I use phpBB Fetch All to create a portal for my phpBB forum. The best part is you don't have to edit the phpBB core files much. You do need to know something about editing php files, but you don't need to be an expert. It comes with a portal page example, all you need to do is copy and paste the php code to arrange the content as you like. I also use this for integrating the phpBB login across my site.