Uhm. A database wouldn't take much more space than the flat file would. But you could do something like this:
<?php
$gb_file = "guestbook.txt";
print "<html>";
print " <head><title>My GuestBook</title></head>";
print " <body>";
if ( (isset($_POST["view"])) || (isset($_GET["view"]))) {
$my_file = file($gb_file);
foreach ($my_file as $line) {
str_replace($line,"-------","<br/><hr width=\"200\">\n");
print $line;
print "<br/>";
}
print "</body></html>";
exit();
} elseif (isset($_POST["thanks"])) {
print "Thank you for submitting your entry! View it <a href=\"gb.php?view=yes\">here</a></body></html>";
post_entry($gb_file);
exit();
} else {
print "Add your own entry to the guest book!:<br/><br/>\n\n";
print "<form action=\"gb.php\" method=\"POST\">\n";
print "<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"thanks\" value=\"1\">\n";
print "<table width=\"500\">\n";
print "<tr>\n";
print " <td>Your Name:</td>\n";
print " <td><input type=\"text\" name=\"user_name\"/></td>\n";
print "</tr>\n";
print "<tr>\n";
print " <td>Your Email:</td>\n";
print " <td><input type=\"text\" name=\"user_email\"/></td>\n";
print "</tr>\n";
print "<tr>\n";
print " <td>Your Website:</td>\n";
print " <td><input type=\"text\" name=\"user_website\" value=\"http://\" /></td>\n";
print "</tr>\n";
print "<tr>\n";
print " <td>Your Message</td>\n";
print " <td><textarea name=\"user_comments\"/ rows=\"5\" cols=\"40\"></textarea></td>\n";
print "</tr>\n";
print "<tr>\n";
print " <td> </td>\n";
print " <td><input type=\"submit\" value=\"Add to Guestbook!\"/></td>\n";
print "</tr>\n";
print "</table>\n";
print "</form>\n\n";
print "</body>\n</html>";
}
function post_entry($gb_file) {
$my_file = fopen($gb_file,"a");
fputs ($my_file,"Name: " . $_POST["user_name"] . "\r\n",4096);
fputs ($my_file,"Email: " . $_POST["user_email"] . "\r\n",4096);
fputs ($my_file,"Website: " . $_POST["user_website"] . "\r\n",4096);
fputs ($my_file,"Message: " . $_POST["user_comments"] . "\r\n",4096);
fputs ($my_file,"-------" . "\r\n",4096);
fclose($my_file);
return;
}
?>
no test, not sure how it'll work. But uhm....it's code?