Val,
I wanted to confirm something with you. When you go to your "edit signature" page, you said that the link icon was missing from the toolbar. Here is a screenshot to confirm the exact location it should be in, then I want you to tell me if you can see it on YOUR computer:
sigY.jpg
I circled the icon in red and labelled it "link tool". It is the very same symbol that should appear in the little toolbar above the text input window where you are posting to a thread.
Lauren