Attn Shirley Family..Looking for advise

Start here, this should give you a few ideas....and more.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=217836

After having/using a shirley for about 2 years I can tell you that - A) I never use my pit or meat probes anymore and B) the tiny holes where the probe ports are make zero difference.

The holes - You will see a couple wisps of smoke come out of them on start up, but once she starts drafting its a non issue. And you will also see that with the amount of hot steel and high airflow in a shirley, a few small leaks aren't even going to affect your cooking at all.

As to placement, how long are your wires, and where do you plan on putting your transmitter? Side vs top doesn't really matter, I'd just be more concerned with where you need to reach to and from. If you are going to load her up, you will want to put ports on the front, at all 3 levels. If you only put probes on the top and want to reach food on the center or lower rack, you are going to have trouble.

I haven't used my probe points in forever. The only things I even check for temp are chicken/turkey and loins, and those you pretty much get to the point to where timing alone gets you really close.

I'm in the same boat of not using my ports much. I do normally run 1 pit temp gauge in there, but rarely use them for meat at all anymore. I have 3, one on the top on each side of the main chamber and one on the side of the warmer. I do still like having them of course.

They don't affect temp at all. I even unscrew the cap and take out the rubber stopper to make it easier to get a probe in and leave that open. So that rubber stopper has a slot that isn't very big and is somewhat "pinched" when not in use. Again nothing really leaks out.

Unlike everyone else, I use my probes all of the time. Not that I am a slave to them, but I like to monitor temps so I can stay on top of things. I have a 30x88 and have one on each side of the smoke chamber and one in the warmer box. I have found that that is sufficient for me.

I got the side shelf that is on the warmer for my Tappecue and i have one probe port on top by the main chamber stack .

I've got 2 on the far left side of the cook chamber, and 1 on the top of the warmer closest to the 2 stacks-facing the opening of the cook chamber- if that makes sense.

I've got a Thermoworks Smoke- and I've not been able to fit the probes through those rubber openings. The probes have a spring-like covering at the end of the probe to cover the braided cable- and I can't get them through. I'll be trying Jason's mod above because I don't want to go back to the old Maverick that lost connection every few minutes.

I will say though that I put the pit probe right in the middle and placed the wire exactly between the cabinet doors with no issues of bending/snapping the cord or losing smoke and heat.

I have two ports on the end of the main cook chamber, one used for accurate pit temps and the other for large cuts of animals. Like most of us here, I am using the meat probe less these days. Oh, almost forgot, I do have another port on the opposite end on the high rise about halfway up mainly for chamber temps..
I've noticed some folks located their ports on the back..hmmm

It would depend on wire the length of the probes you are using. I put my 2 probe ports on the top in the center of each door. That away I could go either direction with my temp probe.

I got the probe ports and never even used them......