I've made several websites before, but I've never owned a domain name. All of my experience with loading and running websites has come from Yahoo! geocities, and this site has a completely different layout.

For starters, with the e-mail I got, it said to change my DNS records. I don't know what those are or how to even do that.

Second, when I went on to the cPanel, I went to the File Manager and tried to upload some things. I uploaded a .gif, but it doesn't show up when I view the file. I uploaded a .html with the .gif inserted, and it opens the page but not the image.

Third ... how do I specify something as the main site? My domain is www.baddogdesigns.com, and I want to have a certain page come up when you go there ... but I don't know how to do that.

I thought this would be a little easier than it is, but I guess I was wrong. XD Please help!

Did you register your domain by yourself or your order was with New domain(in that case we've changed your name server's already by ourselves)?

To upload files(especially in binary mode, such as gifs) you should use FTP or FrontPage.

You should upload index.html or index.php file in public_html/ folder of your account. It will be shown when visiting your site.

I ordered the site from Hostony just yesterday ... so I guess that means I ordered it by myself.

And I'll give the FTP thing a try. Not really sure how to use it, tho. XD

You'll need to download an FTP program. Try WSFTP or CuteFTP, they're both easy to use and be gottn from download.com. Make sure that all images are uploaded in binary mode and text files (like .html files) are uploaded in ASCII mode. Both FTP programs will et you specify.

Also, make certain that your capitalization is correct. In other words, if your image's file name is "IMAGE.GIF" it won't work if you try to call it (either from the browser of HTML file) with "image.gif."

I don't know what the address to my FTP site is ... is that somewhere in the e-mail, or can you tell just by knowing the main address?

Your main address will work
Just make sure you login with your username and password (same ones you use in cpanel).
Annonymous login will just take you to an empty folder.

I've tried using a million different addresses for the FTP, and not one has connected (I know that I'm using the right user name/password combo, I've checked that over a hundred times).

ftp://baddogdesigns.com
ftp://ftp.baddogdesigns.com
http://www.baddogdesigns.com

Etc.

None of these have worked yet. Also, I still don't know what I'm supposed to do with the DNS things. