Hi Idril,. Welcome to Planet Tolkien. Don't worry about being a Newbie. Even Grondy was one once (back in the First Age probably

)
I think the best advice I can give you at the moment is to visit our guide.
On the left menu bar, almost at the top you will see a link called
My Account. If you click on there, you will go to a page where among other options you will see another link called
Website Help .
That will take you to a guide we wrote for new members like yourself, to help you navigate yourself around the site. It is possibly becoming a little dated now because none of us have had time to regularly update it, but most of it still holds true. If you take ten minutes to run through it, I'm sure it will prove a great help to you.
Quote:
How do I start a new thread Tolkien/LOTR related and non-Tolkien/LOTR related?
By this, I assume you mean how do you know where to place your new thread rather than how do you physically start one? If I'm wrong, and you want to know the latter, the guide will tell you.
With regards to knowing where a new thread should go, it's just a matter of common sense really. If its book related or film related, they each have their own sections. If it's more specifically about a character or place, they have their own sections too. Other sections include threads concerning the site specifically, and JRR Tolkien himself. The Guilds are sections specific to certain interests such as writing or photography etc. If it is a topic bout anything else (particularly non Tolkien related), place it in one of the taverns which are open to a full range of discussions. Please bear in mind though that we have a total ban on topics discussing Sex, Religion and Politics, unless they have a direct bearing on Tolkien's works.
Hope that is of some help.