Re: advice for customization
> – adding a banner to bbpress like that of my WP
Not sure what you mean there. If it’s navigation you need, you probably want integration with WordPress so you can use the WordPress functions like get_header and get_sidebar. If you mean just a banner ad of some sort, you can just add that to the template file header.php
> – changing the logo (I know, this should be simple)
It is. Just look in header.php for the header div, and style.css for the corresponding css.
> – containing bb within the main area of my WP pages
Not so easy. It doesn’t work well (or at all) in a WordPress page. It’s not a plugin for WordPress, it’s a standalone forum. If you want it to look like a WordPress page, you probably want integration as explained in item one above, or here.
> – adding a navigation button to return to my WP pages
> from bb
Also easy, like changing the logo. You can do it in header.php if you want the link up top. Or you can edit another template file if you want the link somewhere else.