Hi CC,
I don't know why you apologize to me.. you just used me as an example, that's perfectly okay!!
1) I take it you mean a signature image. Well you first have to make that yourself, or have someone make it for you.
A banner-like picture, with a maximum of 500x100 pixels.
Once you have that, you have to be able to link it to your signature, so the picture has to be online somewhere. You can upload it on one of many imagehosting sites. I use Photobucket (http://www.photobucket.com) myself. An account is free, and it will give you the code you need to post it in your signature box.
You take the IMG code from photobucket, after uploading your image, and post that into the signature box, in your forum profile. The picture then shows up down there.
2) You cannot actually make money with this game. But the money tag that some people have under their name, is from Ship Simulator 2006. Just like SS08 has the ranking system that rewards you for completing missions, SS06 had a system whereby completing missions earned you money. And so registerd SS06 players on the forum have that extra tag with their accomplishment. But it's just for show, not real.
3) When you are in the game, go to your profile. Make sure you have a custom made profile, not the guest one. You have registered your game, so that's in order. So with your registered shipsim profile active in the game, just click on the go online button in the profile page ingame, so that your game connects with the main server. Once it says 'online' in the top righthand corner of the main menu, you are connected.
Regards,
Fred