I use RSS feeds for some forums. For example, phpBB-based forums provide such feeds for new messages in a thread or new threads in a forum. The downside is that

I use RSS feeds for some forums. For example, phpBB-based forums provide such feeds for new messages in a thread or new threads in a forum. The downside is that you could not reply using your feedreader. But then again, I'm more of a lurker than a partaker, so that's not much of a problem for me.