How to have a Fun Time with nginx

I've recently have had a little bit of fun with nginx, but it took a while to get acquainted. So here's a little guide to get you up to speed faster. (Hopefully, if not, write me a love letter or something.)

In short:

• read the wiki
• set server_name and restart (not reload) after changing it
• read the error log
• read other people's configs (I'll open up mine in a bit, in the meantime, there are some on the wiki.)