Stars?

Sorry for the ignorance as I'm not the most computer literate person on earth, but what to the stars next to a thread mean, and how do they get there?

THX!

that's the thread's rating. anyone can rate a thread. it's sort of like voting on how much a thread does or doesn't suck. at the top of the first post there is a bar with stuff to click. it says linkback, threadtools, etc. one of the options is to rate the thread.

you are now the creator of a 5 star thread. congrats.