Modification of Slider Hyperlink

First, let me admit to being an absolute n00b with php.  If I post something ridiculously stupid or ignorant please be kind and point me in the right direction.  I thank everyone in advance for your time and attention; your help is greatly appreciated.

I am working on a website http://guardianescrow.net/ where my goal is to customize the hyperlink function in the homepage slider.  This is a Word Press (v. 3.1) install of ThemeFuse theme called  C3 (v. 1.0.11).

The slider rotates through 4 images with 4 corresponding boxes underneath the banner labeled /#fragment-1 thru /#fragment-4.

Each box contains a bit of text as a label and a small graphic file.  As the slider rotates thru the banner images there is also some text @ left of the banner pic that rotates as well.  If any of the boxes are clicked it rotates the slider/slider text accordingly.

In order to click through to an assigned page for each of the 4 slides you have to click on a tiny graphic wedged in between the banner text and the slider image.  <this is currently only active on /#fragment-2 and /#fragment-4>  Pretty much everyone at work has complained that they cannot figure out how to click through to a page from the banner and when I point out the small hyperlinked graphic they find it ridiculous.

I would like to customize the slider to allow the user to click thru via the boxes under the banner, instead of having the boxes under the banner change the slider display.  Alternative would be to hyperlink the text/graphic in the box or the slider text...essentially anything but the tiny "+" graphic that is now in use.

I searched the support logs @ ThemeFuse and someone has asked for assistance on this exact topic already.  The developer declined to assist stating, "we don't provide customization work."

I have located the php code for the slider and I have compared to the source code from the home page.  I've done a few trial and error adjustments to the featured.php file but no joy. 

Your suggestions/guidance are appreciated.

PHP Code:

