Bronson2010

here’s what i’d like to do:

1. move the “show x entries” below the table (b/c it interferes with the search box

Have you looked into the miscellaneous option page under the settings tab.
I was having a similar issue with a clients blog and discovered that the default path of wp-content/upload was changed to something different.

You must have the upload path set to default parameters or the function breaks especially when you use a theme other than the default kubric theme.

Try it yourself and see if this helps. It did for me.

Rob
Bestwebpresence.com