Regarding email notifications: all we need to know is that there is new material in a thread, we don't need umpteen separate emails about multiple posts. Would it be possible to have the system stop emailing us after it's sent the first note for a certain thread? Especially, could we have it refrain from notifying us of a post when it's our own post? When we visit the thread the notifications process could start again, to let us know -- once -- that there's new material gain.
Just a thought ....