I have been on other message boards....and they always seem to be convoluted and not too easy on the eyes. I think TigerForums has the best format for their message boards. Major kudos to the designers/developers of this board.
I think this is the best format if coherency is your goal. If getting people addicted to the board is your goal, the best format is the threaded format.
Thanks guys. I'll be upgrading the forum software soon and I'm doing my best to give members a choice between a Threaded view or the way we view the board now so people can participate in the forum using the view they like best.
vBulletin is a really good software for message boards. I also like Invision Power Board (the WEN format). And I also give kudos to the admin here.
I love this format myself. Especially the reply box at the bottn of each thread so that you do not have to page back if you want to re-read a post and if you don't care about using links, quote boxes, ect. on that reply. Great set up.