Problems with Guestbook Generator

I’ve finally come around to investigating the various issues many are having with my WordPress Guestbook Generator plugin. The one major problem is the page ends up not having a form where users can input their details and actually sign the guestbook. That in itself defeats the purpose of the guestbook!

Let me try to answer each predicament one by one:

1. The guestbook was created, but there is no form displayed in the page where people can sign.

This might be caused by a few things. One is that you do not allow comments on pages. You can overcome this by going to Manage > Pages, edit the guestbook page and check “Allow Comments” under Discussion. You can check Matt’s post on the matter here. Secondly, your WordPress version may need to be upgraded. The latest version of Guestbook Generator is compatible with version 2.2.1. I have stopped supporting versions below 2.0. Third, you may be using an old version of the plugin. Please download the latest release. I have tested this on many blogs I own without any hitches. Not to say that the plugin is perfect though. It still needs a lot of refinement. I have recently come out with version 1.0.

2. When I run the generator, it says the required files are missing.

More likely than not, your theme does not have the required file single.php. Many outdated themes don’t have single.php but rely on index.php. It is advisable for you to recheck your theme author’s website for the most recent version. Before you install a new theme, always be sure there is a single.php present. If it doesn’t, then it means it’s not up-to-date. If you’re using an old version of the default theme, you can get the newest one by downloading the latest WordPress release and grab it from the themes folder.

3. Why can’t people just create a new page and name it Guestbook? Is there another way to do it?

That is certainly one option like I said here. but unfortunately it doesn’t work for most who’ve tried it. Some also find it daunting to edit templates without any technical knowledge.

4. Guestbooks are so last century! Why bother?

Guestbooks are making a major comeback! I’m not sure if my plugin has anything to do with it. But guestbooks are still cool. Reminds me of the heyday of Blue Mountain, Altavista and FastCounter. Heh.

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