The Tolkien and Inklings forum is Xenite.Org's most active forum and we figure the heavy use there would be a good first test of the new page design. We plan to convert the other forums to similar designs over the next few days to see what our user communities think.

The look and feel of the message boards may be different, but we're still using the same posting system (for now). We have, however, implemented some new filters (and we're not saying what it is we're filtering). So far, the filters seem to be doing their job and helping to keep content on topic. The filters are also preliminary to the long-promised new forum software.

Although there are many message board scripts and services available on the Web, we haven't found any which meet our specific user community needs. We hope to provide the same kind of fast posting and updating system we currently have but with many more features. One feature in particular that we are developing is an essay upload utility which was requested on the White Council. Registered users will be able to upload their essays for comment and to let people browse. The essays will not be archived like older threads.

Details of the new software are still being worked out, but we hope to make an alpha or beta version of the new system available by the end of the month, barring unforeseen delays and distractions.