After checking out the article, and attempting the edit myself, I've noticed a couple of things.
I was able to fix those by adding in a replacement variable, and able to line it up on the left side instead of the right with the following change from:
[*]The "Top" button gets placed at the end of the buttons on the right side of the post_controls area, instead of by the "Report" like it was in 2.3.x
[*]There is no image associated with it, so it just comes out as words on a button.
ul.post_controls li.report,
ul.post_controls.left li {
float: left;
}
to:
ul.post_controls li.report,
ul.post_controls li.top,
ul.post_controls.left li {
float: left;
}
You could then edit the HTML as you see fit to add in your own little image. I ended up with:
<a href='#top' title='{$this->lang->words['back_top']}'>{parse replacement="top_button"}{$this->lang->words['back_top']}</a>
</li>
<li class='top'>
And this is the end result:
I don't know if I should post it as a "bug" since I don't know if it would be considered as one, but I did do an update to the article bfarber made detailing these extra steps to get that familiar feel back to it.