The forum uses a Trust system to grant more experienced members more perks and privileges the more they contribute (more likes to use, longer edit window, ability to upload photos, and so on). These are all based around how much you visit, read, like and post (and stick to the rules 
).
Click on the headers for a more detailed look at each Trust Level, and if you have any questions about them feel free to ask below. 
Trust Level 0 — New
By default, all new users start out at trust level 0, meaning trust has yet to be earned. These are visitors who have just created an account, and are still learning the community norms and the way the community works. New users’ abilities are restricted for safety – both theirs and yours.
Users at trust level 0 cannot…
- “Reply as new topic”
- Flag posts
- Post any attachments
- Post more than 2 hyperlinks in a post
- Have actual links in the ‘about me’ field of their profile (these will be temporarily converted to plain text until they reach TL1 Basic)
- Mention more than 2 users in a post
- Post more than 3 topics
- Post more than 30 replies
- Edit their posts or edit wikis
If it is your First Day on the forums then you may also encounter some limits on how much you can post, like, and mention other members. This is part of our spam filter, so it’s normally quite useful, but these will disappear 24 hours after your first post.
Trust Level 1 — Basic
We believe reading is the most fundamental and healthy action in any community. If a new user is willing to spend a little time reading, they will quickly be promoted to the first trust level.
Get to trust level 1 by…
- Entering at least 5 topics
- Reading at least 30 posts
- Spend a total of 10 minutes reading posts
Users at trust level 1 can…
- Use all core functions (though some First Day rate limits will remain until 24 hours after their first post)
- Edit their own posts for up to 24 hours
- Edit wiki posts
- Flag posts
- Mute other users
- Upload a profile picture
Trust Level 2 — Member
Members keep coming back to the community over a series of weeks; they have not only read, but actively participated long and consistently enough to be trusted with full citizenship.
Get to trust level 2 by…
- Visiting at least 15 days, not sequentially
- Casting at least 1 like
- Receiving at least 1 like
- Replying to at least 3 different topics
- Entering at least 20 topics
- Reading at least 100 posts
- Spend a total of 60 minutes reading posts
Users at trust level 2 can…
- Upload images (Photo Rules)
- Daily like limit increased by 2×
- Ignore other users
- Edit their own posts for up to 30 days after posting
Trust Level 3 — Regular
Regulars are the backbone of our community, the most active readers and reliable contributors over a period of months, even years. Because they’re always around, they can be further trusted to help tidy up and organize the community.
To get to trust level 3, in the last 100 days…
- Must have visited at least 50% of days
- Must have replied to at least 10 different topics
- Of topics created in the last 100 days, must have viewed 25% (capped at 500)
- Of posts created in the last 100 days, must have read 15%
- Must have received 20 likes, and given 30 likes.*
- Must not have received more than 5 spam or offensive flags (with unique posts and unique users for each, confirmed by a moderator)
- Must not have been suspended or silenced in the last 6 months
*These likes must be across a minimum number of different users (1/5 the number), across a minimum number of different days (1/4 the number). Likes cannot be from PMs.
All of the above criteria must be true to achieve trust level 3. Furthermore, unlike other trust levels, you can lose trust level 3 status. If you dip below these requirements in the last 100 days, you will be demoted back to Member. However, in order to avoid constant promotion/demotion situations, there is a 2-week grace period immediately after gaining Trust Level 3 during which you will not be demoted.
Users at trust level 3 can…
- Recategorize and rename topics
- Have all their links followed (we remove automatic nofollow)
- TL3 spam flags cast on TL0 user posts immediately hide the post
- TL3 flags cast on TL0 user posts in sufficient diversity will auto-silence the user and hide all their posts
- Make their own posts wiki (that is, editable by any TL1+ users)
- Daily like limit increased by 3×
Trust Level 4 — Leader
Leaders are regulars who have been around forever and seen everything. They set a positive example for the community through their actions and their posts. If you need advice, these are the folks you turn to first, and they’ve earned the highest level of community trust, such that they are almost moderators within the community already.
Get to trust level 4 by…
Manual promotion by staff only
Users at trust level 4 can…
- Edit all posts
- Pin/unpin topic
- Close topics
- Archive topics
- Make topics unlisted
- Split and merge topics
- Reset topic bump date
- Daily like limit increased by 3×
- Any TL4 flag cast on any post immediately takes effect and hides the target post
