the site is very clean now. i’m an at-a-glance type of poster and i look for things like avatars to quickly reference who is involved with the discussion. the additional info found below their name/avatar also helps me to better understand things being said. the region/location information, for example, may help me to better understand why someone wrote something, the way they did, when English is not their native language. the date they joined and total post count can help to bring some credibility or understanding to their comments, when such a thing is required before a reply is typed. for example, when someone with 1-10 posts is asking a VB question, i may take more time and craft a more in-depth response, provide information i would otherwise assume someone more knowledgeable would google on their own, etc.
in regards to sigs, they have a place and can be utilized properly if they include limitations. not gifs, no flash, only images of small sizes, etc. the best use for a site such as this would be a few lines of text. i would personally use it to show off some of my writing projects or perhaps link to my twitter account. as these things put forth a view of my personality and could help someone to “get to know me” vicariously.
on occasion, after i click submit, the site loads a version of the forum with only usernames. i’m not sure why this happens, it seems to happen during peak hours, so perhaps this was by design. i find this view incredibly difficult to navigate and it takes me longer to understand responses, as the visual cues i am accustomed to are now gone.
i’ve no idea what you have planned for the next version of the forum. please consider some of these things. stripping the site down too far would make it seem more like e-mail or text conversations, both of which i find impersonal and rather annoying to navigate at times.
