[member="pixelcyan"]
Hi new, I'm Ahra. Welcome to Chaos!
So, first thing you're gonna want to do is
make a character. Note that you can either make one on the account you're on (known as the Writer's account) or make a subaccount (via your account's profile page) for the character (which you will have to do if you want to have multiple characters). Once you do that, it's all up to who and where you want that character to be.
We're several hundred years out from the movies, so factions are a bit different than you might be familiar with. We recently had an event that caused a bit of... well, chaos, and so most major factions are rushing to re-expand their cloud of influence (if you go to the Holonet tab at the top and click Map, you can see what it looks like at the moment). Now is actually a pretty good time to join (good job on the timing!), because everyone is doing dominations (threads that let major factions take neutral planets), which are a great way to get experience, both in character and out.
Once you've made your character and (if you so choose) joined a faction, it's all about finding people to play with. The Open Role-Playing forum hosts open roleplays (shocking, I know). You can jump into any of these, though it's polite to ask first via PM, especially if it seems to have certain people in mind or if it's already well underway. You can also go into Roleplay Discussion to find groups, meet up with people to RP with, and talk about threads that are already going.
The Codex and the Factory are how you make stuff that isn't already in Star Wars canon. The Codex is for species, planets, locations, NPCs (non-player characters), and the like, while the Factory is for technology, weapons, ships, and the like. Also in the Factory section is the Market, which contains information about businesses (and what they sell) as well as the Bounty Board, where players can post and accept bounties.
That's most of the basics (though I'm sure I've missed something). Welcome to the Chaos, and enjoy your stay!
EDIT: Instaposted by [member="Anja Aj'Rou"]