When you don't have any actual body text in a post, could you please NOT type those "Enters"(*) or whatever it is you put into the big "Comment" text box?
That way, by leaving an in-effect-empty post *actually*-and-totally empty, the server software knows to mark it "NT" in the thread display. (Which stands for "No Text"; see Ben's "That's one way to try to end a thread..." a few posts up-thread for an example.)
And *that* way, with No-Text posts *marked* "No Text", we can just read the headline and mark the forum read -- in stead of having to click open a post only to find there's nothing there, which feels a bit like a frustrating waste of time.
Thank you.
(*): Returns, line-ends, paragraph marks... You know, the big key above the right shift key.