Introduction

Building a guestbook with user comments is a classic web development project that allows users to leave comments and feedback on a website. In this guide, we'll explore how to create a simple guestbook using Flask, a Python web framework. You'll learn how to set up a guestbook, create a form for user comments, store and retrieve comments in a database, and display them on a webpage. By following this guide, you'll be able to develop a basic guestbook feature that can be integrated into various web applications.


Step 1: Setting Up Your Flask Application

Start by setting up your Flask application and creating a directory structure. Here's a sample structure:

guestbook/
    app.py
    templates/
        index.html

Step 2: Creating the Guestbook Application

Create a Flask application for the guestbook. Here's an example of the Python code:

# app.py
from flask import Flask, render_template, request, redirect
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
app = Flask(__name)
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = 'sqlite:///guestbook.db'
db = SQLAlchemy(app)
class Comment(db.Model):
    id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
    text = db.Column(db.String(200), nullable=False)
@app.route('/')
def index():
    comments = Comment.query.all()
    return render_template('index.html', comments=comments)
@app.route('/add_comment', methods=['POST'])
def add_comment():
    text = request.form.get('comment')
    if text:
        comment = Comment(text=text)
        db.session.add(comment)
        db.session.commit()
    return redirect('/')if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(debug=True)

Step 3: Creating the HTML Template

Create an HTML template to display the guestbook and the form for user comments. Here's an example:

<!-- templates/index.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Guestbook</title>
</head>
<body>
    <header>
        <h1>Guestbook</h1>
    </header>
    <section>
        <h2>Add a Comment</h2>
        <form method="POST" action="/add_comment">
            <textarea name="comment" placeholder="Leave your comment here" required></textarea>
            <button type="submit">Submit</button>
        </form>
    </section>
    <section>
        <h2>Guestbook Entries</h2>
        <ul>
            {% for comment in comments %}
                <li>{{ comment.text }}</li>
            {% endfor %}
        </ul>
    </section>
</body>
</html>

Step 4: Running Your Guestbook Application

Run your Flask guestbook application using the following command:

python app.py

Access your guestbook in a web browser and start adding comments. The comments will be displayed on the guestbook page.


Conclusion

Creating a guestbook with user comments is a simple yet engaging web development project. By following the steps in this guide, you can set up a guestbook using Flask, create a comment form, store user comments in a database, and display them on a webpage. This project serves as a great starting point for collecting user feedback, and you can expand it with additional features like user authentication, comment moderation, and more.