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[Storman™]

Don't dismiss Simpleportal as someone suggested above. You could implement only the Recent Posts module and not use the rest, plus you could choose to place it where you want. It would save you messing with the code in your template.

However, I would agree with Arantor that it has the potential of seriously diminishing the performance of your forum. Plus you'll probably get complaints from your host that you are taking up too much shared resources.

[Arantor]

It's a slow query, there is no way you can make it faster - and after a fashion it will make things slower. Sure it runs on shared hosting - but it means you hit the host limits (and have to pay more) sooner.