Excuse my ignorance, but I'm wondering about using this for a non-geek afficianado type site, and have no idea about this type of system. Coming from only using forums, at first glance the system seems overwhelming for the user/visitor, I think. Do you find that?

Also, what do you see as the advantage of posting news items with comments over simply posting in a forum? Seems confusing to have stories with comments AND a forum when most news items could simply be forum posts. I guess you can categorize news stories, but other than that, what advantages? For non-geeks, I think moderated comments would not work well, but maybe I'm wrong. How do you find that the news feature best works?

On top of that you have blogs (with comments?) which makes it even more confusing for the user - at least was for me when checking a few sites out. I got the feeling there was just too much info splayed all over: news items with comments; blog items with comments, and regular forums. -All of which could have just been items in a forum.

How do you feel the blogs can best be integrated in my case? A few feature writers only? But then why don't they just post one or the other: news articles or blog entries?

What I would need for my site, I think, would be a collaborative database of tips and tutorials along with forums and the news aggregator. Maybe a few feature writers (posting news or blogs?). Can anyone offer some experience in this field, or point me to some sites that might help me think about this type of setup?

Your advice is much appreciated!