Long ago I tried to integrate SSI into the Coppermine theme so that I could pull the SMF menu based on whether or not the user was logged in and what they would have access to. Unfortunately, there was a variable conflict. I think that maybe the SMF_API has resolved this, but I'm not sure of where or how to include this in the Coppermine theme and what exactly to call. I guess you could say it's a result of waiting 2 months after the fact to resolve the issue and I've forgotten where I left off...
My temp. quick fix was to manually include some BASIC SMF buttons in the coppermine theme to tie everything together. This is just not good enough anymore since I'm writing a really nice menu replacement inside of my SMF theme that I want to include globably using SSI (or perhaps SMF_API).
Any ideas?
I notice this user has a similar problem: http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php?topic=8677.0
How exactly did you implement your workaround?