I was comparing some of the features in SMF to a competing forum company and have some suggestions.
On the main forum page, it is simple, no new posts or new posts. However, once you click on a board there are the following:
Topic you have posted in
Normal Topic
Hot Topic (More than 15 Replies)
Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Locked Topic
Sticky Topic
I think that having two items for hot top is too much. Just Hot Topics would be good. Also, I think Normal Topic is a bit un-needed. If it is normal, then why have an icon for it. However what is missing is normal icon for New Topics.
Also when a user creates a new topic, the standard icon should be blank or nothing I think as opposed to having an icon. I noticed my forums are loaded with this icon and it really makes it look un-nessary.
Anyways, these are just some of my thoughts. I'm using the latest non-beta version 1.0.7.