But when you count the entries in New Posts, it is only showing the last post in a thread, isn't it? For instance, the CCI threads right now get about 20 new posts a day, but I think you will only see the last one in New Posts.
Yes, the New Posts page is a list of
threads that have new posts. Each thread might have a single new post, or a thousand new posts, but will only be listed once in New Posts.
Another sign of forum activity is the
Current Visitors list. As I post this message it lists 198 visitors including 26 members. Only 13 of those visitors are known robots that collect information for search engines so that leaves quite a few people who are mostly reading.
I think a forum like PR, which has over over 62,000 threads and 1.1 million messages, can seem quiet at times because we don't see the many visitors who are reading, searching, and finding answers without posting.