The forum uses a 'dispatch' control named Forum_Container.ascx, this dynamically loads a class that builds the user interface depending on some settings and parameters in the query strying. This means if you refer to ForumThread.vb you will see it builds the entire UI in the vb.net code. (This is forum thread listing)

Not having an ascx for all the UI's is painful at times. I, however, was not the person who originally wrote the code. I also believe not having these has made some programmers shy away from working with the module because it looks more intimidating than it is. Someday this will probably change but for now I can't justify a major overhaul like this when it is working.