Rich Harris

Okay. After reverting to Directory-Starter 1.1.5, I removed a section of code in the child theme’s functions.php which seems to have fixed much of the site. Here is the removed code:
// Define the version number for quick access
if (!defined(‘DIRECTORY_STARTER_VER’)) define(‘DIRECTORY_STARTER_VER’, ‘1.1.5’);

require_once(‘lib/utils.php’); // Utility functions goes here
require_once(‘lib/config.php’); // Configuration goes here
require_once(‘lib/init.php’); // Theme setup functions goes here
require_once(‘lib/cleanup.php’); // Cleanup functions goes here
require_once(‘lib/scripts.php’); // CSS and JS includes goes here
require_once(‘lib/nav.php’); // Nav menu functions goes here
require_once(‘lib/sidebars.php’); // Register your sidebars here
require_once(‘lib/widgets.php’); // Widget functions goes here
require_once(‘lib/comments.php’); // Comments functions goes here
require_once(‘lib/entrymeta.php’); // Entry meta functions goes here
require_once(‘lib/custom.php’); // Any custom functions goes here
require_once(‘lib/gd.php’); // GeoDirectory functions goes here
require_once(‘lib/admin/customizer.php’); // Customizer settings
require_once(‘lib/styles.php’); // CSS generated by customizer
require_once(‘lib/dummy.php’); // Dummy post functions goes here

Leaving any “require” line breaks the site. Without them, the search function of the directory works, but my category pages are crazy. i.e.:
Looks wrong: https://montclaircenter.com/apparel-accessories/apparel-accessories/
Should look like: https://montclaircenter.com/?geodir_search=1&stype=gd_shopping&s=+&snear=&sgd_shoppingcategory%5B%5D=&sgeo_lat=&sgeo_lon=

I’d really appreciate it if you’d help me find a fix or how to revert this issue. I haven’t completely checked over the rest of the site yet, but so far i might be able to redirect all category page links to similar searches as a workaround (hopefully you’ve got something better). I still want to perform the theme update and soon the WP 5.0, but stable first.

Thanks again for the help, any advice here would be great.

I thought you guys did that, since I see the 2017 theme became active a few hours after I left the office. If you check now, you can see what happens if I activate my child theme.
https://montclaircenter.com/

I did try disabling all plugins, but no change at all. If I disable the file mentioned in the error, or just the one line, the error proceeds until I empty the child-theme’s version of the file, and then the error moves to the next file. Without the utils.php file in the child theme, I get an error warning that I need the file.

This is disturbing and frightening. Please help.

Really, really awesome.

I was afraid that would be the answer 🙁 It does make sense…

I found the translation process way longer than just editing some code, I believe I have to install local software and download files. I was hoping for something more streamlined. But I guess I will just have to learn the method. I kept a good record of what files I edit, just in case I wanted to keep my edits 😉
Thank you.

Thanks for your links and your quick response! Just FYI, it wasn’t as obvious to me where to find that contact form as perhaps you guys intended (attached screenshot).
Considering how long searches take on these forums, I had assumed they were comprehensive to the site.