On another forum of which I am a member it is possible to post a "thanks" on the bottom of a helpful replay and this need not necessarily be the original enquirer.
Would it be possible for this to be in place on this forum?

Unfortunately this phpBB free forum is quite basic and doesn't have that facility as an official extension. There was an extension coded for an earlier version of phpBB but it is recorded as unstable on our later version. A note says "Precaution: As the ext is still in development, major changes still can be applied which could require full extension purging and reinstallation, so use it on your own risk. DO NOT install it on production boards. For testing purposes only."

I know of another phpBB forum where the administrator did code a "Like" thumbs up button but he borrowed the code from somewhere else and modified it considerably. It would be way past my capabilities so the only way to say thanks on this forum is to create another post.