Enabling guestbook section

Learn how to add an interactive guestbook section where guests can leave messages, upload photos, and share their well-wishes.

Want guests to leave messages and photos on your wedding website? Add a guestbook section! It's an interactive form where guests can share well-wishes, memories, and pictures.

What a guestbook section does

The guestbook section adds an interactive form to your website where guests can:

  • Write personal messages to you
  • Upload photos (optional)
  • See other guests' entries (if public)
  • Leave their name with their message

It's like a digital wedding guest book!

Adding a guestbook section

The guestbook is a section type you add to your website just like any other section.

Steps:

  1. Go to Site in your main navigation
  2. Find where you want the guestbook to appear and click Add section (+ icon)
  3. Choose Guestbook form from the section types
  4. The guestbook section is added to your site!

You can now customize the guestbook settings.

Guestbook section fields

When editing a guestbook section, you can customize:

Title:
- The heading that appears above the guestbook form
- Example: "Leave us a message", "Sign our guestbook", "Share your memories"
- Default: blank

Description:
- Text that appears below the title, explaining what guests should do
- Example: "We'd love to hear from you! Leave us a message and share a photo if you'd like."
- Default: blank

Label:
- The button text for submitting the form
- Placeholder: "Submit"
- Default from theme

Option:
- Additional button or option text (theme-specific)
- Default from theme

Subtitle:
- Additional text below description
- Optional extra instruction or encouragement
- Default: blank

Display in navigation menu:
- Add a menu link to jump to this guestbook section
- Options: "No" or "Yes, and show guestbook entries in the menu"
- Choose "Yes" to make it easy for guests to find

Custom calligraphy (logo):
- Upload a decorative logo or calligraphy image for the guestbook header
- Adds a personal touch
- Optional

All sections also have standard options for spacing, colors, privacy, and page assignment!

Guestbook form fields

Once added, your guestbook form includes these fields for guests:

Your message (required):
- Text area where guests write their message
- Can be customized in Guestbook settings

Your name (required):
- Where guests enter their name
- Can be customized in Guestbook settings

Upload a photo (optional):
- Only appears if you enable photo uploads in Guestbook settings
- Guests can attach a photo with their message
- Can be customized in Guestbook settings

You control the field labels in Guestbook settings!

Enabling photo uploads

By default, guests can only leave text messages. To let them upload photos:

  1. Go to Site → Guestbook → Guestbook settings
  2. Find the Upload photos toggle and turn it ON
  3. Click Save changes

Now the photo upload field appears in your guestbook form!

Customizing field labels

You can change what the form fields say:

  1. Go to Site → Guestbook → Guestbook settings
  2. Under Field labels, customize:
    • Photo (label for the photo field)
    • Upload a photo (placeholder text)
    • Your message (message field label)
    • Your name (name field label)
  3. Click Save changes

Your guestbook form now uses your custom labels!

See our article on "Customizing guestbook field labels" for more details.

Setting guestbook visibility

You can control whether new guestbook entries are public or private:

  1. Go to Site → Guestbook → Guestbook settings
  2. Find Visibility of new guestbook entries and choose:
    • Public: Guests can see each other's entries
    • Private (admin only): Only you see the entries
  3. Click Save changes

Note: Existing entries won't be affected. This only applies to new entries.

See our article on "Making guestbook private" for more details.

Viewing guestbook entries

After guests start submitting entries:

  1. Go to Site → Guestbook from your navigation
  2. See all entries displayed as cards
  3. Each shows:
    • Guest's name (title)
    • Date submitted
    • Message
    • Photo (if uploaded)
  4. Click Edit on any entry to edit or delete it

See our article on "Viewing guestbook entries" for more details.

Multiple guestbook sections

You can add multiple guestbook sections if you want:

  • One on the homepage
  • One on a specific event page
  • One in a sidebar

All submissions go to the same guestbook entries manager!

Where to place your guestbook

Popular placements:

  • Near the bottom of your homepage
  • On a dedicated "Guestbook" page
  • After your wedding party section
  • In a sidebar for constant visibility
  • On an event-specific page

Put it where guests will naturally want to leave messages!

Guestbook and navigation menu

When adding a guestbook section, you can choose whether to add it to your navigation menu.

"Yes, and show guestbook entries in the menu":
- Creates a menu link to your guestbook section
- Also displays existing entries in the menu (theme-dependent)
- Makes guestbook highly visible

"No":
- Guestbook appears on page but not in menu
- Guests find it by scrolling

Choose based on how prominent you want the guestbook to be!

Translations (Pro plan)

If you have multiple languages enabled (Pro plan), you can translate guestbook text:

  1. Go to Site → Guestbook
  2. Select a language from the dropdown and click Translations
  3. Translate field labels for that language
  4. Click Save changes

See our article on "Translating guestbook text" for more details.

Styling your guestbook section

Like all sections, you can customize:

Space above/below:
- Adjust padding to control spacing

Colors:
- Override theme colors for this section
- Or use theme defaults

Privacy:
- Make the section private (requires guest authentication)

Page assignment:
- Choose which page this section appears on

Guestbook vs comments

The guestbook is not a comment system. It's a form where guests submit entries that you can:

  • Review before making public (if set to private)
  • Edit or delete as needed
  • Print for a keepsake
  • Display on your site (if set to public)

You have full control!

After the wedding

Keep your guestbook active after the wedding so guests can continue sharing memories and photos!

You can also:
- Print all entries as a keepsake
- Download photos from entries
- Archive favorite messages

It's a beautiful way to remember your special day!

Mobile-friendly

Guestbook forms work perfectly on mobile devices:

  • Easy to type messages
  • Simple photo upload
  • Touch-friendly submit button

Most guests will use mobile, so test it on your phone!

Spam protection

WedSites includes basic spam protection for guestbook entries. You can also:

  • Set visibility to "Private" to review before publishing
  • Delete spam entries
  • Use guest authentication to limit access

Your guestbook stays clean and meaningful!

Encouraging guests to use the guestbook

Ways to get more guestbook entries:

  • Mention it in your invitations
  • Add a clear call-to-action in the section description
  • Make it prominent in your navigation
  • Request specific things (share a favorite memory, give marriage advice, etc.)
  • Lead by example with a message from yourselves

Guests love leaving messages when they know you'll treasure them!

Adding a guestbook section creates a beautiful, interactive space for guests to share their love and well-wishes with you!