@garye3 Welcome to Ubuntu Discourse 
It can be a tad overwhelming at first but stick with it; Discourse is an amazing software with so many powerful features.
If you get stuck, ask us in Site Feedback
Here are some links to hopefully get you up and running with using our Discourse:
https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-discourse-for-new-users/96331
https://blog.discourse.org/2018/06/understanding-discourse-trust-levels/