[Theme: AZ] Issues with Excerpt/Content, Title Placement, more…

WordPress beginner here, currently using the AZ theme and running into a few issues. I’ve done some research on these, and people often suggest adding a simple string of code into the Custom CSS section — but that doesn’t seem to work for me.

MAIN ISSUES:

1) Excerpt vs. Content — Currently, my posts are getting cut off after a few lines regardless of where I insert the “Read More” line. I would like to be able to display the entire content of all the posts on the homepage by default, which would give me control over where the “Read More” occurs. I’ve tried increasing the excerpt limit in the appearance settings, which didn’t work.

2) Post Title Above Featured Image — Currently, the title of my posts are appearing underneath the featured image. I’d prefer the more classic look of the title appearing above all content (images/text).

SECONDARY ISSUES:

3) Remove the Magnifying Glass Icon — Everything I’ve found online says this should be as simple as adding a small line of code in the Custom CSS section, but nothing seems to work. It’s as if the AZ theme is blocking Custom CSS?

4) Is there any way to remove the Category “call-out” that appears directly above the post text / below the featured image?

Again, I’m a beginner with all of this, so any help will be much appreciated! Thanks.