I miss some of the 'conveniences' too. I check the 'archive' at the bottom of the board page for recently added topics based on category. It seems to me that the "what's new" button brings up alllll the topics that have recently added posts to them...not just new topics....even after I've made comments. Archive doesn't do that...just by topic.
I also have my settings set as only showing the topics for the last 24 hours.
I hang around but it's just not the same...
