What an amazing question! I'll rant a bit so my message may be a bit long. I won't answer your questions about tray vs drums, i've always used trays and don't have any experience with drums so i don't have any knowledge on them. I shoot black and white and print in the darkroom, i have scanned using a flatbed and hated it so i don't anymore. I still scan at work using a fuji minilab but don't scan my own negatives anymore, maybe i will sometime if i need an image digital. Disclaimer: i'm young and don't have years of experience so don't assume anything i say as a fact.
Contact prints
I make contact prints when I want to print multiple images from a roll. I made a simple contact printer which works fine, it's a thick piece of glass attached to some hinges on a ikea shelf. I believe the official ones have something to hold the negatives while you put a sheet under it, that probably works a lot faster but they are a bit expensive and i get perfect results with my method. I then process these normally with dev/stop/fix/wash.
Contact prints can help in selecting images you want to print and give you a rough idea of what exposure and contrast you need (keep your column height in mind and you will usually have to change your contrast to get the same results, with my diffusion enlarger i have to add a grade to my print).
Archival prints
Making archival prints is one hell of a rabbit hole, but also a very fun one. Keep in mind that a lot of stuff is not proven and might only improve archival stability slightly, however this is no reason to still try and get archival prints.
Some steps to get archival prints:
Use FB paper, rc paper has improved but it is still no match to fb paper both in archival stability and (though an opinion) image quality. Almost all serious darkroom printers i know of use fb paper, do keep in mind that it is in fact one hell of a pain compared to rc paper.
Use the 2 bath fixing method, i won't explain it here since there are others on here and on other sites that have explained it already and better then i can. By using this method you can increase the lifespan of your fixer and you will fix your prints better.
Toning your prints can increase archival stability, however it is strongly related to how much you tone and the more you tone the more your image will change. The 2 most used toners are sepia and selenium, sepia gives a warm tone and tones highlights first, selenium gives a colder tone and tones shadows first. Selenium is most often used as a subtle tone, increasing the deepness of your blacks, by only toning subtly it will not greatly improve the archival stability but every little bit helps. Sepia toning is often used to get a clear effect on image tone, giving the classic sepia image. Because sepia tones highlights first and strong toning van give a sometimes preferable image it usually increases archival stability more. In conclusion: stronger toning increases archival stability, however i would advise you not to tone more than what you like. I would rather have a better image for 100 years than a inferior one for 150 years, i don't think i will live that long.
Washing properly
I'm assuming fb prints as these are most difficult to wasg. There is an absolute shitload of methods for washing prints, most of them work just fine. I would advise you to use whatever one you like that seems to be good, if you want to be sure you can do a residual hypo check. I usually wash 30 minutes in a tray of running water, you can also use hypo clear to speed up washing times.
Drying
I'm assuming fb prints here. With fb prints it's important to dry in a way to get them flat, hanging them will sure as hell not do this, it's fine if you want to try out printing for the first time but you can also use rc paper for that. Another method is a machine dryer, i do not have one so my knowledge is limited. They seem to be pretty great, if you can get one. I haven't got my hands on a new one and the old ones look like a fire hazard to me. I use screen drying and it works great for me, i get decently flat prints that i can press in a t shirt press to get fully flat (a t shirt press works as a great alternative to a dry mount press). The naked photographer has an awesome video on how to make these screens, you only need some form of frame, fiberglass window screens and a stapler.
Tips:
My grandfather was a photographer and he taught me to be very careful about darkroom hygiene, always wash your hands, trays and tools as much as you can and try to avoid any contamination.
Experience is your best friend, don't try to make things exact that aren't, go print more. IMO prints are a creative thing and your decisions should be made by you, not by math or a machine. A print can be a beautiful reflection of the printer.
I hope this helps, don't hesitate to ask any questions!
