Resources and References

First of all, try to track down documentation for what you're looking for. The first place to look is in the official OpenACS documentation. Familiarize yourself with this documentation, especially the API browser, which shows you all the commands you can run. Look at the package documentation (and note that sadly, some of the packages don't have documentation). Notice that there is documentation not just for getting installed, but also for developing an OpenACS package.
Second, try searching on Google. Try your search, but include the word OpenACS in the query. This finds answers a surprisingly high amount of the time.
Third, look through the forums. Use the search functionality to try and find what you're looking for.
Fourth, look through the websites listed below. These are websites set up by OpenACS hackers as documentation and how-to guides:
- Jade Rubick's documentation for OpenACS
- more soon.
Fifth, if your question is a quick one, then try asking on the OpenACS IRC channel.
Sixth, try asking your question on the OpenACS forums. Make sure you clearly describe what your problem is, what version of OpenACS you're using, what you did before and after the problem, and what the error message is. Show relevant portions of your error log. If you want people to be helpful and take their time on your question, make sure you take the time to ask the question in a way that someone can give you a meaningful answer.
See below for more helpful resources

OpenACS official documentation
OpenACS: It's complicated, it's not finished--is it worth your time? Absolutely. an introduction to OpenACS. - ignore the installation portion.
OpenACS package system
An intro to OpenACS templating describes how to make webpages.
OpenACS performance and scalability - how does OpenACS compare to other toolkits like Zope?
Ben Koot's Demo Site is a place where you can check out a lot of the packages available for OpenACS. Keep in mind that many of these packages are deprecated, or may not be the most recent version. Don't necessarily assume this is the latest and greatest. But it is a good place to check out a lot of the functionality of OpenACS packages.

How to get started as a worker bee for OpenACS. This describes how you can contribute if you have time and want to learn more about OpenACS by helping out with simple tasks to improve the toolkit