smilies

hi everybody, this is my first day here. i am a member of a debate forum. when i used my son's pc, i was able to access the forum's smilies just by clicking where i wanted them placed. i now have a powerbook g4. i am unable to get smilies into my text. when i click a smilie it goes to the first space of the page, regardless of where i click. i have to use the colon and other symbols to get it to appear. such as : )

also, other members of the forum brought there own smilies to the boards. some are animated. i want that but everything i have found has been incompatable with mac.

does anyone know of smilies i can get?

i don't use internet explorer, ichat or safari. i am new to computers. i just use aol.

i would appreciate any help. thank you