I've noticed with the new website design, beside people's names in the forums and in my profile, there is a number called "Points you have by participating on the site's content"....what are the points, how do I get them and are they just like a ranking system sorta like the stars and forum rank (newbie, member, forum master etc).

   

I guess if you explore the site long enough with no point to your search, you can answer your own question. In case anyone else wanted to know, the points are sorta like a ranking system. There are currently 3 categories that rank you depoending on your point total. Here is a link to the categories and you can check where you land within them. User Points I didn't see some people that I know have lots of points, it confused me because I am quite close to the top of the list. Where is RH other people I KNOW have way more posts than I do. A question I couldn't find the answer to is how does one gain points?

   

you were almost there at the top of the user groups page is a link called

How to gain points

Basically by contributing to the site in different ways, you gain points. I will be expanding on this, offering discounts at the Canadaka.net Store for high ranking members.