[chrisjb]

the other thing is i get this message when i load the config.php file in my browser:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /home/themboy7/public_html/forum/config.php on line 40

but if i change my akismet key to false and load config.php i get this message:

Error establishing a database connection

This either means that the username and password information in your config.php file is incorrect or we can’t contact the database server at localhost.

* Are you sure you have the correct username and password?

* Are you sure that you have typed the correct hostname?

* Are you sure that the database server is running?