With configuring nodelets, I see remove boxes for mine, on the left side.

I believe the large code font only applies to stuff found within the CODE tags.

Theme configuration requires that you load one more time for it to take effect. So select a theme, then hit 'talk' (for example) and you should see it.

The front page is 'The Monastery Gates', which is the first page you see when going to the site. Everything else is a non-frontpage.