CMS Customization

[AzzazelCyC]

Hello everyone,

I'm running a vb 4.2.0 site, and the CMS is kind of..."not what I want", so I'd like to have it customized for different things:

Firstly, the "articles" I don't want them to be "articles" but previews of threads from different sections of the forums, so that, when a new thread gets posted in those sections, they get automatically sent to the Home Page, showing the title of the thread, a thumbnail (attached image added to the thread), and a short preview of it, so that when a user comes to the site, they see these previews, click on the title and get directed to the thread. I got no idea where to start with this idea, and hence, searching for any guidance.

Also, all of the "widgets" or "sections" that are shown...well...I don't see them all being really needed; and I'd love to have just two widgets -at least by now- that can show "Recent Tweets", showing the tweets done from the site's twitter account, and -perhaps- one for Facebook posts as well.

Any ideas on where to start on this, or how to accomplish these customizations?

Thanks beforehand!