I've been out of touch here for a few weeks so just saw this now. I was never on a message board before just a few months ago. I started with needing support and info about medical problems. Then it occurred to me to find a fun, more happy topic of interest, specifically quilting. I needed a club that didn't require me to show up or do things on their timetable. I love this board. I learn a lot from it.
I think you are doing a great job. One of my 2 medical-condition-specific boards is like this one... moderated, the other, with no moderator, is hugely different and has problems, some that you mentioned. I learned a lot from your post above. I've seen that bump thing done on another board (I don't go there as often as here) and I couldn't figure it out. On that board I also saw how the first couple funny comments can tornado it away into something totally off the original topic. It is frustrating, but even worse if it's "inside jokes". I haven't really noticed that here so either I simply didn't read those posts or it's happened recently when I wasn't here. Most importantly, I've never seen the meanness of any trolls who seem to want to insult and get everybody all riled up... thank you so much for sparing us that!
Since I just returned, I found your special sections for pets and get-well wishes etc. I like it... easy to find but if my time is limited, I can stick to quilting questions and answers. I think I may have inadvertantly posted wrong earlier this evening. I was finishing a well received post I started weeks ago about suggestions of quilting terms as a name for my dog. So, now I've just announced that I got one and the name, so I'm all done with that. From now on, if I have anything to say about my pets, I'll put it into Critters... easy-peasy.
I think I'm kinda get the hang of message boards and will try hard to do things correctly. This is a delightful and informative board. Keep up the good work.