"Idiot proof" quick open/close thread with indicator

I want my open/close function completely "idiot proof" so I had this little idea (normal users are not used to the admin drop menu, they don't even notce it exist). I don't think this can even be called a hack, just a little custumisation but there would be ways to improve it and make a little nice addon with it. I've added a button in postbit so my users can open/close theyr own thread in a specific forum. But I would like this button dysplayed only if they have access to the openclosethread option.

Also, I would like to add aan icon that indicate if the thread is open or closed when we're reading it, just beside the openclose button. It would be maybe a little green/red dot or something. I would display this in postbit, just above the thread time in the left bottom.

<a href="postings.php?s=$session[dbsessionhash]&action=openclosethread&threadid=$threadid"><im g src="openclosethread.gif" width="55" height="17" border="0"></a>