I agree with the OP on most points.

#1 /LSMES Please ^^;
Casual players don't check the ls forum daily. But they'll see the Linkshell Message when they log on & equip the shell (if it isn't already equiped).

#2 Ability to promote, demote and kick members from anywhere in the realm regardless if they are online or not

Just those to things would make a big difference. Help the community! Fix Linkshells! <3

Third thing would be being able to see where members are, what job (and the jobs rank) they are currently on and maybe a lil' icon that pops up if they are currently doing a levequest/behest. ^^
Then if you want to organize something, you can see what you have to work with. ^^

As for DCing when you open the ls-list... I haven't had that problem in a looonnnggg time &it only happened... maybe twice ever. >.>;