(:

The problem with the above four designs and the current.. well, where to begin.

They're dated. It appears the designers were primarily designing for vbulletin and not TF, which is a major concern.

Looking over this showthread page as I type it would be easier to describe the good points, with so much jibberish scattered across the page that none ever uses or wants, see it's not just the design, functionality is flawed as well - I'm typing this in the quick reply and I get 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6 lines before this fixated piece of crap textarea scrolls with no option to expand, forcing me to click "goadvanced" for a completely pointless reload. Okay I'm derailing.

Design. Honestly, hire a $100 an hour designer and it'll still turn out crappy if they're poorly instructed. I haven't seen the wireframe or brief, so can only put it down to designing for the standard vBulletin look.

@Apple, worth a try. Curious to see if any other designers would be interested?