Okay it could be a little clearer. I've gotten so used to the board I forgot that it took me weeks to grok the COMM and almost six months to figure out Message Center.

Maybe we can use all the blank space at the top? Between the board name and the random quotes?

I found the board looking for discussion about Firefly. And I read all that thread, and then I read more of the other threads, because this was kind of cool, and I didn't sign up at first because I didn't want anyone to know I existed, bunch of weirdo freak fan types (insert smile here). So I marked the post number down of whatever thread I was on and I'd leave and come back and just keep reading, until I'd read all the open threads and some of the closed threads, and then I signed up, but even after I signed up, for awhile I thought the right hand threads were for management of the board and none of my business.

I tend not to look for the easy way to do things, though. I prefer the sneaky. I have no idea if this is of any assistance at all.

I came to b.org about 15 months ago (I was also part of the great Firefly invasion) after years of at least lurking on a wide variety of boards, and I don't recall having any trouble. This is a community, rather than a place to quickly look up what Joss said about X. To me, b.org is amazingly easy to use. There are other boards about things like medical conditions that would probably be useful to me, but they're so hard to use compared to this one that I tend to flee in terror. Plus, of course, people spell really badly.

I certainly understand wanting to respond to usability concerns, but aside from adding to the description of Nillytown, I can't think of anything else that would be useful. The only confusion I can see about "next" and "previous" is that the How-To describes them as buttons, and they're text links.

and almost six months to figure out Message Center.

OK, yeah, I had forgotten that it took me forever to figure out this most handy of handy functions. Was like a whole new world when I did.

The weird thing about te message center is that I LOVED it at TT, and then when we were at World Crossing, I got used to not having it. When we came back here, I almost had to re-learn how to use it.

and almost six months to figure out Message Center.

I know the feeling. Took me a year and a half to figure out "Read New."

I was just the opposite--had Message Center working for me very quickly. It was probably due to my almost nonexistent tolerance for the design of most Web boards, which lead to an overwhelming desire to take advantage of anything easy-reading-making.

I like the format even though I found TT strange and offputting most times. I'm used to motet based fora that runs fast even on a turtle like dialup. So I like how fast everything is here.

I didn't have any difficulty navigating when I first discovered the board, but I think it did take some time to figure out what many of the threads were. Maybe we could keep the cute/clever/snarky thread titles and make some of the slugs a little more explicit. Like stating what type of important stuff can be found in Nillytown, etc.

From catching up here it seems to me that, like some others suggested, having a clearer explanation of the different functions (Message Center, Read New, my little town etc.) may help the people who are already here and posting/reading, but not maximizing the options that the design (which I love, by the way) allows them.