I thought I'd share with you my customization of version 5.1.4. I had some help with the webhost sysadmin to install it initially, and I've spent about 2 weeks rolling up my sleeve and putzing around.
Basically my little breakthrough is isolating the functions (e.g. List all Forums, Edit Profile, Who's Online) and putting it into a left-hand navigational column.
I also figured out how to customize each individual forum with its own description and thumbnail by using the Include command and putting these descriptions and thumbnails in a .PHP file according to the board's $Board name.
This is a feat to me, because I'm not much of a PHP programmer and am actually very new to PHP (most of the code is Greek to me.)
Tell me what you think!
http://swordforum.com/forums/The root of the site is
http://swordforum.com