thank you but I'm not sure how to do that...
<?php
$data = ssi_recentTopics($num_recent = 20, $exclude_boards = array(1,2,3,16,17), $include_boards = null, $output_method = 'return');
var_dump($data);
echo ' <div> <a href="', $data.topic['last_post']['href'], '"><img src="', $data.settings['images_url'], '/icons/last_post.gif" alt="', $data.txt['last_post'], '" title="', $data.txt['last_post'], '" style="float: right;" /></a>', $data.topic['last_post']['anonymous'], '
', $data.topic['last_post']['time'], '<br />
', $data.txt['by'], ' ', $data.topic['last_post']['member']['link'], '</div>';
?>
gives all kinds of Warning: Illegal string offset errors