I'm not here to criticize negatively, so take it as constructive criticism.

It's a common practice for a person/group to get their hands on a bbs and go absolutely wild with it. The problem is, they take a bit more cultivation to make them an efficient communication tool.

For example, the fragmented boards issue. The best way to may boards is to start with one or two, and as discussions emerge, generate a new board for them. Think of the best BBS' you have seen and I'll guarantee you this is how they started.

Another issue is not enforcing moderation. Going off topic in everyboard on almost every discussion bores people. There is nothing worse than trying to find information and opinions only to have to wade thru a mess of non-relevant posts... it gets boring and starts to waste time.

And never blatantly ban someone. At the same time, don't allow trolls free reign. Heh. It's a tough balance, especially as your user base begins to grow to what seems like unmanagable numbers...

There are exceptions, but those are generally applied to bbs' that were created as a need after the site was running for a while rather than as a feature.