Maybe a "Recommend" or "Share" option (with the possibility to share the post on the Social Networks) could re-balance the stuff? Don't forget the risk to ruin the clean style of Vanilla... (possibility to choose this otions needed).
Thanks for sharing your story. I am in a similar situation but am currently using phpBB. I will be happy to share my experiences as soon as I go live with my new website.
23 posts have been shared in my category, but the next page is still inactive. Where can I check the number of posts to be shown in the category and activate the next page. I want to activate the next page feature in this screenshot