GoForth, your journal is an engrossing narrative and your intention, I know, was to help others. This latest idea shows even more of a desire to help others, by making certain specific topics contained in your journal, more easily accessible to future readers.
My personal view, as you know, is that your journal is a bit of a one-of-a-kind and should probably stay as it is. Spartan Drew’s journal this past year has created a wonderful community.
However, as you have perceived, for newbies and future lurkers there is a need to have access to specific questions and topics so that people don’t have to read 40+ pages in your journal and 100+ in Spartan Drew’s in order to access information on those specific items.
If you are thinking of a table of contents kind of thing, that is incredibly kind of you but I wonder if the chronology of your journal is pretty clear, since it proceeds pretty straightforwardly from start of application period to enrollment and beyond. I think it is still of benefit as it is, without any further work. People can jump in approximately and then go ahead or back a few pages to find what they are looking for.
That said, I still hope more people will post specific questions and topics on separate threads rather than as part of a “journey” thread.
I would also hope the sense of community could continue somehow, because the “journey” threads seem to have inspired quite a bit of camaraderie and even friendships. For the past 11 years I have pursued those via PM’s mainly so that is always an option.
Your idea is both interesting and generous, so just giving my two cents. I think your journal is relatively user-friendly. For new readers of the music forum, you can always do a search to find a specific topic within the long “journey” threads including GoForth’s Journal. At least I think that would work. What do you think, GoForth?