The same rules for forms apply to Guestbooks, too.

Do not ask for personal information in a guestbook. It is ok to ask for a First name (but I prefer to leave my nickname of Cookie), an e-mail address (I try to never leave my email address in a guestbook so I don't receive unwanted (SPAM) email), the URL to a homepage and the title of the homepage, and a comment section. Some guestbooks ask you to tell where you are from. NEVER leave the name of the town and state that you live in. It is ok to say you came from Outer Space, or The USA. I sometimes say I came from The Cookie Jar *smile*. If a guestbook won't let you sign without leaving a "real" email address, put something funny in there like "i_don't_tell@themoon.com". This way, the format is there that the script is looking for.

Now that you have the basic "rules" for signing a guestbook and what you should / shouldn't ask for in your own, let's talk about what to do if you get something in your guestbook that doesn't sound nice, or someone leaves pictures in your guestbook that you really shouldn't be looking at -- you know, porno. The best thing you can do is have your parents look at your guestbook before you do. This way they know who is signing your book and if the content is all right for you to see and you won't get any unpleasant surprises.

Let's pretend that a person who isn't very nice signs your guestbook and leaves a URL to an xxx-rated site, or leaves an xxx-rated picture in there (they can also leave messages that use curse words or say mean and hateful things about you). Here is what you need to do:

• Don't automatically delete the entry. I know that is the first reaction many people have when they find something like this in their guestbook, but if you delete it, important information will be lost.
  
  
• If you are not an adult, please get your parent(s) to look at it.
  
  
• Take the link to the guestbook off your home page(s). Try to remember to remove it from all the pages you have it linked from. And remember the URL to the guestbook.
  
  
• Find the IP# (Interenet Provider Number) of the person who left the offensive message. Also, determine what time the entry was made (you need to know what time zone your guestbook records in, too.
  
  
• Determine what company provides internet access for this person. If you do not know how to do that, contact your community leader, co-liaison, or liaison and they will be able to help you. *Hint* the link to the Enchanted Forest Community Center is toward the bottom of the page.
  
  
• Change the password for your guestbook to something like "smut", "porn" or "hate".
  
  
• Send an e-mail to the people who provide your guestbook (abuse@whateverguestbookprovider.com) and one to the internet provider of the person who left the offensive message (abuse@IP.com/net). Include the name of your guestbook (yourguestbookname) and the new password (smut) and tell them what was left there, the date and time it was signed and why you were offended by it. (A sample letter can be found here.
  
  
• Give the companies time to look into the problem (at least 1 week). If they haven't gotten back to you and told you it was safe to change your password and link to your guestbook again, send a follow-up letter. If you haven't heard back within 2 weeks, change your password back to the original password (or a new password), delete the entry, and link back to your guestbook. (See the links below for how to set up and manage 4 of the more popular guestbooks).