I can't help with your last issue but I can tell you how to look up other members on the old TS3 site. I first go to the "My Page" wall and then I will go up to where the web address is : https://mypage.thesims3.com/mypage/lisasc360 and then I will click on it until just my name is highlighted in blue. I will then type in the member's name that I'm looking for and hit enter and it should take you to their page.... :)
I should also say that when someone gifts you directly from your wishlist, it doesn't work all of the time. So what my friend did when she tried to gift me something is that she went to the product page and then she clicked on "Gift this item" which then takes you to the "Gift an item" page. From there, you can type in the member's name that you're trying to gift and hit submit.
This has been really wonky... :)
Hope this helps... :)
