That was supposed to come out with quotes. Still trying to figure out how this works....
It's just missing the opening quote tag. That might look like this (sans asterisks):
[*QUOTE]
Or more like this (ditto):
[*QUOTE=Wplains;1639224]
The latter one is how you get the username on the quote, as well as a link to the post it came from (the number is the post ID). This is also what you'll get automatically if you hit that little talk bubble icon between the thumb and the cog on the top right of each post. That's how you quote a post individually.
You can quote more than one at a time under the Cog with "Multi-Quote" by clicking that link on several posts and then hitting Post Reply.
Also, if you ever want to know how something works, just quote it and see the code for yourself. You can also play around with it by hitting the Preview button until it looks right.
Just little "points" you get when your posts are voted up (the thumb icon mentioned above). No tangible value, just lets people know you like or approve of their post somehow. That's the little red banner with the number you'll see on the top right of many posts. You'll get notifications for rep, and you can see all of it (and who gave you what, for which post) in your User CP, under "Your Reputation."
And why do I get a white banner which says advertisement t?
That is an advertisement. It's the only ad we run at the moment: one per page, below the first post.