SMF For Free Support Forum

I was a staff member at IPBFree and it was a shock to everyone...including ourselves. The founder had no choice but to do what he did...I'll leave it at that.
With that being said, it had nothing to do with IPB license or anything like that.

I doubt you'll run into the same type of problem with SMFForFree.The owner of this service is very well known in various forum software communities and has a strong grasp on what is happening in the service he provides.
I'm sure your forums will be around for many years to come.

There are other posts regarding this topic.
It is the caching system that SMF has implemented to help speed up the forums. It only happens to the first topic in each forum. However, after 2 minutes (I think that is the default), your post will appear.
You should post a little note to your members about this so they don't panic. 

Does this only happen with the first topic in a new board? Because adding topics to a board that has already had topics in it works fine...no delay.

That looks like the global announcement banner that SMF uses.

It is...the code to add your own can be found HERE

The portal gives you the ability to add custom html blocks. Be creative and search around for html codes for different stuff. There are codes out there for random jokes, calendars, weather updates, polls, and so on. I built a full site around these things. You can also add your own stuff, like pictures, links, whatever your imagination can come up with.

That's currently not an option that I know of.

1. We used to have it but was removed due to people abusing it.
2. SMF is working on a chat system for the forums.

Please be patient. SMF is really good at fixing any problems we have. I'm sure he will see this as soon as he checks in. Did you try uninstalling and then re-installing it again?