well i think i got it to work but if i put in the full path it says open_basedir restriction in effect, if i put those paths in the webwelcome.php page it calls the entire global.php page and messes up everything on my page. It only works if i put the webwelcome.php page into the root of my forums url.

Again, my forums are a subdomain of the site i am trying to use this on. there is no forums folder just the root.