That is very strange, George. Try reloading the html in your browser? Are you using hyperlinks? Or buttons? Anything weird about them? All hyperlinks or just some? If you export a fixed layout epub to disk, does it work? What about a PDF?

You could do that with the index feature (page range).

Sounds like you need to adjust the Level values (make them 1 and 2) and then make sure you’re using the “Restart Numbers at This Level After” feature.

You can use the “Break Link to Style” feature in the paragraph styles panel (and the character styles panel).

Here’s a tutorial on rebuilding preferences in InDesign: https://creativepro.com/rebuilding-indesign-preferences.php

So a new test document with 10 or 20 pages full of text doesn’t lag? If that is the case, then it seems like it must be something inside the documents… you sure you exported as IDML and then opened the IDML file for a fresh copy?

You can already use Object > Convert Shape in InDesign… are you looking for different shapes?

I’m glad you figured out the character style problem. That is a common issue in InDesign!

Sean, I’d highly recommend doing some training videos or get a book about InDesign. For example, I have an “Essentials” course on Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning. Or, for something more specific, maybe Nigel’s title on making a book: https://www.lynda.com/InDesign-tutorials/Designing-Book/114894-2.html

You can control the odd/even pages with the Keep settings inside the paragraph style. There are lots of ways people bring the chapter start down the page. Here’s some (read the comments, too):
https://creativepro.com/dont-apply-baseline-shift-to-move-a-paragraph-up-or-down.php