Welcome!
Having come from years of freshwater planted tanks myself I can tell you the only similarity is there is water and fish. Outside of that it's a night and day difference.
Saltwater is far more complex than freshwater is where for most setups you can get away with a canister filter and water changes with some needs for CO2 dosing, in saltwater it's far more complex.
I say those not to scare you off but to make sure you understand the complexities behind salt as opposed to fresh tanks. As far as "complexity" goes Fish Only with "fake" rock and decorations, FOWLR (Fish only with live rock) tanks are the next "easiest" to set up and maintain as there's less of a need to maintain most parameters as there's no coral in the tanks, last up would be Reef Tanks where you have fish, live rock and corals.
It's also important to know if you want to go with a full reef tank to try to plan on what type of reef tank, SPS (hard corals) have different light, filtration, water quality, nutrient needs than softies and zaos do.
Ballpark you'll want to budget about $50 per gallon to have a good tank with all of the necessities in regards to a Reef Tank. So for a 100 gallon tank you're looking at about $5k for everything. Now keep in mind this is a rough estimate, buying used or lower quality gear or forgoing equipment until you need it will adjust this cost and it is, of course, very easy to far overshoot this target. I say this as it's important to have a gameplan as follows:
1. Budget. Identify what you have available for initial setup and further down the road. If you're on a tight budget it would make more sense to start with a FOWLR tank and upgrade over time to be able to support a full reef tank later.
2. Ideal Tank. What are you going for? If you're wanting a full reef tank adjust your gear to be able to support that with your budget. You may be only able to afford a 100 gallon FOWLR tank but by stepping down to a 55 gallon you could buy the necessary gear to get a full reef tank.
3. Time. Saltwater tanks are far more time intensive as compared to freshwater tanks. Between making up salt water, testing parameters, etc it generally takes quite a bit more time than it did for my freshwater tanks.
4. ASK QUESTIONS! This is probably the most important thing IMHO. There are a number of members here who have been in the game for a long time and a number that are fresh to salt (get it? haha). Research, ask questions and learn from other's trial and errors, mistakes, successes, etc. You can save yourself a lot of frustration in this hobby by learning from others and being a member here you have access to a great network of people. There's no such thing as a stupid question so don't hesitate to ask!
5. Network! Find other members in your area, pick their brains, I know most members I've asked have let me come check out their tanks first hand and have been very forthcoming with issues they've experienced, things to avoid, etc.
And lastly:
6. BE PATIENT! From being in freshwater where you could be fully up and running with a CO2 injected planted tank with fish within a month or so, saltwater works much slower. It's important to take your time, measure your parameters on a regular basis when starting out and understand going fast in the saltwater world can lead to problems.
Now taken all of that into account, now that I've gone salt, freshwater just doesn't have the appeal it used to, yes it's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding in the end.
In regards to your membership, they're testing a new update process as the current process is highly manual so it can take a little time for them to update your forums access and everything.
I'm in far North Dallas, again I'm new as well, but if there is anything I can ever help with just let me know!