Is there a way within this forum to write / insert the hamburger menu symbol, such as this:
☰
Or even this:
☰
I know it’s possible to copy + paste, but I was wondering if there’s some sort of code built in to this forum software, in the same way there is built-in code to insert “buttons” like this:
Enter
Here is the unicode reference: Unicode Utilities: Character Properties
No, but you can create your own keyboard layout that has this key.
/usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols contains the layout of all keyboards and you just copy an existing lay-out to a non-existing country and then edit that layout to include that key (E.G. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H for Hamburger) and then select this new country’s keyboard layout!
The HTML entity for this symbol is ☰. So, in order to insert it in a Forum post, you can try this:
☰
The outcome should be:
☰
If you want to insert it like a button, you can try
<kbd>☰</kbd>
Outcome:
☰
The keyboard shortcut to open this menu in Discourse (the software this Forum is build on) is the = key.
No, there isn’t. The Discourse developers thought about it, but McDonald’s protested that it was discriminatory and therefore not inclusive enough, given that they also sell Cheeseburgers, Big Macs, Bacon-Cheese Burgers and a whole other variety.
In addition to that, the vegan movement also protested because they fear that allowing the insertion of a hamburger menu in posts would cause lasting psychological harm to ungulates.
My proposed solution: use this button: 
It’s already built in.
Those might be the only feasible options then. 
I was hoping for a built-in method, such as:
<ham> or <menu> or <tri>
Or some other mnemonic-based shortcut.
Brilliant! Let’s put it to the test!
Q: “Hey, how do I check my unread posts on this forum?”
A: "Click on the in the top-right corner of the page and select “Unread”