Making guestbook private

Learn how to set new guestbook entries to private so only you can see them, giving you full moderation control.

Want to review guestbook messages before they appear on your site? You can set new entries to private so only you can see them! This gives you full control over what appears publicly.

What "private" means for guestbook

When guestbook visibility is set to Private (admin only):

New entries will:
- Only be visible to you and other website admins
- Not appear in the public guestbook section
- Still be submitted by guests (they won't know it's private)
- Appear in your Guestbook entries manager

You can:
- Review all submissions privately
- Edit or delete inappropriate entries
- Control exactly what appears on your site
- Approve entries before they go live (by editing them individually)

It's like moderation mode!

Setting visibility to private

Go to Site > Guestbook > Guestbook settings
Find Visibility of new guestbook entries and select Private (admin only)
Click Save changes

All new guestbook entries will now be private!

Important: Existing entries not affected

The visibility setting only applies to new entries submitted after you change the setting.

Existing entries:
- Keep their current visibility (public or private)
- Are not automatically changed
- Must be edited individually to change visibility (if that option is available)

New entries:
- Use the new visibility setting
- Will be private if you selected "Private (admin only)"
- Will be public if you selected "Public"

The note in settings says: "Existing entries will not be affected."

Public vs Private setting

The dropdown has two options:

Public:
- Guests can see each other's entries
- Entries appear on your website immediately
- Creates a community feel
- No moderation required

Private (admin only):
- Only you and website admins see entries
- Entries don't appear on public site
- You review before displaying
- Full control over content

Choose based on how much moderation you want!

When to use private entries

Good reasons to make entries private:

You're worried about spam or inappropriate content
You want to screen messages before publishing
Your wedding has controversial family dynamics
You only want guestbook for your own records
You're collecting sensitive well-wishes
You want to curate only the best messages

When to keep entries public:

You trust your guest list
You want guests to see each other's messages
You like the communal feel of a shared guestbook
You're okay moderating by deleting bad entries
You want a spontaneous, interactive experience

It's your choice!

Guest experience with private entries

What guests see:
- The same guestbook form
- No indication entries are private
- Successful submission confirmation
- Their entry appears to be submitted normally

What guests don't see:
- Other people's entries (since they're private)
- Their own entry after submitting (it's private)
- Any indication of moderation

From the guest perspective, it looks like a normal guestbook that just happens to be empty!

Reviewing private entries

To review entries that came in as private:

Go to Site → Guestbook to see all private entries (only you can see them)
Read through submissions and edit or delete as needed

You have full control!

Making individual entries public

Unfortunately, there's no bulk "approve" function. If you want to make private entries public, you would need to:

Edit the entry individually
Change its visibility setting (if that field exists in the entry edit form)
Save the entry

Or, you could:
- Keep visibility setting on Private
- Only delete the entries you don't want
- Change the visibility setting back to Public so new entries appear
- (Note: This doesn't affect already-private entries)

The feature is designed more for permanent privacy than temporary moderation.

Switching back to public

To make new entries public again:

Go to Guestbook settings
Change Visibility of new guestbook entries to Public
Click Save changes

New entries will now appear on your website immediately!

Remember: Entries that came in while it was set to private will remain private.

Privacy for the guestbook section itself

The visibility setting is different from making the entire guestbook section private:

Guestbook section privacy:
- Set when editing the guestbook section
- Requires guest authentication to see the entire form
- Controlled in section settings

Guestbook entry visibility:
- Set in Guestbook settings
- Controls whether submitted entries are public or private
- Controlled in guestbook settings

These are separate settings!

Use cases for private guestbook

Personal keepsake only:
- Don't display entries publicly
- Keep as private memories
- Print for your own records

Pre-wedding messages:
- Collect entries before the wedding
- Keep them hidden until after
- Review and clean up before making public

Sensitive situations:
- Family conflicts
- Private wedding
- Intimate gathering
- Wanting to avoid public displays

Quality control:
- Screen out joke messages
- Remove spam
- Curate only meaningful entries

Alternative to private entries

If you want some moderation but don't want everything private:

Keep entries public, then:
- Check guestbook entries daily
- Delete inappropriate ones quickly
- Edit typos or formatting issues
- Most guests are respectful!

This gives you the community feel with minimal moderation work.

Private entries and translations

If you have multiple languages enabled, the visibility setting applies to all languages:

Setting it to private affects entries in all languages
You can't set different visibility per language
It's a global setting for your guestbook

Spam protection

Private entries give you effective spam protection:

All entries are hidden by default
You can delete spam before it ever appears
Guests never see spam entries
Your guestbook stays clean

No spam cleanup needed on the live site!

After the wedding

Many couples switch to private after the wedding:

During wedding: Public (for community interaction)
After wedding: Private (to screen late messages)
Final: Delete guestbook section or keep it public with curated entries

Adapt as your needs change!

Notifications

WedSites doesn't automatically notify you of new guestbook entries, so:

Check your Guestbook entries page regularly
Set a reminder to review weekly
Check before making entries public

Stay on top of new submissions!

Privacy and guest expectations

Some things to consider:

Guests might expect:
- To see their entry after submitting
- To read other guests' entries
- A public, communal guestbook

With private entries:
- This expectation isn't met
- Guestbook appears empty to guests
- Some might submit multiple times thinking it failed

Consider adding a note in your guestbook section description: "Thank you for your message! We'll review all entries and share them soon." This sets expectations!

Complete privacy setup

For maximum privacy:

Set Visibility of new guestbook entries to Private (admin only)
Make the guestbook section private (requires guest authentication)
Only share guestbook access with close friends/family

Triple layer of privacy!

Making guestbook entries private gives you full control over what appears on your wedding website, letting you curate a beautiful collection of meaningful messages!