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Gwolle Guestbook

By Marcel Pol

Community & Social / Comments & Discussions

Reviewed by Abdul Hameid

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Gwolle Guestbook Review - In-Depth Analysis

Gwolle Guestbook is a beautiful and easy-to-use guestbook for WordPress. It integrates seamlessly and provides a real guestbook experience.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.84/10

User Rating

4.8/5 (based on 113+ reviews)

Active Installations

20,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

6 / 10 (Medium Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

Gwolle Guestbook is the WordPress guestbook you have just been looking for. It is designed to provide an easy and slim way to integrate a guestbook into your WordPress powered site. Instead of using the comment section incorrectly, you can install Gwolle Guestbook for a real guestbook experience.

The plugin features an easy-to-use frontend with a simple form for visitors. It includes a list of guestbook entries with pagination or infinite scroll, and a widget to display excerpts of your latest or best entries. The admin interface is simple and clean, integrating seamlessly into the WordPress admin. You can manage the latest entries from your Admin Dashboard using a dashboard widget.

Gwolle Guestbook supports easy import from other guestbooks and offers notification by mail when a new entry is posted. It includes moderation options, anti-spam features, and a simple form builder. You can create multiple guestbooks, and it supports MultiSite. The plugin also allows for localization and easy addition of languages.

For support, users are encouraged to use the support forum. The plugin is compatible with ClassicPress and has options for importing from other guestbooks. A demo is available to showcase its features.

Comparing to Alternatives

Gwolle Guestbook stands out in the guestbook plugin category with a strong focus on ease of use and customization. While there are several membership and user profile plugins available, direct guestbook alternatives are limited, making Gwolle Guestbook a unique choice.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Highly rated with a 4.8/5 average from over 100 users
Supports multiple guestbooks via IDs for flexible use
Good support and active development
Allows formatting of guest entries with links and images
Includes a pro version with additional features

Weaknesses

Has had multiple medium to critical security vulnerabilities in the past
Some users report compatibility issues causing server errors (e.g., 403 errors with nginx)
Limited built-in support for images in guestbook entries without customization
Feature requests such as customizable email notifications per guestbook are not fully implemented yet

User Sentiment Analysis

The plugin enjoys overwhelmingly positive feedback with nearly 90% 5-star ratings, highlighting its reliability and usefulness. Negative reviews are rare but point to specific technical issues.

Positive highlights

"Just what I needed, thank you" — digasco
"Amazing plugin!" — wanfeel
"Terrific solution for memorial guestbooks" — ingenuity
"I love this!" — Michael Korte
"The guestbook is simply fantastic!" — wpapm

Common complaints

Causes 403 error in nginx environments, reason unclear

Weaknesses

Past security vulnerabilities including cross-site scripting and remote file inclusion
Some missing features like image uploads in entries
Occasional compatibility issues with certain server setups

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a straightforward, well-supported guestbook plugin with options for multiple guestbooks and some customization. Ideal for memorial sites, family pages, or small business websites needing a simple guestbook solution.

Not ideal for

Sites requiring advanced image handling in guestbook entries or those running on server environments prone to 403 errors without technical troubleshooting. Also, users concerned about past security issues should ensure they keep the plugin updated.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers core guestbook functionality including multiple guestbooks, entry formatting, and basic management tools.

Pro version

Adds premium features such as enhanced customization, additional notification options, and priority support.

Final Verdict

Gwolle Guestbook is a highly rated and user-friendly plugin that effectively meets the needs of users looking for a simple yet customizable guestbook solution. Its strong support and active development make it a reliable choice for most WordPress sites.

However, users should be aware of its history of security vulnerabilities and occasional compatibility issues, ensuring they keep the plugin updated and test it in their environment. Those needing advanced features like image uploads or facing server errors may need to consider alternatives or additional customization.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Gwolle Guestbook plugin.

Guestbook

Gwolle Guestbook

WordPress guestbook

Screenshots

FAQ

You could start by writing the first entry yourself, and invite people to leave a message.

You can add a parameter to the shortcode, like:

[gwolle_gb book_id="2"]

This will make that page show all the entries in Book ID 2. In case you read this on wordpress.org, the quotes are supposed to be standard double quotes, no backticks.

If you use the template function, you can use it like this:

show_gwolle_gb( array('book_id'=>2) );

There is no need to use id’s that are incrementing.
If you have a lot of guestbooks on lots of pages, you can just use the id of the post as the id of the guestbook. That way you won’t have double id’s.
You can set the book_id automatically to the post_id with this shortcode:

[gwolle_gb book_id="post_id"]

In case you read this on wordpress.org, the quotes are supposed to be standard double quotes, no backticks.

You can use a shortcode parameter for showing just one entry:

[gwolle_gb_read entry_id="213"]

In case you read this on wordpress.org, the quotes are supposed to be standard double quotes, no backticks.

Using a theme with AJAX navigation can give issues. Only on the guestbook page is the JavaScript and CSS loaded.
So you would need to load it on every page to have it available for the guestbook. You can add the following code to functions.php of your theme:

<?php add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'gwolle_gb_enqueue', 20); ?>

I don’t have any experience myself with AJAX themes. If it doesn’t work, please contact the theme author.

You could use this CSS. Please adapt the colors 😉
The CSS can be added in Appearance > Customizer > Custom CSS.

html body div.gwolle-gb input[type="button"], html body div.gwolle-gb input[type="submit"] {     color: #fff; /* white */     background-color: #f00; /* red */     border: 1px solid #0f0; /* green */ }  html body div.gwolle-gb form.gwolle-gb-write div.input input[type="text"], html body div.gwolle-gb form.gwolle-gb-write div.input input[type="email"], html body div.gwolle-gb form.gwolle-gb-write div.input input[type="url"], html body div.gwolle-gb form.gwolle-gb-write div.input textarea, html body div.gwolle-gb form.gwolle-gb-write div.input select {     border: 1px solid #0f0; /* green */ }