I had read in one of the merit threads (perhaps this one) that your "+merit" link (or button on the top of each post) to be able to send merit to someone else does not appear unless you have at least one sendable merit in your bank. 

So, for you, you need to earn two merits to then have acquired one smerit to be able to send, and then your button/link will appear, and the rest should be fairly straight forward.