[kh99]

You need to eval your template in a place where the $post variable is available. Also, if it's something that you want to appear above each postbit, you can't put it in SHOWTHREAD, you would need to put it in the postbit template.

You could just put your changes in the postbit (or postbit_legacy_template, but if you want to use a separate template you could try creating a plugin using hook postbit_display_complete and put your template code in there, then insert your variable in the postbit template. (Or use $template_hook[postbit_start] if you want it right at the beginning).