Here is a sample from my comments file as an example, but there’s more than one way to do it, of course (and I apologize for including my whole file, but not sure what all you need):
<?php
if (!empty($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']) && 'comments.php' == basename($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']))
die ('Please do not load this page directly. Thanks!');
if ( post_password_required() ) { ?>
<p class="nocomments">This post is password protected. Enter the password to view comments.</p>
<?php
return;
}
?>
<!-- Start editing here. -->
<?php if ( have_comments() ) : ?>
<h3 id="comments"><?php comments_number('No Comments', '1 Comment', '% Comments' );?> to “<?php the_title(); ?>”</h3>
<ol class="commentlist">
<?php wp_list_comments('type=comment&callback=theme_comments'); ?>
</ol><BR />
<div class="navigation">
<div class="alignleft"><?php previous_comments_link() ?></div>
<div class="alignright"><?php next_comments_link() ?></div>
</div><BR />
<?php else : // this is displayed if there are no comments so far ?>
<?php if ('open' == $post->comment_status) : ?>
<!-- If comments are open, but there are no comments. -->
<?php else : // comments are closed ?>
<!-- If comments are closed. -->
<p class="nocomments">Comments are closed.</p>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php if ('open' == $post->comment_status) : ?>
<ol id="commentlist">
<?php foreach ($comments as $comment) :
if (get_comment_type() != 'comment'){
?>
<li id="comment-<?php comment_ID() ?>">
<p class="commentheader"><?php comment_author_link() ?> — <?php comment_date() ?> @ <a href="#comment-<?php comment_ID() ?>"><?php comment_time() ?></a></p>
</li>
<?php } ?>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</ol>
<?php if ( comments_open() ) : ?>
<p><?php comments_rss_link(__('<abbr title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</abbr> feed for comments on this post.')); ?>
<?php if ( pings_open() ) : ?>
<a href="<?php trackback_url() ?>" rel="trackback"><?php _e('TrackBack URI'); ?></a>
<?php endif; ?>
</p>
<?php endif; ?>
<div id="respond">
<h3><?php comment_form_title( 'Leave a Reply', 'Leave a Reply to %s' ); ?></h3>
<div class="cancel-comment-reply">
<small><?php cancel_comment_reply_link(); ?></small>
</div>
<?php if ( get_option('comment_registration') && !$user_ID ) : ?>
<p>You must be <a href="<?php echo get_option('siteurl'); ?>/wp-login.php?redirect_to=<?php echo urlencode(get_permalink()); ?>">logged in</a> to post a comment.</p>
<?php else : ?>
<form action="<?php echo get_option('siteurl'); ?>/wp-comments-post.php" method="post" id="commentform">
<?php if ( $user_ID ) : ?>
<p>Logged in as <a href="<?php echo get_option('siteurl'); ?>/wp-admin/profile.php"><?php echo $user_identity; ?></a>. <a href="<?php echo wp_logout_url(get_permalink()); ?>" title="Log out of this account">Log out »</a></p>
<?php else : ?>
<p><input type="text" name="author" id="author" value="<?php echo $comment_author; ?>" size="22" tabindex="1" <?php if ($req) echo "aria-required='true'"; ?> />
<label for="author"><small>Name <?php if ($req) echo "(required)"; ?></small></label></p>
<p><input type="text" name="email" id="email" value="<?php echo $comment_author_email; ?>" size="22" tabindex="2" <?php if ($req) echo "aria-required='true'"; ?> />
<label for="email"><small>Mail (will not be published) <?php if ($req) echo "(required)"; ?></small></label></p>
<p><input type="text" name="url" id="url" value="<?php echo $comment_author_url; ?>" size="22" tabindex="3" />
<label for="url"><small>Website</small></label></p>
<?php endif; ?>
<!--<p><small><strong>XHTML:</strong> You can use these tags: <code><?php echo allowed_tags(); ?></code></small></p>-->
<p><textarea name="comment" id="comment" cols="100%" rows="10" tabindex="4"></textarea></p>
<p><input name="submit" type="submit" id="submit" tabindex="5" value="Submit Comment" />
<?php comment_id_fields(); ?>
</p>
<?php do_action('comment_form', $post->ID); ?>
</form>
<?php endif; // If registration required and not logged in ?>
</div>
<?php endif; // if you delete this the sky will fall on your head ?>
