Thank you for the tips! I am also a newbie and this is really helpful. So far, I have been lurking in the "Meta" and "Beginners & Help" Boards trying to understand the rules and looking for some guides. I will keep this in mind when I make my first few posts. 
I guess you are very much in the right track by firstly making much of your time navigating the forum by making reading first to enable you get information that will lead you in to making relevant posts after understanding vital rules and regulations of the forum, when I started I was too hasten at first but later I realized that I have to slow down where at some point I spent almost 3 to 4 weeks only on reading without posting after which when I started posting I found out that there was lots of differences both in my posting skills and the value of my posts, you are welcome to the family I wish you the best and am optimistic that I will see at the top.
Thank you for the kind words.
It is indeed a bit time consuming, and it requires a good amount of effort as well. Sometimes the amount of information is overwhelming as a newbie (like understanding how activity and merit works), but I think that it is necessary to learn. I've always thought that it is common knowledge to do my own research first. From what I have seen so far, I think the community is very helpful and accepting of newbies, and I really appreciate it.