What other option do I have?

why not just use the comment system that is already built into WordPress?

I don’t have a problem with that, as long as the name and the email are required as well as “anyone” has the ability to leave a message. Is that possible and if so, how do I access it, because right now no one can leave a reply to any of my posts.

Go to Settings/Discussion in your admin panel and make sure that “Allow people to post comments on new articles” is checked. If it is, please provide us with a link to your blog so that we can investigate.

https://lakethiamontgomery.com

The following error exists below each post where the comment form should be:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting '(' in /home/content/62/6069562/html/wp-content/themes/violinesth-forever/comments.php on line 69

It looks like something is wrong with your theme’s comments.php file, probably on line 69. Looking at a freshly downloaded copy of the theme, I don’t see anything terribly wrong with the file. The problem is more than likely related to a modification that you made to the file or to a plugin. Try the following steps to troubleshoot.

1. Download Violinesth Forever and upload a new copy of comments.php, replacing the old one.

2. If that didn’t solve the problem, deactivate all of your plugins. If that solves the problem, reactivate them one by one until you find the cause of the problem.

3. If that didn’t solve the problem, switch to the Default Theme and either stick with it or find a new theme.

4. If that didn’t solve the problem, then there is something seriously wrong with your WordPress installation.

Step 1: I’ve downloaded a new theme, now where in the admin panel do I go to upload a new comments.php? Can I simply copy and paste?

Similar to what we talked about in a previous thread, you’ll use FileZilla to navigate to /wp-content/themes/violinesth-forever/ and replace the comments.php file.

You could copy and paste the contents of the comments.php file using the Appearance editor, but that can cause more harm than good due to special characters and other character encoding issues. Using FileZilla, or any other FTP client, to replace the file is your best option.

I’ve completed step 1 and I do see a form now. However, when going directly to my site to test it, I get this message after hitting the submit button:
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_BOOLEAN_OR in /home/content/62/6069562/html/wp-comments-post.php on line 63

I also would like to know if their name and email will be required and if not, how do I make it a requirement and I do I also have their names hyperlinked, so that other views can be forward to the responders website to learn more about them. (I think I remember doing it in Settings but not sure) I also would like their photo to show up.

Please ignore the second part of my question. I’ve figured it out…I had to log out and go back in to see the complete form.

I’m still getting the error message after submitting a reply: Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_BOOLEAN_OR in /home/content/62/6069562/html/wp-comments-post.php on line 63

To require name and email, check “Comment author must fill out name and e-mail” from Settings/Discussion in the admin panel.

Have you tried step 2, deactivating all plugins, yet? If that works, reactivate each one individually until that solves the problem.

If that doesn’t work, then it really sounds like there’s quite a bit wrong with your theme.

Try switching to the Default theme. If all of the problems go away, you may be better off either staying with the Default theme, or picking a new one.

So, I still need to do step 2 although this is a different error?

Step 1 cleared the first error message, Step 2 didn’t clear the second error message. What exactly is a default theme and will it change my layout in any way?

There has to be a way to fix this, Picking a new theme is not an option….especially if it means starting from scratch. I’ve been working on this for two weeks and this is the last step and the only error.

I just noticed that this path doesn’t specifically say that this is a problem with the theme. How do I know which path to take….
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_BOOLEAN_OR in /home/content/62/6069562/html/wp-comments-post.php on line 63

Oops, thanks for pointing that out. Try downloading a fresh copy of WordPress, deleting your wp-comments-post.php file, and replacing it with the wp-comments-post.php file from the freshly downloaded WordPress.

If that doesn’t work, try deactivating all plugins (in the Plugins section of the admin panel) and switching to the Default theme (in the Appearance section of the admin panel). Yes, this will temporarily change the look of your site, but it’s an important troubleshooting step. You can switch back when you’re done.

If the issue is resolved by deactivating the plugins and switching to the Default theme, reactivate each individually until you find the cause.

I’ve downloaded the fresh WP, but where do I find this path:
wp-comments-post.php file

Everything is wp admin or wp contentent, etc…I don’t see a ‘wp’ that stands alone.