DreamBook: Appearance

You can change the appearance of your DreamBook by editing the html source code. The following articles will show you how.

Can I change the format of the dates in my DreamBook?
Yes!

Simply go to the Options area of dreambook management and set the format there.

Replace the string %W, %M %D %Y - %r with whatever you want.. (BUT DO NOT USE ACTUAL DATES.. USE the % VALUES LISTED BELOW) things in this list will be replaced with their corresponding value:

 Month name ( .. )    Weekday name ( .. )     Day of the month with English suffix (,  ,  , etc.)    </TD> Year, numeric, 4 digits </TD></TR>   </TD> Year, numeric, 2 digits </TD></TR>   </TD> Abbreviated weekday name ( .. ) </TD></TR>   </TD> Day of the month, numeric ( .. ) </TD></TR>   </TD> Day of the month, numeric ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TD>  </TD><TD> Month, numeric ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Month, numeric ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Abbreviated month name ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Day of year ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Hour ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Hour ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Hour ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Hour ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Hour ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Minutes, numeric ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD> </TD><TD> Time, 12-hour  </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Time, 24-hour  </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Seconds ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD> </TD><TD> Seconds ( .. ) </TD></TR> <TR><TD> </TD><TD>   or   </TD></TR> <TR><TD>  </TD><TD> Day of the week ( =Sunday.. =Saturday) </TD></TR> <TR><TD> </TD><TD> Week ( .. ), where Sunday is the first day of the week </TD></TR> <TR><TD> </TD><TD> Week ( .. ), where Monday is the first day of the week </TD></TR> <TR><TD> </TD><TD> A literal <SAMP>`%'</SAMP>. </TD></TR> </TABLE>

How do I make an archive / archive page?
''My Dreambook is full. I made a new book for people to sign, but want visitors to still be able to see the old book. How do you do that?''

It's easy!

Even if your Dreambook is filled up, you can still link to it! You can link to as many books as you like! Here's how:

<ul><li>Link to many books from your page <ol><li>Open the web page that links to your dreambook. <li>In the source code, change this line:

&lt;a href="http://books.dreambook.com/username/name_of_your_book.sign.html" target=_top&gt;Sign&lt;/a&gt; my Dreambook!

so that it reads as follows:

&lt;a href="http://books.dreambook.com/username/name_of_your_book.html"&#62 Old Book &lt;/a&gt 

where username is your username, name_of_your_book is the title of your guestbook, and Old Book is the name of the link you want people to click on to get to that particular old book.

This will change this link:  Sign My Dreambook!

To this:  Old Book 

And will direct visitors to the full book when they click on the link, instead of the sign form.

<li>You can do this for as many filled books as you like.

</ol> <li>Creating an archive page: You can make a completely different page with links to your old books, and link it to your main page. It's pretty easy.

<ol><li>Create a new html page | [how do I do that?]. <li>Using the process described above, make a list of links to your old books. <li>Link your archive page to your main page, by adding this code to your main page:

&lt;a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/archive.html"&gt; Dreambook Archive &lt;/a&gt; where www.yourdomain.com is your domain, archive.html is the name you give your archive page, and Dreambook Archive is the name of the link on which visitors can click to get to your archive page.

This will put the following link on your main page:  Dreambook Archive 

And will direct visitors to the web page you created with a list of old books, which may look something like this:

Old Book #1 Old Book #2 Old Book #3 Old Book #4

</ol></ul>
 * Append old entries underneath. While this method removes the ability to bulk-manage with the rest of the entries, this will keep everything on one page:
 * View the source code and copy everything between the <tt>&lt;body&gt;</tt> tags
 * Go to Change book / Customize HTML forms and select Bottom of Guestbook
 * Paste the source code in the text box above anything that is already in there.

Combining Guestbooks / Multiple Pages
Can I have a dreambook with many pages, each page having a small number of entries?

Yes and no.

Although you can set the number of entries per book to any number between 1 and 150, at this time, there is only one page per book. You can, however, have as many books as you like (all free), and there are various ways of making them all simultaneously accessible to your visitors: <ol><li>You can edit the html code of each dreambook to link to the page before it and after it.

Simply add these lines of code to the source code of each dreambook:

 &lta href= "http://books.dreambook.com/username/previous_book.html"&gt Previous &lt/a&gt 

&lta href= "http://books.dreambook.com/username/next_book.html"&gt Next &lt/a&gt 

where username is your username, previous_book is the name of the name of the book that will come before the one you're editing, and next_book is the name of the book that will come after the one you're editing. This will put the following links on that page:

 Previous  &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp  Next 

and will direct visitors to those pages. You will have to decide in which part of the page you will place the link, for example, the top of each page [how do I do that?], or in the message that appears after someone has signed the book  [how do I do that?], and edit the code for that area accordingly.

This way, you can have multiple pages, each with a set number of entries. Nobody will know that you have more than one book --- although it will require a little bit of work, as it won't be done automatically. If you choose this option, we suggest making several books ahead of time, so that they don't fill up right away, and so you don't risk losing entries. Also, make sure to always keep your signform link:

&lt;a href="http://books.dreambook.com/username/name_of_your_book.sign.html" target=_top&gt;Sign&lt;/a&gt; my Dreambook!

pointed at the sign form for whichever book is currently open, so visitors can make entries there, instead of in one of your full books!

<li>You can edit the html code of your web page, so that it links to more than one dreambook. [how do I do that?]

<li>You can create an archive page [how do I do that?] </ol> These are a few ways to achieve the effect you desire. Have fun, and be creative!

