At this time, I have 'discovered' four entry points to DailyKos 4 that all have different characteristics and will likely each be found especially useful to different people for reasons of their own I neither predict nor judge. In this diary, I describe each of them and provide links to allow you to examine them yourself and perhaps bookmark any that you find appealing.
Disclaimer:
I believe that nothing in this diary is new with me; I think everything below has been described in diaries and comments in the past few days, and I thank the people who have done the research and found these entry points. Because I've been encountering them in bits and pieces, to try to give credit to those people can only result in my neglecting to mention others, so let me just thank you all on behalf of the community; you know who you are and I know you haven't done what you've done in pursuit of recognition.
The entry points:
1. The obvious one. www.DailyKos.com
The display area is headed by the Community Spotlight and Feature boxes, below which are the Front Page diaries (or stories). Down the right side are your personal Welcome Back box, which includes some very useful links within it, and lists of 12 Recommended and 50Recently Rec'd user diaries, followed in turn by Hot Tags.
2. Straight to summaries of user diaries. www.dailykos.com/section/diary
The display area consists of the introductions of the most recently submitted user diaries, plus any polls they include, which is a familiar display to many from DK3. There is no Community Spotlight box above them. On the right side is no Feature box, just at the very top your personal Welcome Back box (with the same useful links in it), followed by the Rec List, a Community Spotlight list - in the format of the Rec List - of 10 items, the Hot Tags list, and then - in the format of the Rec List - the most recent 10 diaries, unfiltered, that is, not the Recently Rec'd list but the genuinely most recent.
3. The DK Front Page. www.dailykos.com/section/blog
The display area consists of the introductions of the most recent Front Page diaries (stories), with no Community Spotlight box above them. The right side is the same as I've described above in section 2: personal Welcome Back, Rec List, Community Spotlight list, Hot Tags, and Recent Diaries.
4. 'Abbreviated' Front Page. www.dailykos.com/blog/main
The display is the My Diaries page of user main, which happens to be the DK Front Page. The display area shows the most recent Front Page diaries, identical to that in section 3 above, i.e., with no Community Spotlight box above them. On the right is the Welcome Back box of user main - and nothing else, that is, no Rec List, no Recent Diaries, etc.
Finally, I'll point out that the number of items shown in the body or 'main display area' of each of these pages is yours to specify in your user profile. (To edit your profile, go to My Page and - quickest - select Edit Profile from your Welcome Back box.) The value for 'Number of stories to display on front page' has been pre-set to 18 but you can change it to anything you like. Whatever you choose, it applies to all four of the pages I have described above (as well as your My Diaries page in 'Blog View' mode).
I hope this diary will help a few people customize their DailyKos experience in a way that enhances their satisfaction from this estimable site.
I apologize for any errors in my presentation above and count on the community to correct them in the comments.
I also look forward to others presenting other entry points you have discovered.
My research has been in many ways cursory and I assume this will not be the last word on this subject.