Hello everyone,
An administrator has messaged me, helping me to understand a topic, but I cannot find the common reply feature, found in today’s basic forums. I was hoping to thank him. Why would this feature be missing, how may I message a user? Are we not supposed to communicate to others on this site?
Click on the user icon at the top left of a post. There is an option to message them in there
I was seconds away, but as @stevecook172001 said. 
I know which thread (topic) you’re referring to, it was locked - which is why the reply buttons were gone:
Whoops, I got it wrong… thought it was a PM I sent a user… but no… it was not