Hi, I'm new to this and I really don't know what the heck I'm doing.

*grin*  I think most of us have been there, at some point.  It would be helpful, however, if you had specific 'how do I' questions, because novels could be written about how to participate in play-by-post role-playing games, with several appendices on the finer points of how to do it within the confines of the RPOL system...

Be sure to read the FAQs and the Help features linked at the top right of the screen.  They answer a lot of questions.