Help with Flag friend module

I'm having real problem configuring the flag friend module. I'm using this php code in my page-user.tpl.php

There are two issues that I haven't been able to resolve for over a week now:

1. When someone clicks the Add friend link, the link changes to "Friend requested. Cancel?" even though I have configured the unflag text to be 'Remove from the Friend List.' This is not a big issue as I'll probably override the text with an icon, but really frustrating.

2. The pending friends page only lists the flagged user as "anonymous" ???? and no message is being send to the user being flagged for approval. I have double checked all the permissions and configurations, have no clue what is going on.

Any help will be appreciated. I'm using a custom theme.

I have looked into user relationships as well, but that module too was giving me headaches. Other than these two modules, I was unable to find a suitable replacement.