Generally I like to keep up on forum activity via the "view new posts" link.

Currently that view is only showing 23 threads and goes back less than 24 hours. I'm curious if this is a date or count controlled view, and if there is interest/ability in expanding it a bit?

No. One of the weakpoints in phpBB software is its search and query abilities. The view new posts only shows you what is new since your last visit.

If you click "View active topics," it will show posts from newest to oldest. Currently, it's 7 pages for me.

Might be a decent alternative.

....... ..... Never seen that there before You can pick by how may days/weeks/months at the bottom of the list too.

the shortness of new posts listsings makes sense, I'm just used to forums with more traffic I guess...

also the active topics is a decent idea, but I've found on the phpBB sites it lists threads being veiwed often (and not necessarily posted to) as active - which can get pretty damn annoying if there is a popular thread that nobody is posting to...

either way, thanks for the ideas - I'll just expect to see a shorter list on the new posts section.

There is one solution to this.... Post more, post often...

I generally just browse with the "view unread post" link. I guess that shows me all the posts that I havent read yet? For the most part its always a few pages long going back to whenever....