One of the reasons LW is intimidating to new users is that some of them believe they need to read all the sequences before they post.

If there's a subset which would be generally considered to be enough, it should be posted.

A glossary would be nice, even if it consists of links to essays from the sequences.

I haven't seen evidence to support the "load of crackpots" theory, though I suppose tying improving the art of rationality to FAI could have that effect. So might putting effort into highly implausible scenarios, though I personally see that as philosophy geeking rather than crackpottery.

The general intimidation problem is hard because people aren't reliably good at evaluating their skill level.

Very tentatively offered: if we can define the skills needed to do valuable posts and comments, this might help some potential posters decide whether they want to dive in.