Rod, you've asked the mother of all questions !!! To be honest, you've probably asked too much in one go. The answers would run to many many pages.
As a recent convert to s/p fishing though, as a starter for 10, i'd say you probably need to think about 2 basic types of s/p . . . a straight tailed type (Xlayer, Slug-Go, etc . . . . ), or a paddle-tail (DOA CAL, Spindleworm, etc . . . ). Both will work on their day depending on the water conditions.
As to how to rig them, again there are just so many options . . . . weedless, jig-head, carolina . . . again, each one is a whole topic in itself. A good reference though may be to look here . . .
http://www.plus-fishing.com/uk/staff-blog/Iestyn-jones/?p=159 Iestyn is a member of our forum, and may well be along himself with some additional thoughts. Also check-out the Googans guide if you havent done so already.
Hook-size will be determined by the particular s/p that you are using - simply you need to be able to present the hook correctly in conjunction with the s/p.
As to further specifics of the techniques & applications of s/p's, have a good search through the forum using key-words that you pick up, as there are vast amounts of knowledge already shared through the threads, and you'll be able to draw on it using the search function (located in the top right hand of the forum page if you havent used it already). Following that, you may find it useful to post some more specific questions on techniques or lures that take your fancy.
Hopefully this will give you a starting point.