Well said, Tlou. When I log in, it says "Neighborhood Link, Muscatine discussions." MUSCATINE! That's what we're here for. There are plenty of chat rooms for various subjects if we want to talk to people nationally or globally.

 It would also be nice to be able to see which posts have been updated without scrolling through page after page after page. The old format might not have had current posts on top, but at least we saw just the titles and didn't have to go through pages like we do now.

 If would have been nice to have been surveyed about these changes. There are times when change is good...this is one one of them.

Perhaps it's time we start out own MUSCATINE discussion group.

When I log in, it says "Neighborhood Link, Muscatine discussions." MUSCATINE! That's what we're here for. There are plenty of chat rooms for various subjects if we want to talk to people nationally or globally.

I disagree. This might be what you're here for, but you sound as though you're speaking for the whole baord and those are not my views. Repectfully.

This is all great but one important feature that has been left out is a 'back' button or a link to our home web page.

Another thing I just noticed is the discussions are not sorted by any relevancy that I can see. I thought it was going to be in 'latest reply' order but I'm seeing a mis-sort on that field. What is being done about this?

I hope that I am not going to see posts from any other community in our discussion areas also. This is going to create chaos and misunderstandings from the users. At the least there should be a field that displays at least the state where the post is from if not the state and the city and then the community.

I feel this discussion area has jumped too fast into unknown territory and now I pray that it can survice it's original intent and not get lost in the rapid expansion.

I for one would like to see a file or log or system news of revision notes and changes in order to let me know what we are in store for here. If this is supposed to be a community then share it with us. I will give my input good or bad in hopes of continual improvement of the message board.

Additional note or idea. How about a 'search' box to search for keywords and or phrases in the discussion area? Total or local would be a nice touch too. For reference, take a look at eBay's advanced search whereby you can search via zip code, city and state and even county or within specified miles from zip. I'm assuming the 'tags' are to be used for this purpose in the future.

Paul Streicher, Tampa, Florida

Quite a few gripes but seemingly from people that are still learning the process.  Myself, I'm not real fan of the new format but also still in the learning process.  The complaint from those that do not want to see other areas of the country obviously are either wanting to read them or have made an error in use of the new format.  The only posts I read are from local posters unless you count this thread which was clearly set up by NL so we can gain information on the new format.  You have the ability to view other "neighborhoods" but the option not to as well.  That all happens with a click of your mouse, or the lack of that click.  I only have a few of issues with the new format, one being the slow speed, another being the lack of headers so I can pick and choose like I used to and the last being the new color options.  The last is a mere annoyance because it is again a learning curve and those that post colors that make their posts near impossible to read will learn.  One other thing I am not a real fan of is the ranking process.  Seemingly all you need to do to advance in merit is to post alot.  I've been a poster for several years, according to them since 2003 but in actuality since prior to that since I used to use my name and changed in 2003.  I personally don't care if I'm ranked as something interesting or unusual but when you use numbers as your reasoning to rank people you group the bad with the good and mislead.  A "Mentor" that posts harmful or hurtful to a thread is definitely not a "Mentor".

 Alright, I'll give it a rest there since I am usually quiet on here.