SmartFAQ is developed by The SmartFactory (https://www.smartfactory.ca), a division of InBox Solutions (https://www.inboxsolutions.net)
Is it possible to have notifications by specific news topic?
As far as I am aware, you can only Bookmark a news item or get notifications on comments submitted to an item. Some one could probably 'hack' the code for comments, or possible the bookmark function could be used for your purpose.
The basic structure of a XOOPS theme is similar to that of any other static website template. The primary difference is the addition of Smarty variables that interact with XOOPS to output your dynamic content.