Thanks to a recent suggestion in this very forum I have added two new links to the main forum page. These links appear on the right side of the page in a blue box titled Helpful Links. NOTE: This box will only appear if you are logged into the site.
The first link, List of unread forum posts/comments, will take you to a list containing threads that you have not yet viewed and threads with new comments that you have not yet viewed. The list includes the title & author of the 1st post in the thread, the most recent updated/commented date, and the forum name. The only way to clear items from this list is to view the thread or click the "mark all read" button at the top of the main forum page. (This is not a list of new items since you last logged in but of topics/comments that you have not yet viewed, so logging out and back in again does not clear the list.)
The second link, List of my threads, will take you to a list of forum threads that you began. This list shows all of the threads that you started along with the most recent updated/commented date, the number of comments, and the forum name.