Danger shield software?

so ive been trying to make my own clone of the danger shield because its cheaper and i think i have the wireing down its just potentiometers.
i dont really understand how i can wire and program an arduino to read a potentiometer. ive tried to reverse engineer the danger shield from example code but since im still a noob at arduino i really couldnt understand how the library code works.
i think i could figure out the code for the other components because ive wired and programmed a seven segment display to say thinks and i know how to do leds (except for crossfading or dimming with the arduino. like i said im a noob.) buttons are easy. i forgot to mention that im replacing the linear pots with standard 10k pots. it will have 3 rows of a 7 segment led display, a piezo buzzer, a pot, and a button. i also want to maybe make a place to add more things with some female headers. again for the third time im a noob at the arduino. im just a teenager that wants to try and dive deeper into creating my own things in electronics.

i would really appreciate some help!!! ;D

also my other email is
kingkirby333@gmail.com

Welcome!

You should take a look at this: http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/AnalogInput
if you haven't done it already. I also would recommend you to further work through the examples on the learning page.