What is the star ratings?

Your star rating starts showing up by your name when you have 100 posts. It can start at any number, depending on how people have rated your discussions. If people give you lots of +'s then it will go up, and if people give you lots of -'s then it will go down. It's basically a popularity thing, though it was designed to actually indicate post quality. So if someone gives you a good response to your discussion, you hit the little + by their post, and that will help their star rating go up. You're supposed to give +'s to responses that are well-written or add something to your discussion whether you agree with what the person is saying or not. I only give a - personally if someone was very rude to me, or just gave a one-word or two-word reply. Good luck!