Re: eliminate sort criteria in products page
 

Webmaster mode is useful for finding out which template is which, I do not use it for editing text. Al of the text is in your 'languages' area, which is also covered pretty well in the manual.

I'm afraid there isn't a central resource to track down variables, no. You simply need to become familiar with the file structure of X-Cart. Even those of us who have been working with X-Cart for years sometimes get stuck :)

Re: eliminate sort criteria in products page
 

I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but many of what X-cart calls labels are editable through the Languages section of the admin interface.

(your site) /admin/languages.php

Choose the site language at the top first (under "edit language"), then enter the text you want to change in the search box. When the boxes appear you can edit the text in them.