Can I get rid of a template once I've added it?
Of course you can! Here's how:

<ol><li>Log into http://manage.dreambook.com. <li>Choose which book you want to edit (if you have more than one). <li>Click on the Templates link. <li>Click on the Default link, to return your DreamBook to the default configuration. That's all!</ol>

Can I change my guestbook's font?
Yes!

To change the font size, face, color, etc. in your Dreambook: <ol><li>Go to manage.dreambook.com. <li>Log in if you aren't already! <li>Click on the name of the DreamBook want to edit. <li>Click on the Customize Forms link. <li>Choose which area you wish to customize (ie; top of guestbook, entries, bottom of guestbook, etc.) and click on that link. <li>Use HTML tags to modify the font properties (for more information on HTML, go here: HTML. <li>You can also use HTML tags to modify the boldness, italicism, or underlined-ness of words. <li>Click the Save button, and you're done!</ol>

How do I add images, logos, links, etc. to the top of my guest book?
You can customize your html for the top (or any section) of your dreambook in the management area.

Simply click on the customize HTML forms link, then edit the html code in the text box provided.

To add an image, add the following code:  to the HTML source, wherever you want the image to be.

To learn how to add a BACKGROUND, please go here!

If your current host won't allow the remote viewing of graphics (like angelfire doesn't) you might want to consider getting a DreamHost account! This will also turn off the banner ads in your Dreambook!

Can I change the sign button to say something other than please sign my guestbook?
Yes you can!

<ol><li>First, log in to the management area. <li>Click on the link of the book you wish to change. <li>Then click the customize forms link. <li> Click on the signform link.

<li>Use the text box at the bottom of the page to edit the html code directly to make the sign button say what you want it to say.

Do this by replacing this line: ==signform== with your html code.

You can get that html code by viewing the source of your ACTUAL sign book page (the one that ends with .sign.html) and copying over the part that is showing up in place of ==signform== in your customized form.</ol> Actually you can put your sign form anywhere on your site, and not even use our .sign.html page. Simply cut and paste the relevant code into your site's code. Realize if you do this you will no longer be able to customize it through the DreamBook management area.

Can I make it optional for my guests to give their email addresses?
Yes! In fact, the default setting for this field makes the "email address" field in the sign form optional, so you don't have to do anything at all!

You can also make it a required field, so that anyone who signs your book must give an email address. Here's how: <ol><li>Go to http://www.dreambook.com, and log in to the Management Area. <li>Click on the name of the book you wish to edit. <li>Click on the Edit Fields link. <li>Click on [ Edit ] mail. <li>To make it mandatory for your guests to give an email address, check the Yes button. To make it optional, check the No button. <li>To automatically verify whether the email address your guest gives is in the correct format (ie; someone@somewhere.com), check the Yes button under Verify. <li>To remove the email field altogether from your sign form, click in the Confirm box at the bottom of the page, under Remove Field? Note: if you do this, you will lose all email addresses previously entered. <li>That's all there is to it! </ol>

How do I edit the 'thank you for signing my dreambook' message?
Easy!

<ol><li>Log into the dreambook management area at http://www.dreambook.com/. <li>Log into the Management Area. There are three ways of doing this:

<ul><li>Click on the Manage a Dreambook link, OR <li>Click on the manage.dreambook.com link, OR <li>Go to http://manage.dreambook.com.</ul> <li>Choose the DreamBook you want to edit. <li>Click on the Customize Forms link. <li>Click on the Signed Guestbook link. <li>Edit the message between the &#60h1&#62 and &#60/h1&#62 tags, as well as between the &#60p&#62 and &#60/p&#62 tags, so that it says what you want it to say. <li>Click on the Save button, and you're done!</ol>

Can I change the time zone of my entries from Pacific Standard Time(PST)?
Sure! Here's how: <ol><li>Log in to the Management Area. <li>Click on the Options link. <li>In the text box for Current Guestbook Time, enter the current time in the desired time zone. <li>Click on the Save Changes button, and you're done!</ol> How do I know what time it is in another time zone?

How do I change the background or text color, or add a background to my Dreambook?
To change colors for the entire guestbook: <ol><li>Log into the Management area. <li>Click on the colors link. <li>Use the drop down menus to select the colors you desire for each field. <li>You can also select Custom from the drop-down menu, then type the hex code for the desired color into the text boxes to the right, if you like. <li>Click on the Save Changes button, and you're done!</ol> To Add A Background: <ol><li>Type in the URL of the image in the "Background" text field on that same page.! <li>Click on the Save Changes button, and you're done! <li>Note that you can't use backgrounds hosted at Angelfire, Geocities, and some other free hosts. They don't allow it!</ol> </ol>

How do I change my DreamBook properties?
<ol><li>First, log into the Management Area. <li>Next, click on the name of the Dreambook you wish to edit. <li>Click on the Options link. <li>Make the changes you wish, using the menus and text boxes on this page.</ol>

I added a field, but it didn't show up in my dreambook! What do I do?
For a field to be fully in use, it must be added in the edit field section. If you are using a template for your book, then any fields you add in this manner will be automatically added to both your signform and your gbentry form. However, if you have customized your book, our system has no way of knowing what crazy html things you have done, and rather than risk ruining your book, it takes the cautious route and leaves the changes to you.

In this case, you must manually edit the forms that display that field. The tag "fieldid" will still work with your new field. If you merely edit those forms, and don't add the new field in the edit fields section, then our system will not recognize that tag as special and won't know what to do with it (leaving it intact).

Is there a maximum number of fields I can add to my book?
Nope, go crazy!