Codeblocks itself are not deprecated, you just need to make sure your theme uses the one you set. Since you didn't tell which theme you use you will have to take a look yourself.
The macros are explained here:
http://www.zenphoto.org/news/content-macros
And for the two slideshow plugins (both work the same way) here:
http://www.zenphoto.org/documentation/plugins/media/_zp-extensions---slideshow.php.html
http://www.zenphoto.org/documentation/plugins/media/_zp-extensions---slideshow2.php.html