New features (SPAM prevention and minor changes)

[Andreas]

Verification Code (CAPTCHA)
All users are now required to enter a Verification Code (CAPTCHA) before submitting messages in the guestbook system. The Verification Code is displayed in an image and consists of 5 numbers. The system does by no means stop spammers, but it does make their life a little more difficult.

The new system does not require cookies and all graphic browsers are supported.

Duplicate post prevention
The system no longer accepts duplicate posts within a certain timeframe.

Minor interface improvement: guestbook signing
Flags are automatically displayed when the country is selected from the drop-down list (javascript enabled browsers)
Errors are now displayed on the same screen as the message (no longer necessary to press the "Back" button in your browser).
Pagination bug fixed (some guestbooks did not display the footer correctly).Is there a problem with your guestbook after the upgrade?
If you experience any kinds of problems after the upgrade, please report the error using
This forum OR
the Helpdesk (http://www.ultraguest.com/support)

[Andreas]

The new features were installed 15 minuttes ago. Everything seems to be working fine, but again, please let me know if that is not the case!

[Stoneblind]

I've noticed a couple visual improvements (negligible to most, probably), but for the most part, there's two more noticable things that have changed that don't make sense. I haven't changed my code at all, so everything was looking just fine, but after the update, I noticed this (refer to the picture below).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Stoneblind/guestbookflaws.jpg

The update somehow made my code for a customized scrollbar ineffective (nothing happens), and for some reason, the content inside of each message box is centered. :confused: I've tried tinkering with my code, but nothing seems to work. I'm hoping this is a problem on your end. If there's anything I could do on my part, let me know! :cool: Other than that, thank you for the improvements!

[Andreas]

Hi and thanks for reporting these bugs! :o

The aligning bug caused by the update has now been fixed. An old aligning bug is still present in certain browsers, but this will be fixed shortly.

Regarding the scrollbars, could you send me a link to your guestbook so that I can take a look at it? (I wasn't able to view the image for some reason...)

Edit: I have found your guestbook and determined the problem. It has to do with the "<!DOCTYPE ...." in the header of the guestbook. I will do some research and get back to you.

[Andreas]

Okay, here is the thing...

Scrollbars are actually not a part of the W3C recommendations (http://www.w3.org/TR/#Recommendations), meaing that no browsers have to support it. UltraGuest is moving towards the XHTML standard (the entire guestbook will soon be customizable using CSS) and this change is what caused the problem since the XHTML standard does not support scrollbars.

However, because of the way Internet Explorer (5.5+) interprets XHTML/CSS, you can still use scrollbars in this browser. All you need to do is replace "BODY" with "HTML" in your CSS. Here is a link with more details:

http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/stylesheets/scrollbars.html

I'm sorry that this caused you a problem.

[Stoneblind]

Okay, here is the thing...

Scrollbars are actually not a part of the W3C recommendations (http://www.w3.org/TR/#Recommendations), meaing that no browsers have to support it. UltraGuest is moving towards the XHTML standard (the entire guestbook will soon be customizable using CSS) and this change is what caused the problem since the XHTML standard does not support scrollbars.

However, because of the way Internet Explorer (5.5+) interprets XHTML/CSS, you can still use scrollbars in this browser. All you need to do is replace "BODY" with "HTML" in your CSS. Here is a link with more details:

http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/stylesheets/scrollbars.html

I'm sorry that this caused you a problem.

I can't express my appreciation for the quick reply and solution. :) Thanks for correcting that little text aligning problem, and as for the scollbar, I've read through the information you've provided, and took care of it quick and easy. Thanks again, Andreas! Now my guestbook's just the way I want it. I don't think I could've found a better free guestbook provider. I'll definitely be looking foward to future additions, and I'll definitely notify you if I see spot anything else. :cool:

[Andreas]

Thanks! :)

Feedback is always appreciated!