Hi Jack,
Thank you so much for your reply. After being reassured by you that you had experienced no conflicts with your install, I was sure the problem was with my install, and this was indeed the case. The code for 2.3.4 is different and in placing the code in application_top.php I had inserted it just before the correct line. I repeated this mistake many times for some reason, but after receiving your reply I went through each step MUCH more carefully and now everything works PERFECT!
I sincerely apologize for troubling you with this, but your reply is certainly what helped me fix it, so I really appreciate your prompt reply and these awesome contributions. I am really happy to have found the Header Tags SEO, it works so much better and is so much easier than the previous hacks I created to accomplish this.
Thanks Again Jack, the community is blessed to have a great contributor like you.