thankis smartgnome, works perfectly. I used this....
Code:
<if condition="$bbuserinfo[pmunread] != 0">
<a href="private.php?$session[sessionurl]"><img src="images/pmonbar.gif" width="135" height="15" border="0"></a>
<else />
<a href="private.php?$session[sessionurl]"><img src="images/pmoffbar.gif" width="135" height="15" border="0"></a>
</if>
To produce this effect in my sidemenu....