Nag screen used to be disabled by using live mode in TH2. I haven't looked for live mode yet in TH3.
I've been using TH3 a bunch. I haven't found a better way to zoom than the zoom levels provided at the bottom center if the GUI.
I'm curious how to search for patches. There used to be a great view where you could see a bunch of patches and load them up. I have not RTFM.