YOU WILL NOTICE THAT AFTER YOU HAVE MADE MORE THAN 5 POSTS YOUR STATUS WILL CHANGE FROM NEWBIE TO SOMETHING ELSE. THERE ARE 4 DIFFERENT LEVELS AND EACH ONE IS BASED ON THE NUMBER OF POSTS THAT YOU MAKE. SO POST AND POST OFTEN TO SEE THOSE CHANGES. IT IS DONE AUTOMATICALLY WHEN YOU REACHED THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF POSTS FOR EACH LEVEL.
ALSO IF YOU ARE CURIOUS TO KNOW IF ANYONE ELSE IS ONLINE AT THE SAME TIME YOU ARE, SIMPLY SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE MAIN PAGE AND IT WILL SHOW YOU THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT ARE REGISTERED AND IF THERE ARE ANY REGISTERED MEMBERS ONLINE AT THAT TIME.