Front Page Leaderboard Script?

[RamdonGhai]

I'm guessing this is the right section.

Whatsup guys, I'm really good in html, not so great in php, I was wondering if anyone could give me some pointers on a script.

I basically want a script that loads up when you load my front page and spits out the number of open threads, and the number of closed threads.

basically, how can I retrieve the data from the database for what I need and what is the "name" or variable/etc... is there a list somewhere? Any easier/more efficient ways to do it? I eventually want to make a bunch of quick specs on the front page

thanks alot