What this addresses specifically are new visitors who do not wish to try out the site by interacting anonymously (yes I believe they exist). I also think it's good to clearly see who is new other than checking the bottom of the Newest Nodes page.

When I first discovered Perl Monks it was through the major Perl Books and Perl.org. I already assigned it a significant level of legitimacy and trust by the time I came here. I reviewed some of the tutorials, posts and chatter in the CB before signing up. (Maybe an hour at most) I can't believe I'm the only person who found Perl Monks and signed up in a similar manner.

I wanted to sign on with my name (fill out my user page) and say: "1. This is who I am. 2. Why I came here. 3. Here are my questions" It took me months to actually do that. "Why? If I could just use Anonymous Monk to ask and say whatever I wanted?" Because Anonymous Monk is not a way (IMO) to build a place in a community. So I waited until I got the hang of things while reading a lot of posts, tutorials and — yes — voting.

It would be great if there were something else between the Anonymous Monk who's actually a new visitor testing the waters and someone like me who didn't participate for months.

I think it would add to the site if I could easily see if someone who posted is new here and welcome them. This is a great community that I value and being encouraged to post from the start as myself (even if I get corrected for not knowing the rules) that would be completely in line with how well I've been treated here.