query on database determines image swap in php-coded page?

Hi, I'm a designer of simple webpages, and an enthusiastic user of PHP applications that run with MySQL -- but I don't write, or think in, PHP, so I can't quite figure how to do this: I run phpbb forum software (yes, I've asked at phpbb and at phpbbhacks, no luck) and I have installed for our members a chatroom kind of thing. In the header (an include on every page in the site), are .GIF images for navigation. I have installed a little hack (someone else's cleverness) that makes the private message button in the header swap to an animated gif when someone has a private message. And I'd like to do the same for the chatroom thing, which runs off the same database as the messaging system and the main forum. It would go kinda like: any page loads or refreshes, and header code checks the database for the number of chatters in the chatroom. Zero chatters = static button image, one or more chatters = animated gif button image. Can anyone help with this, or point me at a simple resource? I'd be happy to swap some work-time back, for the favour. Thanks for taking the time to read... -Elaine Email? My domain is elainemiller, with an extension of .com, and the thingy in front of the "at" sign would be "Elaine".