You can also find a lot of value in older posts. As you may have seen elsewhere, you can find them more efficiently by using Google Search.
If you include the term "site:wanderthewest.com" in a Google search, that will limit the search to the WTW site.
Example: "site:wanderthewest.com Hallmark furnace" will find all threads with those terms. If you're into more complex searches you can use Google's more advanced terms... like "site:wanderthewest.com Hallmark furnace OR heater" (but you'll also get water heater info)
The other advice I'd give a newbie would be to click on the "View New Content" button in the Forum area to get a sense of what's here on WTW. It's on the blue line under the Wanderthewest banner. Note that you can adjust the time period in the left pane. If you don't seem to be getting much, adjust the time period to look back further.... as much as a year.