sorry bout the wait guys, but by the time kodachi asked if i was on line i had been out of the house for two and a half hours and i didn't get home for another ten hours. then i had to wait till the computer was free.
and i just use the unread posts link above the unread replies link to find active threads. it's usefull and i just blank it out when i'm done so next time i check it's only got the new stuff. that's how i found this.