• I'd say that getting more log data out of the system is one of the biggest issues. We need to be able to track every single message coming into the system, passing through the various modules, and then finally passing out. We could tie message-ids to a queue-id, and then log queue-ids throughout (as is done with sendmail & postfix), but whatever we do needs to be consistent.

• An optional unified log file format (a la apache) would be nice, as it would allow you to keep everything in one place. But I'd place this lower on the totem pole than getting more log data out of the system.
• Don't fall into the trap of trying to make things too short or cryptic, which might increase the chance of collision or confusion. Better to be more verbose and eliminate all doubt.
• More importantly, making all log data available via the web interface to list admins would be great. The more we can do that doesn't require command-line access to the server, the better. This includes integration with log processing tools like Splunk (which we should use on python.org, btw).

I speak only for myself, but with experience in tracking down problems on posts to various lists on python.org, as well as writing or maintaining various log processing tools

[ Decided to move this stuff down into a "real" comment. Sorry about the edit, folks! ]