Teach Soap

So I have made my first batch of cream soap today and it seemed to turn out fine but i have a few questions.

1. It is very thick, one of the ingredients is stearic acid, if i want to make a thinner batch (like for pump bottles) can i cut the stearic acid out to get that effect?

2. the pH is currently very high which i expected, can i use a pH adjuster like borax or citric acid to bring it down or does it have to cure like CP soap?

3. can i use actual cream (milk) in a recipe like this? Or yogurt? mother-in-law asked for a yogurt soap and i thought she may like this type of soap.

4. are certain oils better than others for this type of soap formulation?

5. what type of container is normal for this soap? pump bottle, squeeze tube, jar? This is all very new to me so I am really flying by the seat of my pants here.

6. is a preservative needed or recommended as it is with liquid soaps?

7. any other ingredients that may be nice to add to a soap of this type? additives, waxes, oils, etc.???

Any tips or tricks that i should know about?

Here is the recipe i used, (from snow drift farms)

Cream Soap No. 17

a medium density soft soap, perfect for exfoliants and other additives.

Oils (by weight)

4.6 oz. sweet almond oil
6 oz. coconut oil
4 oz. palm oil
2 oz. stearic acid

Lye (by weight) = 2.4 oz. KOH & .7 oz. NAOH

Water (distilled) = 20 oz. (by weight)
PLUS 1 oz. by weight liquid glycerin.

thanks all
Erin

*edit* i am cross-posting this in the CP section in case someone there has some experience with this.