function emoticons($string)
		{
			$query = "SELECT * FROM forum_emoticons";
			$result = mysql_query($query) or die(mysql_error());

			while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result))
			{
				$img_code = $row["img_code"];
				$img_name = $row["img_name"];

				$img_path = "images/emoticons/" . $img_name;

				if(!file_exists($img_path))
					continue;

				$emoticon = "<img src=\"" . $img_path . "\" border=\"0\">";

				$string = str_replace($img_code , $emoticon , $string);
			}

			return $string;
		}

		// usage (in forum class):
		$str = $forum->emoticons($str);