I totally agree with you on these points. I can remember "naturalmedicine" as a community name, but there's no way I can remember a 5-6 digit number to use with them! I'm not sure why this started changing to begin with, but I haven't changed what I do. I use NAMES, not numbers!
The lack of whitelisting is definitely a threat, as is not being able to choose multiple communities (as I currently do) - has no one ever found their favorite community because someone used the tag? I have...
RE: How to post in a Steemit Community - for example Project.hope