This is my first HTC phone so I am still getting used to it.
When I unlock the phone, it always plays an animation, like fog or clouds or rain and I have to tap the screen to get it to disappear. How do I get rid of that?
Instead of deleting the widget, you can tap, hold, then drag to the bottom left to the Edit button. That will also allow you to turn off animations. There is also a Setting that controls animations.