Help me understand three game features please

[Alitaria]

#1) Food Dispenser - My colonists often refuse to use the food dispenser when i have one, opting instead to eat raw food (no, they're not cannibals).  I know the hoppers need to have food in them, and i'm not sure if they've still eaten raw food when hoppers are full, but i can't seem to get the option to have colonists manually reload hoppers...sometimes they do it, but the "prioritize X" option doesn't seem to appear for me for filling hoppers (i've seen it once, but haven't actually been able to get the option to reappear, strangely). 

Where do you put food dispensers in your base?  do hoppers have to be on a certain side of the dispenser?  can the colonists manually fill hoppers and if so, are there requirements to be able to fill them (not job capabilities, i'm aware a non-hauler probably couldn't fill one)?  Are there foods (other than hay or otherwise ready to eat meals) that can't go in food dispensers?

#2) deadfall traps.  I've tried using deadfall traps once in a mountain base i've made.  The opening was 2 squares wide, and i put in 2 traps.  The second colonist to walk out of the base "accidentally" triggered a trap, nearly dying, and i promptly removed the traps. 

Are deadfall traps worth using?  How do you use them?  what kinds of structures do you build in order to place them effectively?  Is the risk to colonists worth placing them in a high traffic area, or are they placed exclusively in places that take advantage of a weak AI (like places that raiding pawns will cross, but that working colonists never walk on)?

#3 Cryptosleep caskets.  Not the ship ones.  What are the purposes for this item?  I've literally never used one for any reason (other than opening ones i've found in the "ancient danger" buildings).  Will colonists heal in a casket?  Why would i put a colonist into a casket?  why would i put a prisoner into the casket (i'm assuming you can't recruit them in a casket...) as opposed to attempting to recruit or release them?  Are there any drawbacks to putting colonists or prisoners into cryptosleep caskets?

Thanks in advance!  sorry if some of these questions seem ridiculously dense.  I love knowing how everything in a game works, and those 3 things are just getting to me.

1) I personally don't ever use the Paste dispenser as I don't like having the small mood debuff that comes with eating paste. I mean c'mon, that shits gotta be nasty.

2) Deadfall traps are incredibly useful to get some meaningful damage onto a couple of raiders, if not killing them outright. The best use of them is to create a choke point and line it with a few traps but have a hallway with some strong doors (stone or plasteel) for colonists and visitors to use so they don't risk setting them off. The AI is usually smart enough to take the safe route but just to be on the super safe side you can create an allowed area of the entire map, bar the choke point (This is done easily by first making an allowed area on the choke point and then clicking invert)

3) Cyptosleep coffins are very situational. They are useful if you have a colonist prone to breaking such as a depressive or a psychically hypersensitive colonist. During psychic events or times of great stress, you can put them on ice until it ends. Because the colonist is basically frozen in time while in their, their mood will never changed, injuries wont worsen and they don't need food. It can also be used to reducing the number of mouths to feed over a harsh winter.
I personally only use them to store brain damaged colonists because I don't want to kill them, but they are more of a burden to the colony than a help.

4) Hearts and Livers are almost useless to have in a stockpile as removing one will kill the patient. Even your own colonists.
Plus taking one from a prisoner will give the whole colony a mood debuff. It's honestly not worth the 200 silver.

[Shoggoth]

Not sure if this is the issue, but have at least 5 hoppers for the dispenser. Each nutrient paste requires 6 units of raw food (5 with the appropriate research). If you have less than that in your hoppers, and you don't have enough of that same type of food to refill the hoppers, then people will eat raw food. They can mix and match food from separate hoppers for the required 5 units though, so even if each hopper only has 1 unit of food in it, they'll still be able to eat paste as long as you have enough hoppers.

Food is placed in the hopper as a part of the hauling skill, not cooking, which is why trained animals are able to deliver food to the hoppers. Just make sure you have someone set to haul with high priority and they'll refill it on their own. The fact that you say you're unable to manually get them to refill the hoppers makes me wonder if the issue could be your storage priority settings. Make sure the hoppers have a higher priority setting than the general food storage.

I usually place my dispenser in the fridge and am too lazy to move them from there, but a more ideal setup has the dispenser spanning rooms. Dispensers count as a wall-like barrier, so you can set the access point to be your dining hall, while having the hoppers placed in the freezer. This way people don't have to walk into the freezer to get meals and the food in your hoppers won't spoil.

Colonists will avoid deadfall traps when possible, so don't have the only route out covered in traps. Placing a corridor filled with traps, while having an alternate door exit as others have mentioned is one use. Another is to place traps at places you know are likely to be used as cover by attackers.

[CrazyEyes]

I use cryptosleep caskets to store downed enemies I don't plan on recruiting. Those raiders have valuable organs in them, but harvesting from a dozen people at once means half my colony riots and keeping them in cells is a waste of food and my wardens' time. Putting them on ice means I can keep them alive indefinitely until I need a spare kidney or lung without draining my resources at all.

Sure, the caskets are expensive, but selling statues and alpaca wool more than makes up for it.

[Limdood]

Food is placed in the hopper as a part of the hauling skill, not cooking, which is why trained animals are able to deliver food to the hoppers. Just make sure you have someone set to haul with high priority and they'll refill it on their own. The fact that you say you're unable to manually get them to refill the hoppers makes me wonder if the issue could be your storage priority settings. Make sure the hoppers have a higher priority setting than the general food storage.

I found my problem.  Critical priority storages and important priority hoppers.  Thanks!

[mokonasakura]

No, traps are not useful at all.

[TheGrover]

I wouldn't say that if a handful of traps sorted a scyther attack for me, no bullets required, no turrets fired a shot, just two dead scythers with busted heads.

Same principle with mad animals and manhunter packs, just make sure that pawns can rearm every one of them and collect any loot without having to walk through them, pawns without arms or eyes tend to be a little bit useless

[masterinire]

I build deadfall traps near the crashed spaceships and let them deal with the things that come out when you start shooting the crashed part.

I tend to regret that decision later when the steel is scarce but its a good solution for early game poison ships/psychic pulse ships.

[Cardbo]

If you where Sappers are likely to enter, you can place a few traps near there, and wait for them to arrive.

[RedneckEinstein]

Amazing information provided by all of you, thanks!

I was wondering if anyone wanted to come along and check out my youtube playthrough? Well my latest one anyway....since ive got loads of playthroughs..maybe you could be kind enough to critique my base? Provide some amazing insights and tips? And dare i say maybe subscribe?

Here are some links: Latest Modded Boreal Forest Playthrough with EDB Interface - http://bit.ly/1XRPE24

                              Latest Video in the Series - http://bit.ly/1LdgB7g

I hope some of you can spare some time to help!