Thanks - thats sorted the errors...couple of questions:
1) Is there any way to specify whether ASC or DESC sorting or results?
2) More of an observation really. The option for "date creation" in edit forum has a value in the drop down (html) list but no printed value in the list on the forumdisplay page - I have deduced this is because no phrase has been set for date_creation.
3) If I set my individual forums with different values what happens if someone changes the default sort field in forumdisplay options? - Will this just set what the global default is or will it override my individual forum settings?
If I think of anything more will let you know