Great advice, thanks for putting it together!

I'd say make this a sticky - but is there any way threads like this, the Beginner's Guide, and some of the other threads like "Anticipation" by Lynn can be made more obvious on the home page? Almost like a permanent "Hey New Guy (or Girl)!" button on the front page. You can put links to all of this stuff in one spot and have a place for signing up right there. It might be convenient for those not familiar with the site.