I'm against making anything mandatory in terms of style. I really enjoyed the last RP because people took their time to create which ever kind of post they wanted. Some people had multiple pictures and timestamps and all sorts of cool stuff, but other people didn't. I like to think that those sorts of things are all about the writers individual style. Fortunately, we are all of different styles, skill levels, and interests, so although I'll probably be adding timestamps, I don't think you should make everyone else do it. Especially if that isn't their [i]"thing"[/i]. 

As for when the story starts, I'm cool with year 2/3. I don't mind starting in September or October, it's near the end of the year but there are certain themes associated with that part of the year that I really enjoy,