Maybe trying to force the forum to make your work easier, when it's not really designed for that particular task, is not the best option.
Perhaps using a tool designed to handle bug reports would be appropriate?
This of course comes with its own problems:
- finding the right (and free) tool - I bet people will be able to offer some suggestions here;
- setting up the tool - mostly a one time effort, worth it if the tool is good, but always takes some time for the staff to adjust to etc. ;
- redirecting traffic to the tool - a bugs thread can have a link to a bug form, but should the user have to register on the new site? it would be best to use this forum login for authentication, so there would be no need to register a new account and no fear of random reports (trolls basically), but that could be tricky to set up.
Issues tracking is not a new problem and there are solutions for that. This problem just requires the right solution for its needs.
The potential benefits include:
- more uniform issue reports - with required fields for all the necessary information and reproduction steps;
- much easier first line issues tracking - a clean list of unhandled reports, easier searching of similar bugs (tags, keywords - also usable by users);
- easier second line issues tracking - that's Steve, though with the way it's set up now it will probably be only be a minor benefit;
- a list of confirmed and fixed issues - potentially visible for users as well.
I've asked around a bit and it seems there aren't any free ready to use web apps for issue tracking (but it find it hard to believe). There are options to use on your own server though.
I was recommended: Redmine, Mantis Bug Tracker, Bugzilla or Salesforce with Agile Accelerator.
But it all falls to Steve ultimately, whether it's something he can accept and get behind or not, no point in forcing it otherwise.