The horizontal navigation bar is context sensitive:
- In the main page it shows Hot - Latest - New (if any) - Unread (if any) - Categories
- In a category page, these links refer only to the category topics (i.e. you’ll see Unread only if you have unread topics in that category. The “Categories” link is not shown in these category pages.
I have removed Events and Map from the navigation. The sidebar has now a “Users Map” link, and there is a link to the Events category.
I have also listed all the top-level categories in the sidebar. It’s a short list and expected to be quite static. Note that logged in users can customize the list of (sub)categories they want to see, clicking on the pencil icon.
If you have new/unread topics in a category, a blue dot will appear. This allows you visit the categories where you have new topics and skip the rest.
I hope this satisfies your main concerns.