This is a topic of much debate at the moment. Truth be told, it's an issue that we'd like to handle, but we just don't have the time. My first preference would be a simple-machines style forum.
That's the message I've been getting, please correct me if I'm wrong.

This may be a stupid question, but you're not actually Edi Birsan are you?

I like the forum

Based on some of his previous posts, I believe he is Edi Birsan.

He is the fabled Edi Birsan I think...I remember seeing him as a GM in stabberfou.org. Quit it though...found it not as user friendly as here.

i dont want to be mean but there are better ways to phrase your post in order to not sound like your a stuck-up jerk

The forum is the democracy of information. by posting, people decide what comes to the top of the list. Also, it provides quick response time to peoples inquiries. I dont think too many people would go under a tab about diplomacy questions. You would be more likely to pass over that since it's not right in front of you, you go out of your way to see it. These are just my opinions. I like the forum and so I am biased to changing it

i actually like the forum
the only thing that i would like would be a button that takes you to the end of a post bc the threads that have over 100 posts take a fair amount of time to get to the end

I like the forum too. It's easy to skip over what you are not interested in. It's easy to see whether there's anything new since you last checked it.

...and it is a Dip site, so structured/divided fora to allow for multiple topic classification is rather missing the point.

We would end up with resident trolls etc who never even played the game.

yes, i like it too. it keeps us as one community .

This style will make it much harder if the place becomes any more poulated. I do like the linear scroll-down aspect of it though.

I think that making three subsections would be easier for everyone. An "admin requests" section, A "Diplomacy related" section and a "General" section.

Admin requests for draws, multi-accounting, and meta-gaming. Allowing a moderator to analyze everything faster and more effectively.

Diplomacy related for rule queries, tournament-related posts and game ads.

General for all the politics/theological/philosophical posts that are done for entertianment but ultimately get in the way of everything else.

I'd think it would be relatively easy to code and implement as well - creating three separate forums and adding labels. I'm not a programmer though - am I wrong?

If I could choose 3 features to instantly add to phpDip a new forum would definitely be among them. This forum is incredibly simple and primitive, and even though it has coped well despite being unchanged since the beginning it could definitely use replacement. (This is why we use forum.phpdiplomacy.net for development discussions)

The problem is there's no forum system that integrates in with phpDip; it'd have to be a relatively separate thing which wouldn't fit in with the main site in appearance.

I would accept a patch to add-on a separate forum though, as long as new users here automatically got a new account in the forum, and logging on here meant you would be logged on in the forum.

Well, there was a decent idea earlier of having forum tabs the same way we have chat tabs in-game. I liked that idea, though I wasn't sure of some of the forum topics put forward.

Also the rank icons which are currently being discussed would be difficult to add to a separate forum, whereas they'd be trivial to add to this one. It's things like this which make moving to a separate forum a more difficult decision, because there's less control

Chrispminis: That'd also be a good measure, but ultimately what people expect from a modern forum system (a level of functionality matching phpBB, vBulletin, or SMF) would be too much work to implement here. I don't think incrementally improving this forum system would be a good approach (though a patch for adding tabs would be good)

I quite like the fact that all the threads are viewable in one place. However, an even more brief view (one line per thread) would be good. Also the ability to flag a thread as "Never show me this thread again" would be great.

Agree with Maica, I like the digg.com style of the forum where hot topics rise to the top and old/cold ones sink down.

OK that basically answered the question, that it is not something that I am doing wrong, which is good since I am pretty far from a techno savvy person.

As for a few other questions...
Yes I am Edi Birsan, but so is my son, but I am pretty sure that I am the only one playing Diplomacy (he tried it and even played in a FtF tournament in Milan two years ago, but he'd rather snowboard the Alps-go figure what do kids know these days).

I do play on www.stabbeurfou.org and I like their system and options a lot.
I am trying to get a feel for the PBeMail hobby between now and next June so I am trying a few games out here (phpDip) and PlayDip and probably a few other of the larger sites to see what is current and keep in touch with one aspect of the hobby that I have stayed away from for a long time with my concentration on FtF play and tournament play.

As for WhiteSammy's comment about rephrasing my posts so that ....
I will try, but I am trying to get in touch with the current mind set on things in the PBeMail forums so that I am a little awkward.

It's an honour Edi. I was half worried you were dead like Richard Sharp.

Richard Sharp is not dead

It is a honor, and quite a treat.

Actually Richard Sharp who was a prominent British Player and author of a book on Diplomacy is dead, he died in 2003 March of Cancer.