<?php 
if ( !is_front_page() ) {} 
else { ?>	
<div id="topslider" class="tabs-bottom">
<?php if ( get_option(PREFIX.'_homepage_slider_type')=='posts' || get_option(PREFIX.'_homepage_slider_type')=='categories' ) { ?>
<ul class="ui-tabs-nav ui-helper-reset ui-helper-clearfix ui-widget-header ui-corner-all">	
<?php 
// $sliders  - we got this data in count_slider_image.php file, included in header.php
if(!isset($sliders)) $sliders = array();
$count = 0;
foreach($sliders as $post) :
setup_postdata($post);
$postid = get_the_ID(); 
$src = get_post_meta($postid, PREFIX."_post_image", true);
$info = wp_check_filetype($src);
if( !preg_match('/image/',$info['type']) ) continue; 
$count++;
if ($count==1) { $classFirst = 'first'; } else { $classFirst = ''; }
?>
<li class="<?php echo $classFirst; ?>"><a href="#fragment-<?php echo $count;?>" class="ico-1"><span><?php echo html_entity_decode(get_post_meta($postid, PREFIX."_post_icon_title", true),ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?></span><?php if ( get_post_meta($postid, PREFIX."_post_icon", true)!='' ) { ?><em><img src="<?php echo get_post_meta($postid, PREFIX."_post_icon", true); ?>" alt="<?php echo strip_tags(html_entity_decode(get_post_meta($postid, PREFIX."_post_icon_title", true),ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8')); ?>" border="0" /></em><?php } ?></a></li>		
<?php endforeach; ?> 
</ul>           
<?php 
// $sliders  - we got this data in count_slider_image.php file, included in header.php
$count = 0;
foreach($sliders as $post) :
setup_postdata($post);
$postid = get_the_ID();
$src = get_post_meta($postid, PREFIX."_post_image", true);
$info = wp_check_filetype($src);
if( !preg_match('/image/',$info['type']) ) continue; 
$count++;
?>
<div id="fragment-<?php echo $count; ?>" class="ui-tabs-panel ui-widget-content ui-corner-bottom">
<div class="left-text">
<span class="slide-title"><?php the_title(); ?></span>
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><img src="<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>/images/btn_plus.gif" alt="" width="41" height="41" border="0" class="btn-plus" /></a>
<?php the_excerpt();?>
</div>
<div class="right-text"> 
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php tfuse_get_image(483, 325, 'img', PREFIX.'_post_image', '', false, ''); ?></a>
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>
<?php endforeach; ?>            
<?php } else { ?>
<ul class="ui-tabs-nav ui-helper-reset ui-helper-clearfix ui-widget-header ui-corner-all">	
<?php 
$imageCount = get_option(PREFIX.'_homepage_slider_img_count'); 
if ($imageCount > get_option(PREFIX.'_homepage_slider_entries')) $imageCount = get_option(PREFIX.'_homepage_slider_entries');
for ( $count = 1; $count <= $imageCount; $count++ ) { ?>
<?php $slideArr = get_option(PREFIX.'_homepage_slider_sliderdata_'.$count); ?>
<?php if ($count==1) { $classFirst = 'first'; } else { $classFirst = ''; } ?>
<li class="<?php echo $classFirst; ?>"><a href="#fragment-<?php echo $count;?>" class="ico-1"><span><?php echo html_entity_decode($slideArr["slider_icon_title"],ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?></span><?php if ( $slideArr["slider_icon"]!='' ) { ?><em><img src="<?php echo $slideArr["slider_icon"]; ?>" alt="<?php echo strip_tags(html_entity_decode($slideArr["slider_icon_title"],ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8')); ?>" border="0" /></em><?php } ?></a></li>		
<?php }  ?>                  
</ul>	
<?php 
$imageCount = get_option(PREFIX.'_homepage_slider_img_count'); 
if ($imageCount > get_option(PREFIX.'_homepage_slider_entries')) $imageCount = get_option(PREFIX.'_homepage_slider_entries');
for ( $count = 1; $count <= $imageCount; $count++ ) { ?>
<?php $slideArr = get_option(PREFIX.'_homepage_slider_sliderdata_'.$count); ?>
<?php if ($count==1) { $classFirst = 'first'; } else { $classFirst = ''; } ?>
<div id="fragment-<?php echo $count; ?>" class="ui-tabs-panel ui-widget-content ui-corner-bottom">
<div class="left-text">
<span class="slide-title"><?php echo html_entity_decode($slideArr['slider_name'],ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?></span>
<?php if ( $slideArr['slider_link']!='' ) { ?><a href="<?php echo $slideArr['slider_link']; ?>"><img src="<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>/images/btn_plus.gif" alt="" width="41" height="41" border="0" class="btn-plus" /></a><?php } ?>
<p><?php echo html_entity_decode($slideArr['slider_description']);?></p>
</div>
<div class="right-text"> 
<?php if ( $slideArr['slider_link']!='' ) { ?><a href="<?php echo $slideArr['slider_link']; ?>"><?php tfuse_get_image(483, 325, 'img', $slideArr['img'], '', false, ''); ?></a><?php } 
else tfuse_get_image(483, 325, 'img', $slideArr['img'], '', false, ''); ?>
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>
<?php } ?>                  
<?php } ?>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>
<!-- top-slider --> 
<?php } ?>

HTML Source Code:

<!-- topslider -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/themes/c3/css/ui.tabs.css" type="text/css" media="print, projection, screen" />
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/themes/c3/js/ui.core.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/themes/c3/js/ui.tabs.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(function() {
$('#topslider').tabs({ fx: [{opacity:'toggle', duration:'fast'},{opacity:'toggle', duration:'fast'}] }).tabs('rotate', 5000);
        });
</script>
<!--/ topslider -->

