welcome to .map (although I'm no moderator, I think, I may say so

)
Regarding ur questions, I strongly recommend reading the new mappers' tutorials which u can find
here. There u'll find everything u need for ur 1st steps. As soon as all the tutorials can't help u anymore, try to find ur answers via the search button. Most questions (esp. those of new mappers) have been asked before, and u might even find sth interesting u else wouldn't have learned
Hope, u don't take this for rude. In fact, it's really the best way u can go
