If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at stararmy@gmail.com or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
I recently updated the boards with all fresh files. During the upgrade process, there were some problems, caused by a line of code in one of the files. I fixed it. Shortly afterwards, the update feature stopped working right, and wouldn't mark posts read for me (they stayed orange). Now, it's working fine though. Try clearing your cache and www.stararmy.com / stararmy.com cookies.