still version 1.1.20 of smf which is 10 years old
1.1.20 was released two years ago
but I do think it would be worth it to put in the work to upgrade it to smf 2. he could even pay someone else to do it if he didn't have the time
also
i've noticed that most "new posts" things are also being a bit Goofy now. like it takes a couple visits before it marks it as read
as far as I can tell it's only acting like that when you have the latest post in the thread
can't imagine why