I have followed your instructions below:
I have V20080804 installed
To create a textpage, you need to login to your admin and create a folder just like you create a normal folder. After you have given it a name and it has been created, you need to click the checkbox "Use as text page". This will turn it into a textpage and you will see a field for "title" and a large field for "description". The title is simply the title/heading for the page, while the description is used for your actual textcontent. The description field supports html, but is limited.
But when the info is saves and I go through to the front end the text page title arrives in the menu, but does not appear, only a pin prick white spot in the center of the screen.
Also I cannot find the '"textpage" node' mentioned in your paragraph below:
There are a few added options in your theme configuration file, under "textpage" node. There are settings for width, margin, padding, backgroundcolor, opacity and shadow. Navigate to your theme in the admin theme editor and change the values from there.