Ichabod2

P.S. I am using twentyten.

Thank you wpismypuppet.
Your solution did not work. It broke the page below where the images were suppose to go. I also tried <?php echo get_stylesheet_directory_uri(); ?>. However, you got me pointed in the right direction. I finally figured out (trial and error) that path needed a forward slash in front of everything for the root folder. Apparently, <?php echo get_template_directory_uri(); ?> doesn’t return the forward slash.
At any rate, the problems is solved, and you will notice that I am using code tags above.
Again, thank you. It is great that you are willing to share your knowledge—and time. Your avatar makes me think of halloween.

Thank you ‘songdogtech.’ The Justin Tadlock article was very helpful.

Thank you, so much, bdolin and Christine! This is exactly what I need

Sorry I haven’t responded until now, but things happen. I am going to review “creating custom page templates,” but I have been thru it several times. I think my last paragraph indicates my confusion—I am not even sure how to frame my questions.
I am reading a book titled “Professional WordPress Design and Development by Stern, Damstra, and Williams. The first few chapters have contributed more to my understanding of WP than all of the Codex’s I have read. The codex is wonderful, but is does a poor job (in my opinion) of tying things together. The gurus behind WP should think about creating more articles that take a more “birds-eye,” or “tree-top” view, of WP.
This is absolutely NOT a criticism! I know how full their plates must be. In fact, I am astounded by what they have accomplished.

I’ll see how it goes. I figure you saved me several hours already, and a little repetition aids the learning process. Cheers.

You hit the nail on the head, esmi, and thank you. When I went back to the default permalink setting my post started showing on single.php. I will delve, again, into permalinks as you suggest. Thanks for being there.

PS: I have bookmarked your forum replies and threads, and I intend to go through them.

Great call, alchymyth!

I removed the space and viola! there was my gradient sidebar. Thank you.