What do the stars beside some posts mean?

I think you can rate posts by how much you like them. Above your name in a post that has already been written is a little box of gray stars, and you can click on them.

I just rated yours as 5 stars. Let's see if I'm right...If not, well, I don't know either! LOL

By golly, it worked! Cool!

 Thanks, Stacie.

I see the stars above my name - can I use them to star others' posts? So far, I can only star my own posts (seems narcissistic, lol). And how do I get them to turn yellow - I can't change the 4 stars already there...

Talk about ignorance...

Hmmmm. Don't know. I guess that question is beyond my pay grade, LOL.

Pat, can you help us??

 The stars you see are an average of everyone's votes, so they may not all turn yellow when you vote. You should be able to vote on any thread - not post, but thread.