I think this could be a useful development - if there's a need for it, it'll work, and if there isn't it won't, and that's how it should be.

Only thing, I'd hate it if people were to start going on in the main forum complaining that a particularly thread shouldn't be there, and ought to be over on jonbanjo. I think it is important that the Mudcat forum remains an open one, and I'm very glad that Max sees it that way.

But do you even need to create categories? Mightn't it be easier to have it so that, if someone wanted to start up a discussion thread or something, and felt it'd be more comfortable away from the main forum, I can imagine them opening a thread here just saying that, and giving a link. But first I imagine they'd get on to jon and sort out the details of moderating it, and checking that it didn't fall into some area that you rule out. (For example, what counts as politics or religion isn't always as straightforward as that.)

(This all comes out of something on raised in another thread, and since the thread was getting long, and was also about a lot of other stuff I suggested that he start a new thread to explore this idea of his. That's why my name comes into his opening post.)