I really wish there was a sticky thread somewhere explaining in detail how Reputation is affected by both the Thanks & Reputation buttons, and if, as i.hart.MAC asked, the iTrader feedback affects Reputation. Heck, I'm still waiting for a response to my 6/11 post.
When I joined I literally spent about 8 hours perusing the website to understand the site layout & how Reputation worked, and I'm still not totally clear on the Reputation. I searched for every thread on Reputation, but it seems that either no one replies to questions asked in reputation posts or the answers are so cursory & not explained in enough detail to make sense. I've come to the conclusion that I will probably die before I ever find a detail explanation of Reputation. My best advice to all is: don't hold your breath for a thorough explanation, don't let it keep you up at night & just forget about it.