Dear Patrick,
I am very glad that you have actively sought out feedback about your forum, since I have had several issues with it. Most often, I have had trouble with the search function, although I do not recall the exact instances in which I have had these problems. I think it had to do with searching for posts by poster, and perhaps with a couple of the other search options (I need more, in order to get more precise responses). In addition, when I have searched and received no results or too many results, and then needed to change my search terms, I received the response that I am not allowed to carry out a new search so soon after the first. This did not take long to reset, but it was a bother. In addition, searching for a member was impossible, since I had to upload the list of members and go through it alphabetically, instead of being able to search for one single member.
What I did like about the forum is the possibility of communicating with other members privately, without knowing their private e-mails. While I do not mind you knowing my private e-mails, and usually choose the e-mail notification option in order to be notified of a response, I treasure the fact that I am not bothered in my private e-mail. That allows me to set the time of day I would like to use for communicating about Loof and Stinky.
As far as level solutions, I do not think they should be mandatory; however, I do think that they should be recommended. Most of the children's levels are straightforward, but some levels I just cannot figure out. I think levels that are hex-edited to the point of (insolubility?) are no good for the general community and ought to have the word "hex" somewhere in their title. And stupid levels that consist of walking a straight line to the exit, with or without coins; or having to wait a half hour for the coilies to kill themselves; or have no solutions (fools); or have stinky shot before the "lights" come on, or be transported to the exit as soon as the lights come on... should be banned, or at least banished to a different corner of the forum than real levels. Perhaps if someone volunteered to play all new levels (or perhaps a team of people), the problem of stupid levels would not come up. (There could be problems with this, but I think the good aspects would outweigh the bad ones.) This would be the equivalent of having the levels moderated. It would also allow the "moderator(s)" to notify the original poster in case a level is complicated enough to recommend that a solution or a partial solution be posted. As (Liz?) said, requiring a solution may keep people from posting; but recommending one is OK.
As far as a point system, I think that would be a good idea, or at least a "thumbs up/thumbs down" system. Automatic banning should not be an immediate consequence, before the "moderator" reads a couple of the posts that have led to the problem. If I had to give out points here, I would give excellent ratings to Gen (my mentor), Loirae, Mozozavr, Marinus, Liz, and Mark. I have had very short correspondences with others, but these have seemed to be the most helpful to me.
Midnight Synergy wrote:two goals in mind. (1) to provide an essential service for owners of Return To Wonderland in the ability to upload/download each other’s level creations and (2) to provide an opportunity for players to socialize and meet other members of the Wonderland community.
I think it has accomplished those goals quite well.
By the way, deactivating accounts is cruel and in my opinion should never be done without prior warning at least two weeks in advance to the user. (If it turns out that the user's e-mail is no longer valid, deactivation may be automatic.)
(1) What are you currently using this board for? (And you are using this board, given that you are reading this post, even if you just download levels or lurk in the background).
The most important function for me was to get hints or solutions to levels that I could not figure out on my own, especially when I was beginning. It also allows me to thank members, whose levels I particularly liked.
I use Mette's site periodically to download all new levels, and find the information on it very useful. I think all new users should know about Mette soon after joining.
(3) If you are no longer an active member or have neve been active, but still visit to read, then “Why?” and “Under what circumstances would you consider to be active or active again?”
As soon as I completed wonderland and secret worlds, I have begun to check the unanswered posts to see whether I could help beginners. It seems that there are not a lot of new solution requests -- rather, there are many new off-topic posts and new levels. I usually do not respond to these. The exception is when I have played a level and then look up any posts concerning it, in order to leave a comment. So I am "active" but not "highly visible".
* A complete re-boot of the forum. Re-installation using the newest forum software (with latest anti-spam features) and starting with zero posts. New registration for everybody. Obviously, porting selected posts (e.g. the level database) is one issue.
No one can tell which posts were important to a particular user -- what would "selected posts" be? Will all of our work be unavailable to new users? (That is, will previously posted levels and previously posted solutions to levels as well as answers to important questions be deleted?) I for one would feel discouraged if I had to start all over again.
* Implementation of other possible ways to organize the level database - e.g. using the forum to post new levels for the first time, but then archiving them regularly (similar to what mette does, but perhaps in an actual database with comments/solutions/ratings/etc). I’m not sure how technically feasible this is, but I’m throwing this idea “out there”.
Archiving would be splendid -- but for reasons that the other members have mentioned, complete solutions may not always be possible or necessary; and having all comments in the archive on each level may make the archive too cumbersome. Ratings are good.
* Introduction of Moderators. Clear guidelines would need to be established. The idea would be to limit the number of nonsensical or irrelevant posts.
We ought to know who the moderator is, and be able to turn to him/her for help if necessary. I do not like the idea of anyone having two identities (talking to each other? or pro- and con- something in the same conversation?) I liked the straightforwardness of knowing everyone's nickname.
* Re-introduction of the “Silly Zone”, especially for younger posters. A place where anything can be posted, but going hand-in-hand with much stricter standards for the other parts of the forum.
* As a counterpoint to the above, complete removal of the Off-Topic zones. Stricter moderation forcing posts to be only Wonderland/Game specific.
I don't feel qualified to say anything directly about this. I tend to prefer on-topic posts, but if on- and off- are strictly separated, I do not mind.
* Making the forum accessible from the main Midnight Synergy page. A potential for lots of new people to join the community, but also many potential pitfalls.
I am not in favour of this possibility. I think membership ought to be available only with purchase of the game (for the person and for others in his/her home, who play the games). There is no purpose in inviting everyone who stumbles upon the site to join.
I know I may sound opinionated, but I am risking this possibility in favour of giving as much feedback as possible.
Yours,
Janelle
ps "due to" is spelled "ue" and not "do to".
Besides, this process should not be about "ban him" or "ban her"... if I had listened to "majority rule" on banning in the past, then a lot of people currently active would have been long gone. 
), I don't think it's ever been as happy a place as we might believe it has. There has always been a lot of back biting going on in the background between various groups of people. I don't suppose you can ever get rid of that, people have differences after all. But making it seem all friendly and luvvy dovey on the surface doesn't mean the underlying problems have gone away.
I've just had another thought. Would it be possible to block PM's from members we don't want them from, like we can block emails? That way if someone is sending you loads of unwanted PM's you can control it.
I think positive points are also a good idea maybe. So I like to give at least Lutz and Mahaloof positive points for their posts. If the scale goes from 0 to 9, I think about a ten or maybe e(le)ven. But there are many more people who posted good things but I didn't read everything here very carefully and beside that, I don't know how to divide all those points.