Rebecca-
DNN offers many options by way of skinning (your background color) and content (your links). Unfortunately, this means that you need to provide more detail about your particular skin as well as more detail about your content in order to get a definitive answer on how to make the changes you wish to make.
BACKGROUND COLOR:
This really comes down to the skin. It could be defined in a variety of places and in a variety of ways. Your best bet is to log in as HOST or ADMIN, check your Site Settings and report back about the name of the skin your site is using. Hopefully it is one of the default DNN skins or is one that someone recognizes. If not, you may have to use a tool to help you discover where the background color is being set (this free tool that I often use, for instance: http://www.eguanasolutions.com/DNN_Blog/EntryID/19.aspx).
LINKS:
Your links could be provided via a variety of DNN modules including LINKS, Text/HTML and DOCUMENTS (to name a few common ones). How can you tell which module is doing the job? Log in as an ADMIN and....
- Text/HTML: If you see an "Edit Text" below your links then this is a Text/HTML document. Click "Edit Text", then in the text editor click the "Source" button to see/edit the HTML that defines your links.
- LINKS: If you see an "Add Link" below your links then this is the LINKS module. You can click the pencil icon next to an existing link to edit (or delete) that link.
- DOCUMENTS: If you see "Add New Document" below your links then this is the DOCUMENTS module. Despite the name, the DOCUMENTS module is an excellent module for creating a list of links. It's basically a much more advanced version of the LINKS module. Like the LINKS module, just click the pencil icon next to whatever link you want to edit or delete.
There are more ways to provide a list of links within DNN but those are the more common ones. The ANNOUNCEMENTS module and the REPOSITORY (with an appropriate skin/theme) module are two more common ones that could do the trick. Of course, it could also be one of the thousands of available third-party DNN modules. Going into the module's SETTINGS may yield clues as to the name of the module (look near the bottom of the SETTINGS area for custom-named settings that may include the name of the module).
If your site is available on the web you can share the URL and probably get better/faster help. If not, linking a screenshot or two might be useful.
-mamlin