Yeah, now that we know the /etc/hildon-desktop/status-menu.plugins is messed up, reboot/restart won't help, because it's a relatively permanent (at least, persists through reboot and is only changed by certain apps {un}installing themselves).

As for uninstall-reinstall and edit status menu, if everything works correctly, either one should do the trick. So you could just copy status-menu.plugins.ap to status-menu.plugins, but if you don't prefer to edit files by hand, then try the uninstall-install way first. If uninstalling and reinstalling seems to fix everything, you're set. Also: If you have rootsh installed, you don't need to wait for SSH, actually.

Just
If you have another editor it's up to you to use vi or not. I like it, but it's not that great due to lack of intuitive controls or conveniently usable interface. vi is powerful, but definitely not the most convenient. If you do use it, press i to actually edit text, then Esc to go back to command mode when done, then type :wq and press enter to save and quit (or :q! to quit without saving, if you mess up badly - like accidentally delete a few lines - I've done that a few times).

Just be sure to edit the file (and run whatever program you're editing with) as root. Else it won't let you save your changes.