My concern re the "front" page is that it's the home page and particularly the welcome page by which newcomers and undecided lurkers are likely to arrive at the site. We want them to be drawn in and to get the hang of the place asap. If you're not a habitué of DKos or another Scoop site, (and we're out to reach towards Europeans who may well not be, and also for whom English is non-native), it's not obvious how the place works. Nor what is even meant by "recommended diaries". Along these lines, I think help and information need a more prominent place than in the current lay-out or this mock-up.

Since Scoop offers a basic screen to the non-logged-in (as soon as you log in you get your user menu), could that basic screen be better tweaked towards drawing newcomers in? Example, have a big New User heading with links to a good guide? And/or have mouse-over info bubbles? Other suggestions, anyone?

As to the RSS feeds, I tend to agree with those who feel this mock-up centres them too much, while placing ET community stuff at the edge. The ET community should be the core, interacting with the affiliates. For the moment, I don't see the advantage of having the stories to the left and all the links (except top bar) to the right.

Following others, I'd say have the RSS feeds under the logo on the left, with the blogroll under them. Stories central, no more hateful space.

Another thought: scrap the logo and make a (slim) banner of it across the top with key navigation links appended beneath.