file, and insert the comments into the web page before it is delivered to the client. Of course, you can use any language of your choice as long as it is supported by your host, but you still have to do actual programming.

Ok, I used the php files at [ http://woork.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-i...l-facebook.html ], the package came with index.php (which I renamed guestbook.php), config.php, index.php, insert.php, jquery.js, I modifed index.php to fit in with my website, as I have previously stated it adds comments that do not stay after reloading, I have MySQL installed, I would also be open to any other way to make it work, including my old html guestbook.

My questions...
- Is MySQL relatively easy to use, nearly impossible to use, or somewhere in between?
- Does anyone have a link to a good guide to MySQL?
- How can I use a .txt file to store the comments? (tell me here or give me a link)
- Are there any good flash guestbooks?

If you need the page source for my guestbook, see here [ http://www.fett1138.net/guestbook.php ].

I don't mean to sound abrasive, but I'm beginning to get aggravated with the fact that nearly everyone seems to be able to set up a functional guestbook but me.

Thank you for any help you can give me, it is greatly appreciated.