Thanks, this is exactly the kind of thing I need to hear. As the person who made the site, I already know how to use it. I'll look into ways to make this all more obvious.
Also in the UX department, some search suggestions as you type could be nice, if that wouldn't add too much cost. Not a deal-breaker by any means but I found myself expecting it.
Minor recommendation on the search bar: the search button is a bit too small of a target. I know that most sophisticated web users hit enter when searching, but a sizable proportion are still click-happy.