That's the "Activity Meter." It measures the rate at which new posts are added to threads. As it increases it turns from green to yellow to red. If you hang around long enough you'll see a few posts get pegged into the red.
Traditionally, the "Suggestions" forum is the place to ask such questions. Perhaps I'll modify the forum name to something like "Suggestions for and Questions about Forum Operations" (Need something shorter though).
Also, I edited the topic title, adding the "(re: What is that little colored bar under the threads?)" part.
[This message has been edited by Adminnemooseus, 12-12-2003]
Damn, 'cuz I was thinking about posting "A History of Life on Earth" by Jon Erickson here, it took me 3 months to type out. But I guess that's out of the question, huh?
------------------ "The only thing necessary for the Triumph of Evil is for Good Men to do nothing."- Edmund Burke