Not completely sure about this as I've never tried creating my own statistics. However, here's the code from the native Forum Statistics that you should be using to create your welcome message. The PHP file is located at /applications/forums/widgets/forumStatistics.php if you need to replicate it etc.
<?php
/**
* @brief forumStatistics Widget
* @author <a href='https://www.invisioncommunity.com'>Invision Power Services, Inc.</a>
* @copyright (c) Invision Power Services, Inc.
* @license https://www.invisioncommunity.com/legal/standards/
* @package Invision Community
* @subpackage Forums
* @since 27 Mar 2014
*/
namespace IPS\forums\widgets;
/* To prevent PHP errors (extending class does not exist) revealing path */
if ( !defined( '\IPS\SUITE_UNIQUE_KEY' ) )
{
header( ( isset( $_SERVER['SERVER_PROTOCOL'] ) ? $_SERVER['SERVER_PROTOCOL'] : 'HTTP/1.0' ) . ' 403 Forbidden' );
exit;
}
/**
* forumStatistics Widget
*/
class _forumStatistics extends \IPS\Widget\StaticCache
{
/**
* @brief Widget Key
*/
public $key = 'forumStatistics';
/**
* @brief App
*/
public $app = 'forums';
/**
* @brief Plugin
*/
public $plugin = '';
/**
* Render a widget
*
* @return string
*/
public function render()
{
$stats = array();
$stats['total_posts'] = \IPS\Db::i()->select( "COUNT(*)", 'forums_posts', array( 'queued = ?', 0 ) )->first();
if ( \IPS\Settings::i()->archive_on )
{
$stats['total_posts'] += \IPS\forums\Topic\ArchivedPost::db()->select( 'COUNT(*)', 'forums_archive_posts', array( 'archive_queued = ?', 0 ) )->first();
}
$stats['total_topics'] = \IPS\Db::i()->select( "COUNT(*)", 'forums_topics', array( 'approved = ?', 1 ) )->first();
return $this->output( $stats );
}
}
Hope this helps, if at all!