I just have the All Articles link as my home page (http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/*/index). If I have pings or mail, they will show up in red at the top and I will check them. If not, I just scroll through and look for something interesting. I can read the first 4 lines of 50 articles in a short time (and scroll to another 50 if I chose to.)
If I want to search for something specific I will check the keywords at the top, but usually end up chosing my own search terms.
I glance at the sidebar listings but usually see the articles listed by my usual method.
I rarely go to speciic forums.
I use the list at top to get to Banglist. I never look at the sidebar listings. I’d like to see a single banner ad at the top to support FR. Limit the advertising for firearm companies such as Ruger.