That would be awesome. Also, somewhere there should be a list of commands for the comments editor IMHO.

It sounds like you've been logged out. You need to enter your account name and password and sign in.

Whereas when I link an article it shows the full address. I would like to be able to replace the link description with a description of my own choosing for clarity.

I see articles written where the author has linked other articles. The link is just one word. For example

Drama Queens | Seeking Alpha  the article I just linked has a link to another article called 'hysterics'