SharePoint 2010/designer layout

Hi Barry

Here are some answers below:

TO make sure a new item does not appear in the Left hand navigation permanent menu (i.e. NOT the recents) then go to the newly created item, then go to List/Library, then settings and under settings click on "List Name, Description and navigation", then make sure the display is set to NO.

To turn off the left hand naviation the best way to do this is to create a custom CSS file and attach it to the master page. The code needed is:

<style>
.ms-core-navigation { DISPLAY: none }
#contentBox { margin-left: 0px }
</style>
Alternatively you could add a Snippet web part and add the code into that on the main menu page.
For the main page this can be a good idea BUT for the rest of the site I would keep away from it.