If you want so use smiley's don't write your reply the "Qiuck Reply" box at the bottom of the page.

Instead click on
1)the "Reply" button in the lower right of any post or
2)the "Post Reply" button" near the top and bottom left of each thread.

Clicking on any of the buttons brings you to a separate screen with all sorts of other posting options.

Icons
 

Thanks, Eric.
That's what I've been doing but in the case of smileys I only see some radio check buttons of
"You may choose an icon for your message from the following list"

I'll put in a check for the smiley face but I think it only will appear at the beginning of the post. :-(

I was mainly looking for those that can be placed in the middle of the text.

Is there a big list of smileys to the right of the area where you are typing your post text?
If not, there is one for me. The area to the right is labeled "Smilies" and a 3 by 5 grid of smilies are shown. I just left click on one and the "text equivalent" of the smiley appears in the text area. When the message posts the "text equivalent" magically turns into a smiley.

Icons
 

No, I don't get those.
Just a blank white area. :-(

User CP > Edit Options > Miscellaneous Options > Message Editor Interface

There are three editors that can be used. I'll have to double-check which is default, but mine is on WYSIWYG.

Options
 

Thanks, I turned the option on and now get the stuff. ;)

Which makes me wonder what the default is...