Many times I go to the docs but even though there seem to be a lot of examples, there are a great many ellipsis. I know a little now, but starting out, none (mostly) of the examples worked as you need to know what’s in that dang ellipsis.
Let me add my 2cts to these great suggestions.
As soon as you’re ready to dive into the ‘real fun’ with automations and scripts (which are basically the same as automations, just sans triggers) try to stay with working from the GUI at least at the beginning BUT familiarize yourself what the YAML code behind them actually looks like because - if something’s not working for you - that’s most likely what you need to provide in order for somebody to be able to help you.
You can always switch between the GUI (visual editor) and the code (YAML) by clicking in the top right corner, but make sure that your code is formatted properly in the forum and do NOT post screenshots of automations or scripts.
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You should liik in the Community Guides section of the forum, and in particular this index of tips/howtos
Also, start posting questions. What are you having problems with? What are you trying to acheive? Ask and you shall receive 
Thank you for the suggestion, but I think I am a looooooong way from being able to write any computer code. (I tinkered with BASIC at school, but that’s my only ever experience of computer languages)
I will stick to the Graphical User Interface for the foreseeable future.
Hi nickrout - I saw the mention in the HA Cookbook page to a course run by someone called discobot, but I can’t see how to access it. Can you direct me to the course, or provide a link?
Thanks
That’s a course in how to use the forum - is that what you want?
That will be fine when you work by yourself - but if something doesn’t work and you need help, you’ll need to post the YAML code (that the GUI automatically creates); and then you need to know how to find it and manipulate it once somebody tries to help you with your issue.
That kind of feels like taking step back before moving forward (like a book on ‘How to read a book’!) but if you think it has value then I’ll do it. I have not used Internet fora much before, so it’s safe to assume I probably will learn something.
So the GUI creates computer code in the background, like an automated code-writer. Interesting.
In that case, I suppose I will need to be able to access the YAML ('Yet Another Markup Language’) code - how do I do that?
Dear Pieter,
Thank you for the tips, but I am a bit confused when you say to ‘stay away from integrations’ as I thought that they were essential for accessing smart home devices. For example, I have lots of Phillips Hue lights and a Hue bridge which they connect to: do I not have to have the Phillips Hue integration to access that from HA?
See my first message 
This is what I said:
In terms of forum usage, notice how I quoted you — which will ensure there’s context for a reply and notify the poster.
There are also two reply buttons: one on each response and a general reply button. They behave differently. The cookbook has a link to the forum’s software, Discourse.
It’s more like learning words and using flip cards and then try to read a book. Nobody makes their first book Shakespeare.
And yes, you’ll need to become proficient at using the forum.
You’re now making this topic your personal assistant. Get into things and start tackling real issues. Then ask questions in new topics about those things to get specific help (and always first search for existing solutions). You’re starting to ask things that are covered in the cookbook and docs.
In other words, you are here:
No response, so no clue what you want.
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It looks like I will need to invest some time to read the HA documentation (which is several hundred pages) and Cookbook, and then come back into the forum when I have more background knowledge.
Sorry if I was taking up too much time on one topic: thanks for your understanding.
Dear Nickrout,
Sorry I didn’t reply sooner - I am not sure what the usual expectations for response times are on this forum.
As I said in my initial post:
I was looking for high-level guidance rather than specific technical issues. Based in the helpful responses so far, I have determined that I need to sit down and read the documentation (which I am making a start on, but will take some time), learn how to use the forum software (Discourse) using the Cookbook, and spend time on the forum learning its culture and language.
Thank you to you and your colleagues for your help and forbearance so far.
Indeed, so what I’m saying is, don’t do that just for the sake of reading (I’ve been using HA for many years and I’m still learning new things). Rather start with a specific issue or something you want to do and then read the related docs and cookbook pages. I would say, you should read at least the first few cookbook pages/links. If you post a new topic about a specific thing and have done a couple of searches to find the relevant info and can show what you’ve tried, you will really get some good help. It’s fine if you don’t understand everything you’ve read: showing you’ve made a real effort is worth more.
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This. Your mind won’t cope if you try to cram all the available knowledge at once. Start off small with the basics, then pick a specific project you want to tackle and read up on it.
You’ll soon run into related subjects which you can absorb and apply in realtime. Much better than digesting everything at once and hoping something sticks.
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Dear Parautenbach and ShadowFist,
Thank you for your guidance: I will try to take on-board both your points. It sounds like you advise an iterative ‘read-try-ask…read more-try again-ask more…’ approach, which I will take on-board.
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Yep, indeed. Just try to cover the basics: thoroughly read the Pinned thread and the first few parts of the docs (you can stop when you get to the Advanced Configuration section for now).
Do the Discourse bot guided parts just to familiarise yourself with the forum software, and bookmark the Cookbook section for future reference.
The fact you’re asking these questions means you’re serious about not wanting to waste anyone’s time unnecessarily, so you’re off to a great start already.
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