1) "How do I do something?"

First of all, if what you're doing is trivial (talking to someone, having a drink in a pub, picking up the silver piece you dropped, etc.), just go ahead and post a message saying you're doing it. Looking at the messages already on the board is about the best way there is to determine what's considered trivial enough to post without anyone's permission.

However, if what you're doing is at all complicated (combat, casting a spell, jumping over a chasm, using a magic item, plotting something sneaky, etc.), you have to be more careful. You can, and are encouraged to, post your *attempt* publicly (your character might be screaming a battle cry and charging forward with sword drawn, or grabbing spell components and shouting words of power, or throwing him/herself into the air over the chasm), but you must *not* post whether that action succeeds or fails. In addition to this public message, you must leave a private message to Referee (or to the referee assigned to your quest), describing exactly what you want to do and how you go about doing it. The referee will either post a public message telling everyone what happened, or send a private message to you explaining what happened and giving you permission to post those results for yourself. (In that case, you might want to include the name of the ref that approved it in the message somewhere, so the aides don't think you're posting without permission.)