Rick,
Correct, I didn't use Softaculous. I did my own install.
You wrote "I get 'red' checks, and I cannot go any further.... (Y)ou get 'orange' checks, and seem to go a little further than i. After you get your "other checks" web page, are you able to click on 'continue' or is this as far as you go?"
To be clear, I have Moodle installed and it seems perfectly functional. I've created users, created categories, and created courses. I've installed a few plugins and a few themes. These all seem to work perfectly. I did initially have a few other warning messages -- about my php.ini, cron, and permissions, etc. I was able to address all of these on my own.
Once I found the orange "checks" about utf8 and Antelope, I tried entering an emoticon in a message text . One time I got a warning that I might lose all of my text but I tried a different time and didn't get the warning. So at least if a user tried to use an emoticon, they might get a warning before they lose everything they typed.
I have not run into any other issues. This is why I'm trying to get clarification on the limits I'll hit on Antelope -- before I invest any more time and energy learning Moodle and setting up a course. I'm talking about technical limitations. Just as the utf8 is a technical limitation. Are there any? What is it that Barracuda offers/affords in Moodle that Antelope doesn't?
I understand that I may well hit the limits of my current hosting plan. I was prepared for that. During the set up it was clear how much larger and complex Moodle is than WP and therefore one would assume a larger drain on resources, even when empty. The fact that Moodle wanted an every-minute cron job whereas SiteGround recommends nothing more frequent than every 30 mins -- that was a clue, too. 
I greatly appreciate your on-going efforts to help me.
