[Andy Peatling]

@wordpressfan: You must first visit a sub forum on this site to post a topic. You cannot post a topic from the front. It is identical except for the fact there are no groups listed on the forums directory in BuddyPress.

Also –

You don’t need to first browse to a group, click a group name on a topic and you will go straight to that group forum where you can post a reply or new topic.

You don’t need to be a member of the group, you can post a reply or a new topic on a group forum and will auto join that group. It’s not a two step process.

Stickies cannot be show on the front. You may have hundreds of groups, each with stickies. This will clog up the directory and make it useless.

@allenweiss: If you don’t want a group to be a place for starting topics and discussions then simply disable the forum on that group.