From my experience it only works for me when I want to post CSS. It won’t let me post actual HTML code within the code tag.

As for “getting a permalink”, you already have one. So don’t give that another thought.

Post Slug is the name of the post. Leave it alone and it will automatically conver the title into the post name. In other words, if you don’t know what it is, don’t touch.

Until you read the dummies instructions on the Codex.

As far as images are concerned, I’m sure you noticed the upload option in your admin control center. You can resize images using a little CSS, or resize them locally on your computer before linking. I prefer creating a thumbnail then linking the original so readers can choose to see the full size if needed.

to

thumb-filename.jpg

in the rich editor click the image and then click the little image icon and change it in there.

I’m sure they’ll explain things to make it easier once a few of the other teething problems are worked out.