Based on feedback I've been getting, I've set up an Advanced Topics forum. Feel free to get as wonky and food geeky as you'd like in there. I will only intervene in the discussion if people are getting truly nasty or personal.
I've also created a couple of new front page blocks about half way down that monitors this section and the Professional Concerns forum, which should make it as easy to keep an eye on those sections as it is the rest of the site.
In return, I'd ask that posts and comments not of interest to your average amateur baker move there or into people's blogs rather than in the main forum. As folks who've been members here a long time know, boosting people's confidence as bakers is what motivates me much more than achieving baking greatness and that is the raison d'être of this site. You can call it "lowering the bar" or even "dumbing it down," either one is fine with me. I want to make bread baking accessible to as many people as possible.
My apologies if this hasn't always been clear. I've assumed that the masthead calling out "Amateur" and "Enthusiast" made this clear, but that may not be fair of me. It is an honor to now have budding professional and former professional bakers as members of the community now, as well as many amazing amateur bakers. I hope these changes can better accommodate the widening range of skills and interests here without making the site hostile or intimidating to brand new bakers.
The Advanced Topics forum is a great idea. It will, as you said, keep the site focus on "boosting confidence".