configuration of ports

[Bob Ababurko]

Hello-

   I am sure that this must have been asked, so along with my question, I 
need to know if there is an archive of the ports collection and if so, 
where can I find it.
   Ok, I am really liking the ports collection, being new to freeBSD and 
all.  But the one thing that gets in the way is my lack of knowledge in 
being able to configure the installations....either  with .configure config 
files or with compiler switches.  Can someone lead me to a resource that 
can help me understand how to configure my applications so that I can tweak 
my ports during installation?

peace out
/bob