Karma is a feature of the forums.
See this bit right here ^^^
In the upper right corner of every post it shows how much karma the user has, and has the thumb up/down buttons with which you can give karma to someone (or take it from them, but I don't believe that is generally done).
I suppose you could think of karma as reputation points of some kind. Essentially, it is something you mainly get from other members and what you can give to them. It's a way to thank someone who's been helpful or thank someone for participating in a challenge or just in general reward someone for a post you find really good.
This is what the Dokuga forum rules say about the karma feature:
Karma points are not a method of punishment or reprimand therefore, negative Karma will not be tolerated on the forum.
As for
awarding Karma points, this s
hould be done in a way to support members or as a reward for hard work.
When you give karma, it should be done with frugality in order to maintain the value of its reception. As a rule of thumb, one or two points for any occasion should be sufficient and thus shouldn't be exceeded.
Inversely, using Karma as a bribe or giving it away frivolously is not an acceptable use of the Karma feature. Demands for Karma are likewise, forbidden.
Acceptable uses for positive Karma include: rewards for challenges, rewards for particularly enjoyable comments and posts, rewards for assistance (i.e. fanfiction search, etc.)