It's odd that your follow-up did not appear, as using [reply] is indeed the proper way to post one.

Perl Monks Discussion is indeed the place to discuss anything related to the site itself.

The Monastery Gates are special, as they can contain nodes from any of a number or sections of the site - it is no section of its own, rather posts from Seekers of Perl Wisdom, Perl Monks Discussion, Meditations, and others, may be placed there by any level 6 or higher user (which is called "frontpaging" a node).

It is true that the site is a bit hard to get into; I was somewhat lost at first when I signed up.

For example, note that the search box at the top only searches on topics (you can also enter a node ID there to be taken directly to the node in question); what people usually want when they want to search is the Super Search which searches inside posts as well (not to mention it has all kinds of whiz bang).

Although it is probably possible to help newcomers get a gentler introduction to the site, the mere amount of features inevitably means you're bound to take a while until you have familiarized yourself with everything it has to offer. It's much more than it appears to be at first sight.

On that note, welcome! Have fun exploring the monastery's catacombs. May your stay be enjoyable and educative. :-)

Makeshifts last the longest.