A few weeks ago, there was a discussion about whether the board should change to new software that only showed top headers, or keep the existing format. The members overwhelmingly said they like it the way it is.
I recently came across another board that has board software that, IMHO, is the best of both worlds. It shows every message, in a staggered outline format, on the main page. When you go into a message thread, it shows you the same same staggered outline format, just for that thread.
So, you get to see all the messages in one place from the top screen, but when you go into a thread, you don't have to BACK to top to subsequently go to other messages on the same thread.
It's the best discussion board software I have encountered. Take a look at it & see if you like the format.
http://www.biggerhammer.net/barrett/wwwboard/
best regards to all,
brian
