Creating a Custom Template with Member Variables

[cinnamonbits]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if I could get some guidance on how I would code a member box of sorts. It would be custom template, I think, and it would sit between the forums and the navbar on the forum home template and the show forum template. In this box, it would contain the user's profile picture, their most recent visitor comment, a "status"-like profile field that they can change, and a member search box. Any guidance is well appreciated, as I've spent a lot of times on these forums and have dabbled in custom templates, and haven't had much success. Thank you!