You might need to wait for somebody else to answer about the playlist b/c I've never used it. As for your shared folder. Did you add the shared folder yourself or was it set by default? If it was a default folder, you can go to your LW menu-Tools-Options-Sharing menu & press Restore Defaults. Otherwise, do you remember the name of the folder or any files that were inside it? If yes, Use MS Explorer to find it & make a note of both the path & the folder's name (even write it down.) Then go back to LW's menu-Tools-Options-Sharing menu & press Add. Direct it to where you found the shared folder. Then press Apply & OK. Now go to your LW Library window & press Refresh & see if your shared folder has returned. When you 1st open up LW & also when new files/folders are added to the shared library list, the files will be red until LW can account for them all. It may take a few mins, but eventually they'll all turn black. Also the no. of LW's shared files will gradually increase as it accounts for them all. Get back to this thread if you're still having problems after trying what I suggested. Good luck.
(If you use Mac OS, get back to me. The principles the same anyway.)