@drobbins:
When flora was still active, I tried to make my first steps to help developing packages which either where totally outdated (www-apps/dokuwIki) or looked like being updated way too slow, because it's versions where way beyond recent (www-apps/drupal) in Gentoo-Portage tree. I then tried to make my first steps in maintaining my first two small packges in flora, which were www-apps/typo3-src and www-apps/typo3-dummy, which depend on each other anyway.
I do not know if I did a good job with these or if they were even used by anyone besides myself, but at least, no hate-mail hit my Inbox in these days, too. So I considered my efford resulting in a "fair" result at least.
Also, I tried to help as a moderator in the former forum and banned tons of bad boys and removed spam from it.
I read all I was able to get in these state, like the Gentoo Developer Guide and Gentoo-Forum-Posts from want-to-become - Developers these days. But I have to admit, that I never felt well informed by the ressources available. They contained many words one with no experience in the world of Portage package-development couldn't understand. Other topics, like what is EAPI and in what manner do the versions differ exactly came very short.
So I never managed to do something more than adopting outdated packages and go on from that pre-defined skelleton.
Also, I never were brave enough to use something else than webapps, which mostly are only a bunch of requirements and copying files.
I'd be more than happy to put more efford in this, but even with the guides available, I find it hard to get in touch.