How do the Guestbooks work?

Each member on the site has a built-in guestbook that allows visitors to post public comments to an artists. This guestbook feature is a popular way to share testimonials and fan comments, as well as collecting constructive criticism. It is, however, a feature that may not suite all members. As such, each member has the option of controlling whether their guestbook is public, restricted or private in their account manager.

We have developed useful functions for members to administer their guestbooks. Aside from the ability to control who can sign a guestbook, a member can also log in and delete any entry he/she disapproves of in his/her 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. We do, however, believe we have a pretty solid guestbook system.

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 the by logging into their account and then going to their guestbook.

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.