The Dink Network

I wanted to learn how to adjust the text in my posts using italics, so I searched on that. The thread I landed in mentioned checking the 'rules' page without giving a link. So I went looking for the page. I could not find a link from the home page, or from any of the pages that link from there. I actually had to do a search on 'rules' to get a link to it. Should a link be added to the home page or maybe a sticky on the forum index so new people can read it before posting on the forums? Just an idea.

Also, is there a list of smilies (emoticons) somewhere? I see some that I would like to use, but don't know how to reproduce.