Here’s a detailed guide to creating a guestbook application where visitors can leave messages. The implementation will use PHP, AJAX, CSS, and MySQL.
Database Schema
Create a MySQL database and a table for the guestbook messages:
USE guestbook_db;
CREATE TABLE messages (
id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
message TEXT NOT NULL,
created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);
Project Structure
├── config.php
├── db.php
├── index.html
├── submit.php
├── fetch.php
├── style.css
├── guestbook.sql
└── js/
└── main.js
Configure the Database Connection:
Open the config.php file and update the database credentials.
<?php
// config.php
$servername = “localhost”;
$username = “yourusername”;
$password = “yourpassword”;
$dbname = “guestbook_db”;
Configuration File: db.php
include ‘config.php’;
// Database configuration
$dsn = ‘mysql:host=’.$host.‘;dbname=’.$dbname;
$options = [
PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_ASSOC,
];
try {
$pdo = new PDO($dsn, $username, $password, $options);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
die(‘Database connection failed: ‘ . $e->getMessage());
}
?>
Main Page: index.html
<html lang=“en”>
<head>
<meta charset=“UTF-8”>
<title>Guestbook</title>
<link rel=“stylesheet” href=“css/style.css”>
<script src=“js/main.js” defer></script>
</head>
<body>
<div class=“guestbook-container”>
<h1>Guestbook</h1>
<form id=“guestbook-form”>
<input type=“text” id=“name” name=“name” placeholder=“Your Name” required>
<textarea id=“message” name=“message” placeholder=“Your Message” required></textarea>
<button type=“submit”>Submit</button>
</form>
<div id=“messages-container”></div>
</div>
</body>
</html>
AJAX Script: js/main.js
const form = document.getElementById(‘guestbook-form‘);
const messagesContainer = document.getElementById(‘messages-container‘);
form.addEventListener(‘submit‘, async (e) => {
e.preventDefault();
const formData = new FormData(form);
try {
const response = await fetch(‘submit.php‘, {
method: ‘POST‘,
body: formData,
});
const result = await response.json();
if (result.success) {
form.reset();
fetchMessages();
} else {
alert(result.error);
}
} catch (error) {
console.error(‘Error:‘, error);
}
});
async function fetchMessages() {
try {
const response = await fetch(‘fetch.php‘);
const messages = await response.json();
messagesContainer.innerHTML = messages.map(msg => `
<div class=”message”>
<h3>${msg.name}</h3>
<p>${msg.message}</p>
<small>${msg.created_at}</small>
</div>
`).join(”);
} catch (error) {
console.error(‘Error:‘, error);
}
}
fetchMessages();
});
Submit Message: submit.php
require ‘db.php’;
if ($_SERVER[‘REQUEST_METHOD’] === ‘POST’) {
$name = $_POST[‘name’];
$message = $_POST[‘message’];
if (!empty($name) && !empty($message)) {
try {
$stmt = $pdo->prepare(‘INSERT INTO messages (name, message) VALUES (:name, :message)’);
$stmt->execute([‘name’ => $name, ‘message’ => $message]);
echo json_encode([‘success’ => true]);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
echo json_encode([‘success’ => false, ‘error’ => $e->getMessage()]);
}
} else {
echo json_encode([‘success’ => false, ‘error’ => ‘All fields are required.’]);
}
}
?>
Fetch Messages: fetch.php
require ‘db.php’;
try {
$stmt = $pdo->query(‘SELECT name, message, created_at FROM messages ORDER BY created_at DESC’);
$messages = $stmt->fetchAll();
echo json_encode($messages);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
echo json_encode([]);
}
?>
CSS Styles: css/style.css
font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
background-color: #f4f4f4;
margin: 0;
padding: 20px;
}
.guestbook-container {
max-width: 600px;
margin: auto;
background: #fff;
padding: 20px;
box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
}
h1 {
text-align: center;
color: #333;
}
form {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
}
form input,
form textarea {
margin-bottom: 10px;
padding: 10px;
border: 1px solid #ddd;
border-radius: 5px;
}
form button {
padding: 10px;
border: none;
background: #28a745;
color: white;
border-radius: 5px;
cursor: pointer;
}
form button:hover {
background: #218838;
}
#messages-container {
margin-top: 20px;
}
.message {
background: #f9f9f9;
padding: 10px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
border-radius: 5px;
}
.message h3 {
margin: 0;
color: #333;
}
.message p {
margin: 5px 0 10px;
color: #666;
}
.message small {
color: #aaa;
}
Explanation
Configuration (config.php): This file contains the database connection setup using PDO. It includes error handling for a failed connection.
Main Page (index.php): The HTML structure of the guestbook, including a form for submitting messages and a container to display messages.
AJAX Script (js/main.js): Handles form submission using AJAX to send data to the server without reloading the page. It also fetches and displays messages dynamically.
Submit Message (submit.php): Processes the form submission, inserts the message into the database, and returns a JSON response indicating success or failure.
Fetch Messages (fetch.php): Retrieves messages from the database and returns them as a JSON array.
CSS (css/style.css): Styles the guestbook application for a clean and user-friendly interface.
This solution ensures that the guestbook application is functional, user-friendly, and adheres to modern web development practices using PHP, AJAX, CSS, and MySQL PDO.
Connecting Links
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