If you are just starting out, and do not have a lot of hardware, there is no real need to worry about these changes. You can continue to go at it solo, but it means you will have to buy some GRC to help you stake. Alternatively, you can join the Gridcoin pool instead which will do the staking for you and pay you out your cut.

Gridcoin Pool Mining 101 - Start Here!

If you do chose to go solo, you will need to get your beacon sent. Given you have been running BOINC, you certainly have a CPID already, it may just not have been registered with the Gridcoin network. Pop into our Slack or IRC channel if you would like a hand.