Perhaps if the "Member Status" line could default to how long a person has been a registered user, that would give a little more useful information.
I'm afraid that just isn't possible within the current forum system.
Why not?
Because Simple Machine is a pre-packaged forum system that simply does not include any scripts that calculate a given member's registration period.
Creating bespoke scripts would be:
a) extremely expensive
and
b) would make future upgrading of this forum difficult - if not impossible.
Any way to fudge the system if the KnotSymbols come only by some
automatical way? --but still retain the numerical posts-count correctly.
The idea of showing longevity of participation is of some value, yes?
How? Is a someone who has posted 5 posts in 3 years more valuable than someone who has posted 30 extremely interesting posts in 6 months? Software cannot make these kinds of value judgements. Only readers can.
The software informs readers how many times a given user has posted. It is up to the readers to determine whether this has any bearing on the value of any one post. Ultimately, no automated system can replace a discerning reader.