Since you're new, people most likely won't take you seriously unless you make a respectable first impression. Posting in the introduction thread like so:
"hai guize 1'm n3w h3re und I <3 animachuns, h0w duz I ma3k sum?!"
You should post with proper grammar, this will make people think you take the time not to look like a complete ****ing idiot, and will take you more seriously, but if you post like a retard, you will be made fun of/flamed.
"Hello, I'm _____ and I'm new to SPP. I really love to animate, so expect some animations from me soon! I hope to learn and get better with everyone else out there!"
That post looks a lot more sophisticated, and that would've caught my eye, seeing as most newbies post utter crap.
Second, you don't want to overdose your post with emoticons, yes, they are tempting, but people will just not like it if you start posting like:
"HAI EVERYBODYZ! :Embarrassed: :heh: :Smile: :Nooooooo: :Ohhhhh: :Love<3: :Undercover: :Phew: :Cry: :Cold: :Love: :Oh No!:"
It's terrible, and makes you look like an idiot.
First impressions are HUGE on this site. There are many newbies getting flamed to date. Just because they post like idiots.
Now, before you post a thread in the wrong section about where to download (Pivot/Flash/Easytoon), I advise you look at the following links below, otherwise, you WILL get flamed.
Pivot is a very easy stickfigure animation program to get started with, it has joint-movement, making your stickfigures look very consistent in their movements, it also takes some skill though too. It is highly recommended to anyone without any animation knowledge at all!
Download Pivot
The link above will take you to the thread that teaches you how to download Pivot Stickfigure Animator, and was created by 2-D.
EasyToon is a very simple, but complex animation software. It's similar to flash in the aspect you draw each frame, this is very different from pivot, you may lose pivot's consistency, but as you get more experienced with EasyToon, your stickfigures will begin to look a lot better. It's recommended for those that have intermediate knowledge of animating.
Download EasyToon
The link above will take you to the thread that teaches you how to download EasyToon, and was created by 2-D.
Flash is the software that costs a lot of money. It is the best animation software you can go with. It comes with a lot of tools to making great animations, and is very popular among dynamic web pages. It's similar to EasyToon as you can draw frame-by-frame, but you also have a wide variety of editing tools at your disposal. Unfortunately, because of the given price, it's quite hard to obtain.
Download Flash Trial
The link above will take you to Adobe's Flash CS4 Trial download, it does require registration, but hey, 30 free days of great animation software?
Now, for posting your animations, to post a pivot/easytoon, you want to use BBCode (Basically HTML but for forums)
You may use ImageShack or any other graphics hoster, but you want to use the direct link. Don't go copying and pasting the URL from the web browser, otherwise, it WILL not work.
To post your Flash animations, it's recommended you upload them at Truploader. It's fast and easy to use, and pretty straightforward. In this you MAY use the link in the URL bar.
Now that we've covered where to get animation software, and HOW to post, we'll touch base on the basic rule:
Don't post in the general help for something that has already been asked, instead search the threads for the question you have and check for the solution. (When in doubt, Google it.) If you cannot find it, THEN you may post the question and many of the users will attempt to help you if they can.
That concludes the newbie tutorial to SPP by RB.