Rob Naylor reported:

More of them (young adults) are ripe for "connecting with tradition" but if the tools available for doing it are too archaic (in their eyes) they simply won't.

Most of the modifications I've seen suggested in this thread (search improvements excepted), if I understand what's being advocated, would turn ME off, just like the interface at FaceBook and MySpace (neither of which I use any more, after a fairly short try) and a lot of other sites.

Most particularly, what I like at Mudcat is the immediate listing of current threads, and easy movement "downstream" within a given thread once I've opened it. In many other sites, it's difficult to find out what's available. And a given subject or post takes up too much screen space because of excess reliance on visual features, when what I want is just the text, like Mudcat.

If there were modifications a la many of the suggestions, I'm sure I would come on board Mudcat far less frequently, and with less pleasure.

Dave Oesterreich