If I may jump in here real quick, I know from other vBulletin forums that the plus sign means the person is on your buddy list. But that doesn't really make sense on this forum because the plus sign is not always there. I've seen it next to your name too Anthony, but it's not there all the time. I believe cookie and becvan are others I've seen with it. It wouldn't be because of an update, because I've seen it occasionally ever since I joined last October.

Thanks also Anthony for explaining about the donation page, I was wondering about it myself for a long time but was too shy to ask.