what do all the symbols on the left mean?

[FreyaFoxglove]

do the symbols on the left actually convey any meaning or is it just there for the sake of it?

[lilith]

If you mean those round icons, yep, they do :3c

for example, glowing circles mean there's unread post(s)

if the icon is a different color, it's used to convey which post is a sticky, an announcement or a global one (notably though announcement and global have same color) :D
so yaiiii!

[lilith]

as for those new images I've used for forums and subforums, all thanks goes to https://game-icons.net/ :3c I've chose red and rounded square because it seems pretty fitting so yai!