My users have also been looking for a new message feature.
I downloaded the newBBHack, and I fail to see where I should put the following:

<a href="<{$xoops_url}>/modules/newbb/search.php?action=newposts">View all new posts</a>
<a href="<{$xoops_url}>/modules/newbb/search.php?action=unread">View all unread posts</a>

I understand it's in the template files, but when I go into the administrator menu, I can only VIEW the files and not EDIT them.

I tried editing it with a text editor and sending them via FTP and it seems to work OK, but then my main problem is:

Where do I put these hrefs? Can anyone send me their modified .html files so I can test it out?

Thanks,

Xerxef

You first need to clone the default template before you can edit the templatefiles.
(System Admin --> Templates --> Default: Clone)