Basically, was invited to the site, loved how it looked but got very lost and promptly vanished until now. What id like to know is besides the little dailies tab, what else should I be checking out? I'd love to learn more to do. I'm still getting my footing with everything but feel like I'm missing out! (I'm used to sites like Gaia and neopets)

Right now, we are in the middle of the Morostide event, which is kind of like Subetan Halloween. If you haven't done so yet, you can check out the Morostide forums and trick or treat to get candy and other fun stuff. Most users will have a link somewhere in their signature for it. You can also TP or throw eggs at them. Others can trick or treat from you, TP you, and throw eggs at you as well.

Aside from that, there is a lot you could do. If you want to be pet-centric, you can train them up and battle, change their color/species, feed them various food items, code profiles for them, and even commission a custom overlay image to give them a unique look. If you want to focus more on clothing, you can check out the Human Avatar (HA) threads where people rate each other's outfits and discuss techniques for layering items or low cost dupes for expensive stuff. There are also forum groups for socializing, little games to play, and lots of alternative currencies you can earn with corresponding shops for each one. The Subetapedia should have information on general stuff, like NPCs you can find and interact with, the site's regular holidays, places to explore on the map, and pet species/color info.

Editing to add: I don't know if you are doing quests yet, but those will be a good source of income for you and will give you items you can sell in a shop. There are also galleries, where you can display stuff you want to collect.

https://subeta.net/forums.php/read/922079/Welcome-back-to-Subeta-a-guide

This might help a lot :) Have fun <3