Ok got it working! I edited the activetopics template file because I decided I want this to be my homepage view. I wanted a dropdown that allowed users to post a new topic to whichever forum they wanted. Here's the code in case anyone else wants to do this.
<!--BEGIN CUSTOM MENU-->
<div id="mymenu_popup" style="display: none;">
<table class="popup_menu">
<tr><td nowrap='nowrap' class="popup_menu_header">
Which Forum?
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="popup_menu_content">
<a href="{$config.BASE_URL}/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newpost&Board=8">Everything Audio</a>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="popup_menu_content">
<a href="{$config.BASE_URL}/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newpost&Board=2">The Lounge</a>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="popup_menu_content">
<a href="{$config.BASE_URL}/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newpost&Board=3">Buy and Sell</a>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="popup_menu_content">
<a href="{$config.BASE_URL}/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newpost&Board=4">Tips and Tricks</a>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="popup_menu_content">
<a href="{$config.BASE_URL}/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newpost&Board=5">Listen To My Recording</a>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="popup_menu_content">
<a href="{$config.BASE_URL}/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newpost&Board=6">DA7 Support</a>
</td></tr>
</table></div>
<script type="text/javascript">registerPopup("mymenu_popup");</script>
<!--END CUSTOM MENU-->
Then insert this where you want the dropdown to appear
<td width="13%" class="tdheader" style="cursor: pointer;" id="mymenu_control" onclick="showHideMenu('mymenu_control','mymenu_popup')">
<a href="javascript:void(0);"><img style="vertical-align: middle" src="{$config.BASE_URL}/images/{$style_array.general}/posticon.gif" alt="" border="0" /> New Topic</a>
<img style="vertical-align: middle" src="{$config.BASE_URL}/images/{$style_array.general}/toggle_open.gif" alt="" />
</td>
Wasn't too hard to figure out. You could do this anywhere.
You can see a working example here:
http://www.audiotalkback.comUpper left hand corner where it says New Topic on blue bar.