basic Apple IIe operating instructions (load/save to cassette, turn on 80 cols, etc) ?

[mad.scientist.jr@gmail.com]

I am an Apple dummy who recently got an old IIe (no peripherals yet,
it has a disk i/o card but I unplugged that for now so the computer
boots into BASIC) and am just having fun messing around typing in some
BASIC code.  I never owned an Apple II so I have no clue on a bunch of
things. Is there a good Apple IIe "manual" online that would answer
some basic questions I have?

LOAD/SAVE to/from cassette: For one, load & save programs from
cassette. I have a tape recorder plugged into one of the 1/8" plugs in
the back of the IIe (there are two plugs with what looks like a
cassette icon printed next to them, so I assume these are cassette in/
out). I typed a "hello world" program and typed "save", hit record on
the tape and hit <ENTER>, and the Apple acts as though it's doing
something, and after a minute or so, the BASIC prompt comes up again.
I typed NEW and rewound the tape and typed "LOAD" <ENTER> and pressed
play but nothing. It seems nothing is on the tape. I tried swapping
the tape IN/OUT plugs (in case I have them backwards) but still
nothing.

80 COLS: How do you turn on 80 columns on the IIe?  I think 80 cols
was built into the IIe right? I think my machine is a later edition,
maybe "platinum", as it has the numeric keypad, but I have it plugged
into an RGB monitor via the RCA video out, and am only seeing 40
cols.

Enabling BACKSPACE: when I try typing in some BASIC programs, the
backspace key isn't working, it prints a graphic character (looks like
a square) instead. I have to hit the back arrow to correct mistakes. I
am just not sure if this is normal or not, or if the computer is in
the wrong "mode"?

Thanks...