Hello, graceallen,
No, your forum is NOT locked in any way. You can start using it right away. You just need to activate your admin account.
The three icons at the bottom of the index page are a key or a legend. If you have noticed, each section on the forum has an icon, which can be one of the three at the bottom of the forum. These icons indicate if there have been new posts since the last visit of a member or if the forum is locked and users cannot post in it. The legend of the bottom simply explains what each one of them means. You can take a look at this support forum to get a better idea of how the icons work.
PS:Please, use a descriptive and informative title when posting a new thread.