CMS Made Simple Forums

I'm a "CMS-M-S" newbie and have been playing around with the basic features and style sheet options.

I can't pretend to be a CSS expert but how do I change the default layout so that the news panel appears on the right side of the main page?

the easiest way would to be change your theme to one that has a sidebar on the right instead of the left.  Check the themes included with the default CMSMS install, or check the Themes site for more...

I believe most of them tell you how in the style sheet, many many comments in them and one or 2 of them tell you how...