How to use rules

I am new to Openhab and I cannot find any documentation that actually helps, here are my questions

  1. I have used the graphical setup in the paperui can I use items and things created in this folder? This items are not stored in the conf files folder? is this correct. Seems odd to me to have a front end and back end so seperated

  2. loads of stuff is missing in the documentation. What is the best way to look at a binding to find out what options there are

  3. Is there any good tutorials anywhere or a place to go to find people that want to help

Most of what you’re asking for is in the docs.
Certainly this is the best way to review the binding capabilities (your item #2).
There are lots of tutorials here in the community, too.

  1. Yes, you can use Items and Things created in PaperUI in Rules. Everything created through PaperUI gets stored in a separate database (/var/lib/openhab2/jsondb if you are curious to have a look).

The conf folder is largely left over from the OH 1.x version. OH 2 does not yet have a complete or adequate solution to completely replace the text configs yet (e.g. sitemap) and some users really prefer to use text configs over the UIs. Until such time that the UIs get better (and they are getting better all the time) and/or offer a compelling reason to drop use of the text config files, they will always be there.

  1. The binding’s readme. You can click on the Binding’s Name in PaperUI from the same screen you install it from and it will bring up the README. Or you can browse to it in the official docs under Add-ons -> Bindings. Or you can search for it in the official docs (search box is in the upper right).

Each binding is fully documented in its README. If you find something not documented there either the binding doesn’t support it or you need to file an issue to have it added.

  1. There is the Beginner’s Tutorial. When you first install openHAB you are given the option of packages, one of which is Demo. When you install the Demo package you will get a fully configured demo setup. It can be very helpful to start with a working config and modify it to learn how it works.

And you can continue to post questions here on the forum. We only get testy when it looks like the poster is not attempting to try it themselves and want us to do it for them. The more specific you can be with your questions and the more descriptive you can be with what you actually tried, the easier it is for us to help you.