I’m just wondering if the problem you are having has anything to do with the limitations set by the “trust levels” of this forum. I noticed that you are still currently showing as a “new user” of the forum, even though you joined a couple of weeks ago.
Try opening and reading a few threads in different categories on the forum and set your forum ‘preferences’. That should get you upgraded to “basic” level, which removes some of the restrictions.
Might be worth a try. 
You’re mostly right. In Spanish, there are three verb conjugations categories: the first conjugation ends in -ar, the second one in -er and the third one in -ir. Regular verbs are always conjugated the same way within their conjugation category. For instance, comer and beber (to eat and to drink) are regular second conjugation verbs and you can see how the endings match, they only differ in the lexical root.
Eg. in the simple past perfect:
Yo beb-í / com-í
Tú beb-iste/ com-iste
Él beb-ió/ com-ió
Nosotros beb-imos/ com-imos
Vosotros beb-isteis/ com-isteis
Ellos beb-ieron/ com-ieron
Notice the lexical root for any verb can be made by taking the ar/er/ir endings out from the infinitive form (comer – “er” = com = lexical root). Any regular verb can be conjugated to any tense by attaching the proper ending to the lexical root. Of course, once you’re used to the endings you don’t have to do it manually (brains are awesome that way).
The thing is, the endings are congugation-type-specific. That is, you have different endings for verbs that end in -ar than for those which end in -er or -ir (I think the last two match, but it’s been a while since I was a schoolkid so I can’t remember).
So what you say, @alanh, is true for verbs that end in -ar, but not for those which end in -er or -ir. Estar is an irregular verb, though, but at least the last vowels for this tense work the way they’re supposed to.
(Maybe I should build a course on Spanish verb grammar)
I use
http://www.spanishdict.com/grammar
where in the verbs section there are several sections on ser vs. estar, with
quizzes for each entry.
Quick summary: DOT vs LoCo: Ser = Description, Origin, or Time. Estar = Location or Condition.
The permanent vs. temporary is very crude, to me it is just a signal to use Ser or Estar by the program, but without real explanation.
Permanent/Temporary is very rough. It is difficult to use English to explain a distinction that doesn’t exist in English.
Consider:
“to be a noun” always requires “ser.” Even if the noun is temporary, it is an identity, and identities use ser. For example, a student may be graduating tomorrow, but you would nonetheless say “es estudiante.”
Dead is state, not an identity, so a deceased person gets “está muerto” regardless of the permanence.
