Nick,
You're 90% there is you're using webmaster mode...
You're 98% there since you identified that you want to edit /customer/home.tpl
The code you want to comment out will include:
{include file="help.tpl" }
{include file="customer/special.tpl"}
{include file="news.tpl" }
To comment out code, use {* before the code to comment out and *} after.
Example: to comment out JUST the help menu, it would look like this:
Code:
{* {include file="help.tpl" } *}
The key here is to understand why you're commenting something out... in this case, you're telling the template to IGNORE the "include file". Using comments is a good way to work with code in home.tpl, since you may want to bring it back.
Always have backups before you make any changes!
Hope this helps.
Jeremy