It needs: dated+time-stamped posts ....... ability to pm other members ..... block a member if problems require ....... use bb/code (to post pics and vids and center things etc) ..... have a signature ........ search ........ scroll ALL the way back in a thread's history ..... There should be no word limit, nor any limit on the amount of answers a thread can have ..... the question details would be better visible, if the "e-mail me when get answer" tick box was moved ........ a message crawl could appear top of home page, to make site announcements and advertise new features (like this....see the (blue) moving type, at top? http://thelizard.forumotion.com/ ....... also a chat box at bottom of home page is an option ....... And when typing a post, a member should see icons to click on at the top of the box they're typing in, to be able to make a link, post a picture (host it too), color or center or size-increase your text, and there should definitely be emoticons available to use -------- AND HOW DO YOU GET ALL THIS DONE? Well, maybe they're working on it now. If not, hire - or otherwise get the services of - a detail-oriented, go-getting web master who knows how to use code. Even when profits dont allow for payed employees, sites often canvas talent from within (mods, admins, and that special admin who can work like a wizard in the "admin panel".) I've been at forums where they had a "backstage" (a thread that's only visible to members with mod or admin status), where the site workers can meet and discuss issues, make plans. And those plans often include having some special events occasionally, a contest, a quest, or just some interesting things that occasionally get offered for members to do.) (sometimes they even take volunteers to produce a site magazine ;) .... Assembling and maintaining a good team is really a matter of spotting seasoned capable forum creatures, when they breeze through, and before their 15 minutes is done, get them on board somehow!! Someone with creativity and willingness is a golden asset. So is someone who knows code and has a knack for learning things not yet known, to be able to get anything done. (Offer THAT guy some cash and a broad!) lol ........ Also there seems to be confusion about picking a category for posts (hard or impossible to find an appropriate category)...I dont know what to suggest there. But posts are ending up in wrong categories because this is confusing +/or difficult for members. Lastly, if one needs a mod, how do we talk to one? I saw a HUGE site collapse because they left it unmanned (it had an automated report system, and no humans to talk to at all.) .... And is there a system of warnings and bans? Mr Pants hates that, but knows if handled gently by friendly people it works. (ie, a member doesnt get a ban hammer on the head, he gets a private talk with a moderator who treats him with consideration and lets him know his presence is valued, but can he make just one little change? Like that. Honesty and openness, above all, make for great relations between members and staff. It can mean the difference between being loved or hated. (And an automated mod system, forget it! That just destroys a good place in time)..Though a program that allows swears to be automatically changed to euphemisms is ok, and cuts down on mod work)

Well, I'm still here asking, liking and answering questions. Seems to me like you and the puppet both bailed on us. As well as a lot of others.