I started out a bit less than a month after TBC came out so I'm not a Vanilla veteran -- tbh, the only reason why I haven't started in Vanilla was that back in the days we couldn't afford having high-speed internet at home. But then one day this friend lured me to WoW using his 10-day trial key pitch. Ever since it changed my gaming life.
Same thing for me, but I just played it... even with the bad internet xD got so big lags but it was worth it

And the one day my friend came with the trial key... man I still hate/love him for that

So the best way the learn something about the server and the forum is just lurk around abit...
You'll find a lot of good guides around here, so have fun playing on this server