There are some rules to follow and some other not to.

I suggest you to learn dynamic compression + eq first which is the start for a good sound assuming you put mics in the right position before start recording and do a good job on your analog mixer first. Otherwise you won't get anything good from your tracks :-)

In ardour:
put dynamic compression + eq chain only on inserts, NEVER put those fxs on sends
put reverb/delay/flanger/phaser on a separate bus and route signal flow with a send from your track to the fx bus, NEVER put those fxs on inserts, otherwise you will lose the dry signal... not good at all

IMHO
regards