Welcome to the Symbio web site! The current Symbio version is . .tar.gz?download">Get it here and find out what's new and how to update right here. Using Symbio on your site? Then please rate it at Hotscripts.com, and through the form at the bottom of this page!
Symbio is an Open Source site commenting system, written in Perl and released under the GNU General Public License. So basically, it allows visitors of your web site to comment on its content. Unlike with regular guestbooks, you can have comments for as many articles as you like.
Several web sites offer this type of service to any user at no charge.
However, because of the continuously growing number of web sites that desire it
– web logs or "blogs" in particular – these systems are forced to
either allow a limited number of new users, or simply close down. Furthermore,
despite efforts to make these systems as configurable as possible, you are still
limited to the means they provide to customize your commenting system.
That's why you'll want to use Symbio. Not only does it run on your own
webspace, which guarantees that it's online when your site is too, but
you've also got full control over how your comments are displayed.
Now, there might be one drawback: you need to have permission to run Perl scripts on your personal webspace. Most webspace providers sadly do not support this option because of the risk of high server loads. However, there are a few free webspace providers that will allow it, such as ProHosting and Portland. If you are interested in an ad-free and highly stable solution at an affordable price, I recommend Darkscape.net. European visitors might prefer Emseli.