www.slsblog.com I am familiar with all of this stuff, just not word press. To edit things like: author note on side put adsense on side add privacy policy at footer add new pages to top menu bar etc Can this stuff be done in the admin control panel, or do I have to code it into the theme? What can and cannot be done in the cpanel?
author note on side - can be done through edit theme (sidebar.php) put adsense on side - can be done through edit theme (sidebar.php) or through adsense plugins add privacy policy at footer - can be done through edit theme (footer.php) add new pages to top menu bar - can be done through admin control panel DON.
When you say 'can be done through edit theme', you mean editing the given file and uploading it via ftp, right? Or is there an 'edit theme' place in the admin panel?
After you edited the sidebar did you press save button? Also, in my point of view, is easier and safer to edit files manually and upload them with a FTP client