emanuele feels fixing 5 different issues in one topic is gonna be a huge mess.

Anyway.
@b4pjoe could you please do the following:
via ftp, go to the "packages" folder in your forum,
find a file named ElkArte_v1-0-8-1_patch.zip (or something close to it, it must contain "v1-0-8-1" in the name),
download it on your computer,
attach it here.
P.S.
Sorry for making it a bit more difficult, but that way it will be easier for both you and me fix all the issues in just one go.