Third photo is where both of their South poles are facing up, and they don't want to stick. The sides are weaker than the faces. Fifth photo is like the third, both of their South poles are facing up, and they don't want to stick. The ends are the weakest part of the magnet. Sixth photo is like the fourth, red is South up and blue is North up, so they stick very weakly.
Seventh photo shows how a magnet can pick up a bar of steel.
It only works with the large flat face, not the sides nor the end. Eighth photo shows how the wand magnet can be modified to be very strong on the end, easily picking up the bar of steel. Just strap or tape or rubberband two pieces of steel onto the flat faces of the magnet. This re-directs the magnetic flux to the end of the magnet where the steel bar is located. You can form them into towers, bridges, etc.