successful root, ongoing problem installing a recovery

yesterday i successfully rooted my Tab 4 using CF Root matissewifi-matissewifizs-smt530 - then spent the entire remainder of the day trying to understand the difference between 'recovery mode' and 'ROM' and 'recovery' 'img', 'tar', 'zip' and 'nandroid' and backup and TWRP the app and TWRP the recovery and Rom Manager and Clockworkmod and why the apps don't want to download the roms I want and why my Tab 4 10.1 isn't listed in the TWRP devices so...

i attempted to install a recovery in about 50 different ways and got my Tab stuck in reboot loop about 50 times -

WHEN I DID get what i thought was TWRP (or GooIm-whatever) to download the correct recovery and reboot into the proper recovery mode i ALWAYS saw the usual recovery options: Reboot, something using ADP, something using external, Factory Reset, wipe cache, something using cache.

nothing related to TWRP or ANY custom recovery.

I'm not quite sure that all of the directions i can ever find about how to do this are written on the assumption that the user knows half of what's going on here. there are some of us who do NOT know what "Flash" means, and other terminology.

******* Can someone please tell me what i need to do to install ANY custom recovery so that I CAN create a Nandroid Backup?

I'm trying to install the new Magazine UX theme or whatever it is. (apparently this replaces the TouchWiz theme? Mine came with TouchWiz?)