question

[ffen]

why do some people have star ratings after their name

[novalis]

If somebody supplies you with an answer you can rate it with one, two or three stars. As somebody once put it one or two could be misconstrued as damning with faint praise. It's a way of acknowledging an answer other than saying "Thank you".

[paddywak]

when a question has beem answered the person posting the question acngive it a rating depending on how good they think the answer is