I see you all have these great web pages and haven't a clue as to how to do anything. Is there a manual, site or someone that can help me do what you all seem so capable of doing?

Mottie's test sites, as linked above by chefricochet,  are the best resource of user-generated tweaks and additions to GP that's out there 

But if you are reeeally at a starter point,
I would suggest to take a look at the 'official' customization guide at:
http://www.axiomfiles.com/docs/GuildPortal_Customization.pdf

keep in mind that guide is somewhat old (GP dont know that GP has an updated one yet) so,  some of the screens, etc may have changed the look a little bit, however the bulk of the guide is still valid and will help you get used to all the terms, areas etc.

Once you are familiar with those terms, areas etc within GP, then you can use Mottie's guides to tweak it even more and really get the most of it

Additionally, if you are not very familiar with HTML/CSS/Javascript, I'll suggest
http://www.w3schools.com/
which provide a very handy reference of most page elements, and include some easy tutorials to get you started, as well.