🜃 Guestbook Add Script

294 2026-08-05 snippet ♈︎ ♄︎

Shell script for adding entries to a tildeverse guestbookA shared guestbook on a tildeverse server lets users add entries through a controlled script rather than direct file editing. The script logs who added entries and when, preventing accidental deletion while maintaining attribution. See guestbook-add-script for the implementation, guestbook-file-permissions… with logging and attribution.

#!/bin/sh
# Guestbook entry script with logging
# Usage: ./guestbook-add.sh

GUESTBOOK="$HOME/guestbook.txt"
LOGFILE="$HOME/guestbook.log"
DATE=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
USERNAME=$(whoami)

# Check if guestbook exists
if [ ! -f "$GUESTBOOK" ]; then
    echo "Error: Guestbook file not found at $GUESTBOOK"
    exit 1
fi

# Log the action
echo "[$DATE] $USERNAME: Added entry" >> "$LOGFILE"

# Create temp file for content validation
TEMPFILE=$(mktemp)

# Prompt for entry (if interactive) or read from stdin
if [ -t 0 ]; then
    echo "Enter your guestbook entry (press Ctrl+D when done):"
    cat > "$TEMPFILE"
else
    cat > "$TEMPFILE"
fi

# Add separator and entry
echo "" >> "$GUESTBOOK"
echo "---" >> "$GUESTBOOK"
echo "Added by $USERNAME on $DATE:" >> "$GUESTBOOK"
echo "" >> "$GUESTBOOK"

# Add the content
cat "$TEMPFILE" >> "$GUESTBOOK"
echo "" >> "$GUESTBOOK"

# Clean up
rm "$TEMPFILE"

echo "Entry added to guestbook!"

Works interactively or via pipe: echo "Hello" | ~/guestbook-add.sh

See Guestbook File PermissionsThe guestbook file should be read-only (644) to prevent direct editing. Users add entries through the add script instead, which logs changes and maintains consistent formatting. chmod 644 ~/guestbook.txt chmod 666 ~/guestbook.log chmod 755 ~/guestbook-add.sh The log file stays writable… for why the guestbook file itself should be read-only.