Would it be practical to install a spell-checker as part of the Forum?
I'm aware that this isn't an English classroom, but some of the posts contain so many errors of spelling (sometimes as many as two or three in each line) that I have trouble reading them. And on quite a few occasions I've re-read one of my own posts for some reason or other, and discovered incredibly stupid spelling errors in them.
The problem is especially acute in the case of participants whose native language is not English. I'm sure many of those folks would appreciate some electronic help - as I certainly would be if I were trying to communicate in a foreign language. But some of the worst-spelled posts seem to originate in the U.S.
Some other modeling forums (Drydock Models and Model Ship World, for instance) have spell-checkers. They're set up in such a way that the participant has the option of using them or not. (If a modeler genuinely doesn't care whether he/she mutilates the language, I guess that's his/her business.) If the poster does want the post spell-checked, it takes one additional click and a few seconds to fix the errors. The spell-checker even suggests corrected spellings.
This isn't the most important thing in the world, and maybe it would be prohibitively expensive. But I suspect I'm not the only one who would appreciate having a little extra insurance against his ineptitude being aired before the whole web community.
Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.