Mid year forum check in: what is working, what is missing, what should change?

[codeberg]

Time for the periodic state of the forum thread. This place only improves when people say what they actually think, so consider this an open invitation to praise, complain and propose, all in one tidy thread the staff will actually read

Three questions to structure it. What is working, the board or feature or thread format you would protect at all costs. What is missing, the board you keep wishing existed or the small feature that would smooth your daily visit. And what should change, the thing that actively annoys you, rules, layout, moderation pace, anything

Ground rules, criticism of the forum is welcome and encouraged, criticism of individual members belongs in private messages to staff, not here. And if you suggest a new board, say a word about what would actually get posted in it week to week, empty boards make a forum feel like a dead mall

Nothing is promised except that everything gets read and the popular suggestions get a proper staff response in this thread. Have at it

[BrittleQuarry]

Working, the monthly challenges in the creative boards, they are the heartbeat of this place. Protect them forever

[Debbie]

Missing, a proper marketplace board with feedback ratings for member to member sales. Half of us are trading in PMs anyway, give it structure

[Ryan98]

Marketplace boards are moderation nightmares though, one bad trade and the forum wears the blame. Would want strict rules from day one

[Bussin]

Change request, the mobile theme wastes half the screen on padding. Reading long threads on a phone is a scrolling workout

[Sandworm81]

Seconding mobile. I do 90 percent of my reading on my phone and it feels like the desktop got all the love

[Josh_79]

Working, moderation tone here. Firm without being power mad, which after twenty years of forums I can confirm is rarer than it should be

[Cyclops46]

Missing, a weekly digest of the best threads for those of us who can only drop in on weekends. Even a manually curated sticky would do

[Kev49]

Volunteering to help compile that digest if staff want it, deciding what was good this week sounds like a fun argument

[ReacherOtter]

Change, merge some of the quieter boards. A busy general section beats five ghost towns, we can always split them again when traffic justifies it

[BigDog_Fan]

Counterpoint on merging, niche boards are slow BECAUSE they are niche and that is fine, my hobby thread gets three posts a month and they are the best three posts of my month

[Lucy_35]

What is working, threads like this one existing at all. Forums that stop asking are forums that start dying