Welcome to DC! You're definitely in the right place for questions and how to's. Lots of grillers and smokers here. Just as your questions as they come up and people will give you answers and ideas.
Congrats on your BGE! It's a fantastic cooker, just be patient and read your manual! Start with a full load of lump, let the smoke clear before your place your meat, clean out the ash occasionally, and make sure the holes in the bottom of the fire box are clear. For ribs, I remove silverskin, apply dry rub, and then do the 3-2-1 method, which is 3 hours uncovered (in smoke), 2 hours foiled (with a basting agent), and 1 hour uncovered (mopped 2-3 times with basting agent). You can use what ever rub you like. If you google "cold mountain rub" that's the base I started with. (ie: added a some add'l spices) and I use equal parts bbq sauce (sweet baby rays), hot sauce (frank's), and apple cider vinegar for my basting agent.
If you understand how to use this cooker, it is one of the best. You can definitely get the same results with less expensive cookers, but not as efficiently and you definitely won't get the versatility.