To help you figure things out, there is a Scoop Admin Guide which can hopefully answer most of your questions.
Some tips:
Most of the layout is changed in "Blocks", found in the admin tools menu
Features can be turned on and off, and configured, in "Site Controls" in the admin tools menu
Stories have an "edit" link right beside the "Full Story" link on an index page, and right beside the "Post a Comment" link on the full story page. They can also be edited by clicking the story title in the "Story List" admin tool
Boxes are what allow you to write new features for Scoop; they require a knowledge of the perl programming language to work with effectively, although you can often make small changes without knowing much perl. If you would like a feature added but cannot program it yourself, ScoopHost does custom Scoop programming as one of its services.
If you aren't sure where to look for a particular feature or piece of display, try the "Search Admin Tools" link in the admin tools menu.
I grew up as the second of six siblings. My parents were absolute geniuses at molding natural sibling rivalry into six sets of well-honed competitive instincts. We were taught that if someone's keeping score, then winning's important, and you either play to win (within the rules of the game) or don't bother playing; full-contact euchre is a regular event at family get-togethers. We also were taught how to be both considerate winners and gracious losers, and that once the final score is on the board, you shake hands, go have a beer, and get over it. My three now-adult children were taught the same concepts, as were most of my two-and-a-half-dozen-or-so nieces and nephews (including the in-laws).
It would appear, however, that the GoverNerd never learned the same lessons. If you can tolerate listening to all of the logical fallacies and factual misrepresentations, the money quotes start at about 5:01, 11:17, 21:47, 22:24, and 23:19.
As House Bill 4714 (2013) was rapidly transitioning from "read a second time" to "substitute H-3 adopted and amended" to "placed on third reading" to "read a third time" to "placed on immediate passage" to "passed; given immediate effect" . . . yes, transitioning just that quickly (the proof starts on page 24 of House Journal # 59) . . . I was in conversation with, among others, Dara Bailey (Vice President & National Vetting Director of iCaucus National). She offered to commit national resources to help the liberty-minded network in Michigan do what needs to be done to visit political punishment on every single legislative turncoat next summer. All that we need to do as a statewide movement is to use Joanie's screencap of 2013 House Roll Call # 241 as a motivator to set aside our nationally infamous internecine squabbling, and work as a cohesive machine toward a larger goal.