Hey there.

If you are logged in the forum remembers what you've read in a thread. Then next time you read that thread you'll be bumped down the page to the new posts.

what other forums are sorted newset first anyway? sounds weird.

I HAVE seen forums that display newest posts first.

It's kind-of handy when you're returning to a thread that you've already read and doesn't have too many new messages in it because the new stuff is right at the top.

But it's totally confusing and illogical when you start reading a whole new thread or you return to a previously read thread that has lots of new messages in it.

In those situations you have to start by scrolling down then work your way back to the top.

This sucks. No other computer applications work this way that I can think of.

would pagination help the scrolling problem and also speed up loading of bigger threads?

I'm not sure I'd like it though :S

I have too seen forums with newest posts first, but this is usually set up as an option in the users preferences/control panel. Having it sort by newest by default would be weird. It's like reading a book backwards (from end to beginning).