Rachel there is a sticky note at the top of this forum that Mal and others have Put together for new players. There is also a sticky about posting guidelines by Lori ( i think ) up there too. Usually the individual threads are only for the title at the top of the page.
And Jack , I have found that on Fridays and Mondays VMK does load slow in the mornings, i dont know if has something to do with the new items or not. I always make sure i reboot and clean my pc on those morning before i enter VMK. It seems to help a little