ok, to end the SQL saga here is what i got:
PHP Code:
SELECT t.topic_id, t.topic_title
FROM phpbb_topics AS t, phpbb_forums AS f, phpbb_posts AS p
WHERE p.post_id = t.topic_last_post_id AND t.forum_id = f.forum_id AND f.auth_read = 0
ORDER BY p.post_time DESC
LIMIT 0,15
I would like to give many thanks to Brandon for reminding me that there is a field called topic_last_post_id
(he really is the god of php/sql/web stuff
) oh, and thanks to everyone else who helped.
jack