This may be obvious

I may be slow, but what do the envelopes and their different configurations to the left of a post mean? Also the note pad right next to the envelopes. Also a yield sign next to certain posts. Searching hasn't yielded anything.

If you hover the cursor over the "yield sign next to certain posts", it will display "Report Post". This means that icon can be used to report the post to moderators to see if it fits community/board rule standards.

As for the envelopes, do you mean the ones listed at the bottom of the topic list like this:

New postsHot thread with new postsNo new postsHot thread with no new postsThread is closedYou have posted in this thread

I think you answered the question. What if there is an arrow pointing left on the post and what is the note pad to the right of the envelope? This would make a good sticky somewhere.

The notepad...you mean that piece of school paper in the 2nd column on the forum page which shows all the titles of the threads? That's just a default icon. <----is this the one you speak of?

When you start a new thread, you can CHOOSE which icon you want. Did you not recall seeing that when you composed your thread? There are 14 options (smilies, arrows, yellow yield signs, fingers pointing up or down and more.) You can find this section with the 14 options UNDER the TEXT box where you compose your thread and ABOVE the SUBMIT NEW THREAD button.

Is the arrow pointing left on the post GREEN that you are talking about like this?
1).

Or is it like this?
2).

#1 = just one of those icons I told you about that you can choose to make your thread stand out from all the default notebook icons in the list.
#2 = you've posted something in that particular thread (like RedLeg505 mentioned).

In regard to the YIELD signs...
If it was the red/white/black one: This means you can report a problem in the post to a moderator. It's the REPORT POST button.
If it was the yellow one: it was one of those fancy icons you can choose to make your thread more noticeable (when you're composing your post/thread). I mentioned it above...it's one of the 14 choices. People usually use the yellow one when they are posting alerts or what to call attention to that particular thread.

Why do you know this shit? When are you in Houston again. I'll pay the price and just learn. I'm impressed. But how do you know this?

Ftime...Tia knows everything. LOL!

... how do you know this? Originally Posted by ftime

If you hover the cursor over ... Originally Posted by RedLeg505

RedLeg505 covers it pretty much in his first few words...."hovering the cursor".

(I've got to give props to RedLeg of course! I knew that already, but still...it's worth repeating.
Thanks Chica Chaser for the nice comment!!)