Thanks and rep are for insecure people whose life revolves around attention. Prime examples being eBagger and Zek, epitomes of desperation and sadness.
Want to make a forum better? Less is more. Color schemes, custom smilies, avatars, signatures, get rid of all of this and see your user base vastly improved. Not in quantity, very likely the opposite, but in quality. Add an ignore function, restrict access to specialized fora, and impose hell bans instead of full bans. Much more effective, and infinitely more hilarious.
If you want a place that attracts people with low attention spans and even lower intelligence, hand out more candy and toys. Make your place a bit more strict and mature and see content vastly improved.