I find it really irritating that when I write a message I then have to scroll down to post it...

[brimfull]

is there a way I can change the layout of the page ?

I do beanie, but I think I'm in a minority. MN was originally the other way round but they gave us the option to change a while ago (not sure how long you've been on here, so sorry if you know this already)
Most people on here seem to be very resistant to change prefer the original way.

no - not very long

every other forum I use does it the way I do it so it seemed the best way. Funny how we're all different.