<div id="topslider" class="tabs-bottom">
<ul class="ui-tabs-nav ui-helper-reset ui-helper-clearfix ui-widget-header ui-corner-all">	
<li class="first"><a href="#fragment-1" class="ico-1"><span><b>Our</b> <big>Clients</big></span><em><img src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/uploads/ico-3.png" alt="Our Clients" border="0" /></em></a></li>		
<li class=""><a href="#fragment-2" class="ico-1"><span><b>Our</b> <big>Services</big></span><em><img src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/uploads/ico-2.png" alt="Our Services" border="0" /></em></a></li>		
<li class=""><a href="#fragment-3" class="ico-1"><span><b>Our</b> <big>Process</big></span><em><img src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/uploads/ico-4.png" alt="Our Process" border="0" /></em></a></li>		
<li class=""><a href="#fragment-4" class="ico-1"><span><b>Our</b> <big>Pricing</big></span><em><img src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/uploads/ico-1.png" alt="Our Pricing" border="0" /></em></a></li>		
</ul>
<div id="fragment-1" class="ui-tabs-panel ui-widget-content ui-corner-bottom">
<div class="left-text">
<span class="slide-title"><span>Our Clients</span> are our best Marketing</span>
<p><h4>Our firm specializes in helping people just like you.  If you are buying your first home or building your last, we will work hard to make your dreams a reality.</h4></p>
</div>
<div class="right-text"> 
<img src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/themes/c3/thumb.php?src=http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/uploads/clients1.png&h=325&w=483&zc=1&q=100"  height="325"  width="483"  alt="Guardian Escrow &#8211; We&#8217;re here to help!"  />                        
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>
<div id="fragment-2" class="ui-tabs-panel ui-widget-content ui-corner-bottom">
<div class="left-text">
<span class="slide-title">We are at your <span>Service</span></span>
<a href="http://guardianescrow.net/services/"><img src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/themes/c3/images/btn_plus.gif" alt="" width="41" height="41" border="0" class="btn-plus" /></a>                            
<p><h4>Many people wonder where service has gone. At Guardian Escrow we pride ourselves at delivering the best service in the industry. For more than 20 years we worked to perfect the escrow experience.</h4></p>
</div>
<div class="right-text"> 
<a href="http://guardianescrow.net/services/"><img src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/themes/c3/thumb.php?src=http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/uploads/service1.png&h=325&w=483&zc=1&q=100"  height="325"  width="483"  alt="Guardian Escrow &#8211; We&#8217;re here to help!"  /></a>                        
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>
<div id="fragment-3" class="ui-tabs-panel ui-widget-content ui-corner-bottom">
<div class="left-text">
<span class="slide-title">Experience the <span>Guardian Escrow</span> difference</span>
<p><h4>Guardian Escrow, established in 1990, offers our customers the highest level of customer service combined with the widest variety of competitive escrow programs on the market.</h4></p>
</div>
<div class="right-text"> 
<img src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/themes/c3/thumb.php?src=http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/uploads/strategy1.png&h=325&w=483&zc=1&q=100"  height="325"  width="483"  alt="Guardian Escrow &#8211; We&#8217;re here to help!"  />                        
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>
<div id="fragment-4" class="ui-tabs-panel ui-widget-content ui-corner-bottom">
<div class="left-text">
<span class="slide-title">We have the best <span>Escrow Products</span> in Seattle</span>
<a href="http://guardianescrow.net/pricing/"><img src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/themes/c3/images/btn_plus.gif" alt="" width="41" height="41" border="0" class="btn-plus" /></a>                            <p><h4>Our trained and experience staff understand that every customer is different, and we offer a variety of real estate escrow programs to meet your individual requirements.</h4></p>
</div>
<div class="right-text"> 
<a href="http://guardianescrow.net/pricing/"><img src="http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/themes/c3/thumb.php?src=http://guardianescrow.net/wp-content/uploads/rates1.png&h=325&w=483&zc=1&q=100"  height="325"  width="483"  alt="Guardian Escrow &#8211; We&#8217;re here to help!"  /></a>                        
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>
<!-- top-slider -->

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You are very unlikely to get help on this since you are asking for programming help rather than help with problems.

There is a big difference. Folk dont mind pointing out bugs in code, but where it is a whole program, application or web page, then you have to hire a programmer like everyone else.

You expect to be paid for your services, so why should you expect specific targeted programming advice for free? We are giving our time for free and I suspect you will give your time for free - up to a point. After that you expect to be paid when it becomes a 'job'. This is such a case.

If you used a free theme which I suspect, then you probably do not get support for free. So pay for the support you need or pay for a theme and get support included. That is how folk make money in this world.

Thank you for your reply, ocpaul20.

I appreciate your point of view.  I'm not going to get into a debate with you so I'll leave it at that.

For the record, I did buy this theme....the designer version....which includes support.  Per my original post I researched the Theme support forums and my exact situation was turned down for support by the Theme's programmer.

Thanks again for your time and attention!

-Bob