So I'll post it here
RE :
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=50617.0I've installed and administrated dozens of SMF forums over the past couple of years, they are great as far as free forums go but they can be an absolute bitch to modify. Even simple thing like installing the latest security patches can stop existing plug-ins or skins from working.
You should install SMF 2.0 and take it for a spin (upgrade from 1.7 to 2.x is easy), you could just make a test install and use a backup of your MySQL to try it out. SMF 2.0 is much nicer to admin.
Better still I recommend you stop being tight and update the forum software
http://www.vbulletin.com/ your existing MySQL database can easily be converted