Initially I don't like it at the top. But, that could be due to the fact that I'm just not used to it being there. When it's at the bottom I do tend to forget about it. The shoutbox or a chat feature I also believe is good in fostering a sense of community as Spencer spoke of.

I'm here regardless of where the shoutbox is located.

Is there a way that the forums could take up 2/3 or 3/4 of the width of the screen & the shoutbox could take up the other 1/3 or 1/4 of the width of the screen? That way you could see both, the shoutbox & forums side by side, at the point you open the page. Plus the shoutbox could be visable even while posting in any thread. I don't know what the parameters of the program are --- just making a suggestion.

If you look at the top of the page --- there's a box divided similarly to what I've suggested. On the left it takes up about 2/3 to 3/4 of the width where it says political wrinkles & indicates what forums you're currently in --- the portion to the right, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the width of the screen where it says your screen name & last time you logged in etc...what if the entire page was set up that way with the forums taking the large portion to the left & the shoutbox taking the smaller portion to the right? Is that possible?

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"To educate a man in mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society." --- Theodore Roosevelt