Changing colors.. Any manual worth spending time reading??

[Thyg0d]

Okay, this is the first time I've set up a VBulletin but jesus christ WTF is this??

The manual that comes with vBulletin got to something of the worst POS
I've ever seen..
How is a vBulletin beginner even going to get started??
There's not a reasonable way to know what part you're changing when trying
to do such a simple task as changing a color of a text...

I've tried using the CMS visual dictionary and it has help somewhat
but since things obviously have changed since it was written it still leaves me hanging..
I want a black & red theme/style with white text...
I though I'd have that sorted out in an hour or something..
1½ days later I'm still can't see what value to change and know what the outcome will be..

So..
Is there any manual/dictionary worth the name or any way of doing things easier??
Tried a few downloaded templates but since I've got 4.1.2 there's nothing that works..

Tried vbAdvanced, which I still don't see why it would help in any way but perhaps it'll
prove useful later on..