What about adding "tracking" of user behavior so that it sort the messages weighed by "newness" and the probability that the user will find them interesting?
With what data would you 'sort' the posts by? Thread title?
"I click on threads with the word 'popcorn' in the subject a lot, so I want all posts with the word 'popcorn' in the subject to appear first in the new post list, because if it says 'popcorn' it must be more interesting!"
completely useless functionality and a waste of time, IMO.
Like in topic. I think that the most of people here are using this panel to see what was posted recently, but it is not perfect. Suggestions:
- highlight posts/topics made by highlighted users
- highlight (in another color) new posts since last refresh/visit
- make posts which start new thread more visible (another font color, "new topic" graphic before post?)
I like the highlight idea. Though I agree with Riven, pester the SMF guys until they submit!