A little suggestion for the UI: make the headers (and footers, if possible) smaller. They're huge and really increase the amount of scrolling needed. I get it that they're supposed to make it easier on the eye, but don't think having them so large gives any advantages over a smaller size.
I don't really use the dashboard and the main reason for that is that I can get the interesting dashboard features on the frontpage. However, all that information is condensed better on the frontpage so I don't have to scroll so much, and it even fits more information! Forum topics limited to 10 on the dashboard? That alone kills the dashboard for me, when the frontpage has what must be at least 20. And then there's the whole space issue.







