Ok this may seem very intuitive to many of you but how exactly do I assign a keyboard shortcut to something such as "filter effects". I know I must bind this to a verb but I cannot seem to find a file called src/verbs.cpp.

src/verbs.cpp is a source file, so you probably haven't got it. But you don't need it in order to bind a verb (although you may need it to find out what verb to bind).

Keyboard shortcuts are determined by the file default.xml in your Inkscape keys directory (usually C:\Program Files\Inkscape\share\keys on Windows XP).

For example, to make F11 the shortcut for the Filter Effects dialog, add

<bind key="F11" action="DialogFilterEffects" display="true"/>

to the end of the file (before the final </keys>).

Instead of F11 (Fullscreen) I used F10, but all I ever get is the File Menu appearing, is this a bug or do I need to do more? Additionally with that line in the default.xml mouse-clicking the filter effects causes inkscape to crash.

F10 seems to be assigned by Windows, and I don't know how to get around that. I think you may have to choose a different key.

I can't reproduce the crash. Does that happen if you use F11?

Well if you use F11 inkscape will crash since F11 is mapped to fullscreen mode. Why F10 would not work is beyond me, but F9 solved the problem. Thanks for pointing out my mistake.