@Lizzie I had noticed that, too, so I'm glad you guys are looking at this!
I think it would help us to know how people find the forum. When a guest has a question or wants to talk about a problem, what do they click and where does it bring them? I notice that many people end up posting questions that should be directed to Customer Service, not to the forum, so I wonder how they end up here. (And then, once here, how they miss the first three posts under "Help" that give so much useful information. 🙂 )
Also, tagging seems to be too broad. (Some tags are entire sentences!) Perhaps posters could be given 15 or 20 specific tags from which to choose. And then be required to choose one before posting? That might make searching easier. (Perhaps one tag could be "host-to-host" for those of us who want to chat with or vent to or get advice from our host friends on the forum.)
Also, replying to people is frustrating when their names don't appear in the drop-downs. I had hoped that by adding many of the regulars as friends I'd be able to tag them when their names don't appear, but that's not the case.
As to boards...
"Community Center Updates," "Host Newsletter," and "Airbnb Open" could all be combined. "News and Notes From Airbnb" or some such.
"Interests" and "Tips & Tutorials" might be combined? They're both kind of lonely.
"Help" does indeed seem unwieldy and large. I think two categories - "Help for Hosts" and "Help for Guests" - would be very useful.
Which brings us back to "Hosting" and "Host Circle." Should they be combined? Or is Hosting so large it needs to be split up into a few categories? I very much like the idea of a board that's exclusive to hosts, but "Host Circle" posts don't seem to get much traction, and many of us simply post in "Hosting."
Just brainstorming here!