What would make this Forum better?

I know this isn't the right place for it but it seems few people look at the other areas.

So I was wondering what tiny little nitty gritty "bells'n'whistles" would make this Forum a better place and more user friendly.

Now I know it is run by vBulletin and modifications to the PHP source are their domain but perhaps we could give them a hand.

Here are some of the features I would like to see to make my life easier when reading/replying on here :

1. At least add the last page
When replies start getting long and it starts listing past 5 pages people would much rather have a look at say the 9th page than they would the 6th page (or even the 5th). So instead of displaying :

1 2 3 4 5 more....

I think it would be more functional to display :

1 2 3 ... 8 9

This way you can always jump right to the last page. I find I have to press "5", wait for it to start loading and THEN press the button for the last page so I can read new stuff that has been added.

2. Showing the last couple of replies
When you are posting a new reply and the list is long it gives you a link to the previous replies for the post. Wouldn't it be nice to have at least the last say 2 replies for quick reference? Most people reply to the last ones that were done so it would hit more often. Occasionally when I want to reply specifically to what someone has said I have to open the previous posts in another window, find the bit I want and then come back.

3. The last replied user back
I prefered it when you could see the last person who had replied to a post. At least then you could see if someone had replied after you rather than trying to work out which order the posts were in to determine if there has been a new post since the last time you looked. You cannot always rely on it being red to indicate a new post because sometimes refreshing doesn't update the color.

Well... these are just some things I thought would be helpful... anyone else have any suggestions?

Gen-X,

1
You can get to the last page (reply) by clicking on the blue arrow under the "Last Post" column.

2
I agree that we should be able to see the last few posts on a long thread. Maybe just show the last page.

3
Yep, i would like to see the name of the last user that posted on a thread as well. Otherwise i have to try and remember times peopler posted at.

4
Obviously i would also like to see a chat room, I know you are working on this.

5
How about a spell checker. A button next to the Preview Post button that allows you to check the spelling of your post. I know this has been suggested before.


Other than that i would say you are doing a great job. Best forum i have ever found, and i have stopped looking now. Seems i spend more time here than actually working.