Very new to Poser (just got and learning Poser 5) and am having a clothing problem.  Since some free clothing, hair, and other things come as a cr2 file and as a "figure" in Poser, I need to know how to attach them to the figure of the human I am working on?  How to attach/merge a figure to a figure or change the clothing figure to a pz2 to attach.  Can't get or don't know how to get clothing that are cr2 to go on my models.  Make sence?  

Also, is there a way for Poser to continually update render of model after each added artical as to see the result without re-rendering each time and keep the rendered model visable like DAZ/Studio does?

If it's conforming clothing - cr2 based - you will need to go to the figure menu after it loads and tell Poser to conform it to the figure. Figure --> Conform , then just select the figure from the list and you should be good to go.

If they're prop items, (hair, hats...etc) they will need to be parented to the figure in order to stay with it when you pose or move. Unless they're a smart prop item for the figure you're applying them to and then the parenting should already be there.

Object --> Change parent , then select the desired body part for desired figure in the hierarchy menu that opens up. You can also then save a copy of this parented prop back ot the library so it will be smart propped if you plan on using it again with the same figure.

Poser doesn't really have an update preview render that I can recall from P5...however you could turn document display style to texture shaded to get close in the main working window. This will not work with most procedural shaders since their effects only show up after rendering.

I did go to the figure thread, but the "Conform to" was not  highlighted as to use.   If I was to parent, let say a dress,  what body part would I parent it to (shoulders, chest, hips....)?

If the clothing is a Figure, then you can only "Conform to" for it to work. Parenting won't match the human figure->clothing body parts so that posing the figure moves the clothing along with it.  Are you sure that the clothing is a figure?  And is it selected with the target human figure already existing in the scene before going to the Figure menu?

It could also be a Dynamic Prop which needs to be parented and then run through the Cloth Room.  Think of this as a complicated (but more versatile) way to have clothing move with the human figure to which it is parented.

When you're conforming a piece of clothing you MUST have the clothing item selected and the body selected.  Once you do that, the Conform To menu should work.