to answer your questions, webpages are made using html, which is similar to the tags we use here. they tend to use <> instead of [] brackets, though.
Yes, to get an avatar, you need to participate on the boards for awhile. don't worry, it's not as hard as it sounds.
And yes, you can cuss, but being polite is a good idea. we value mature conversation here, but if there really isn't any other way to say it...