I'm with Mmario about "the brilliant interface " - it seem so simple and works so well, it must be devilish cleverly constructed. And not flashy, which a mercy. (Alright we have the crashes, but that's down to something else, poverty).

I've never come across anything comparable - compared to the Mudcat everything seems clunky, and I've looked. I mean, they needn't necessarily be about folk music - in principle any strong shared interest can be the glue for an online community. There've been quite a few threads where people have suggested other forums that exist, but they never even begin to measure up when it comes to the type of stuff Mmario mentioned.

And that's leaving aside the content and the people you come across, and the stuff other people have talked about in the thread. Once more, thanks everyone. (And confusion to the people who buzz in from time to time with the intention of trying to screw things up - though, I dunno, maybe even they have a role in helping us learn to recognise the traps and the pitfalls that could wreck the place.)