Mike?s idea is sounding better to me now.
I?d suggest not replacing an icon if the subject changes; just add more icons. Then you don?t loose the history of the thread (librarian talking again).
As for my idea, changing nothing but the names and description of the existing fora, the basic idea of posting by source (level of authority) could still work. Science Disc. would become the ?Reports? forum, NQ would be for ?News? sources, and Avian Flu would become the ?Letters? forum for speculative, etc. (as former posts detail). It?d have to be by following guidelines, but the same is true for using icons to indicate topic or subject. Both systems could work together. And origins would stay the same.
Smaller type could allow for more info on the main forum pages too.
~samwik
P.S. Any comments on the basic concept of the "source" idea? Too hard, weird, nebulous?
Thanks,
~S
