CCK Challenges

i find CCK to be a very cool module, but am trying to understand how it works so that i can use it correctly.
I had a very nice profile working with only about 5 fields and was easily able to create a nice view and a search page that searched on the profiles quite nicely. Then i added about 25 more fields and now i see nothing on my search view.

Probably i have added too much of something. This thread http://drupal.org/node/85940
suggests that "indexing won't work with text columns exceeding a certain number of characters." Is this true and if so, what is the limit? Are there limits on: the number of values allowed for each text field, the length of the values or the custom fields per node?

Further, i am also trying to get a grip on the fieldgroup function. When i open the "manage fields" screen i see a list of my custom fields and there is a drop down list of field groups to choose from. if i assign a group to one of my fields, then the field no longer shows up on the "manage fields" view. It does show up on the "display fields" screen, but there is no way to click on the field to edit it. The only way that i can go in to edit the field is to type in the url in the browser. I am not able to assign a group to the "title" field.

But just to understand how this "should" work. Should the "manage fields" screen show a list of my custom fields along with the name of their assigned field groups and should one be able to edit the field groups there? Also, should i be able to assign a fieldgroup to the "title" field?

Also, in my profile form, all the field groups that i have entered appear only under "advanced options." is there a way to move them out of there to stand on their own?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

lost in noobie-land