thank you benanamen i will have a look and read. it is hard work this php stuff. i am determined to learn this code but it is so hard
So a large part of your frustration is likely stemming from copying and pasting code and that is due to the software the site now uses.
Take the following strings.
$str = “this is a string”;
$str = "this is a string";
You may not notice it, but there is a difference and it will break things.