Maybe a small point to add:
In a forum menu, there used to be a thick line separating the 'pinned down' threads, and the normal threads.
It always helped me a lot, to glance at the first 'normal' thread, that had new content.
Now, that line is hardly any thicker than the other lines separating the threads, so I have to look much more precise to find the first 'normal' thread.
Might I suggest to use a thicker line, or a line of another colour, between the pinned-down threads and the normal threads?
Greetz,
A33