This link below are for those newbie that is finding hard to rank up and you know you have some post that deserves merit. Just click the link below read the rules and apply. I just recently come across it.
This link is for merit, though, but they don’t give out free merit in that thread. Anyone who wants to be merited still needs what you said earlier: they must learn about the forum. But not only that, the forum members merit only quality content that deserves to be merited. Merit always serves as a reward when you create educational and helpful content for the community. However, the link you provided is not for all boards; the thread is for only local board posts; they have less merit as it’s supposed to, or any post that doesn’t get merit, and it’s for high quality, so the OP of that thread asked for the links to those posts so that he will help them merit the post.
I think newbies like me shouldn't think too much about merit, just think of it as a gift from forum members because there is value in the post. at least that's what I've learned from several months of being on this forum. If you have interesting posts, constructive comments, take part in keeping forums alive, both local and main forums, I think people will be happy to give their merits. Maybe I'm wrong, but for newbies like me and others, don't focus on merit, but make posts and comments with high "value".
Normally, even other ranks don’t have to focus on merit all the time because sometimes someone is thinking of getting merit in some of their posts. People tend to write long posts just to get merit, and I can see some newbies also do that, which is wrong. Someone can say something in two or three lines, and you will see such posts with merit because it’s worth it, so it's not necessary to write a long post. Let learning continue, and everyone will get to where they want. Newbies should not rush; everyone here started like they are currently doing.