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I don't know about your first question. As for sending a message to the forums through email, thats not possible with Xoops. You would need completely different scripts for that and in most cases you need server level access to install and configure them.
As for showing articles ont he front page, go to your block administration and select module block features that you would like to display on your pages.
To experiment how this system works, start by creating a block of your own with some simple text and play around with where it is displayed and other options. Once you have a feel for that, I'm sure you'll understand how to use other blocks within your XOOPS site.