1) If you want it to be like that:
http://demo.onedesigns.com/pinboard/?page_id=6
than thats the standard setup for a portfolio page. I wrote a tutorial for how to set this up.
Setup a basic portfolio:
http://www.mouseclick.com/tutorials-2/setup-a-basic-portfolio/
which might help you.
No idea why 2) not worked for you 🙂
Cheers,
Alexander @ http://www.mouseclick.com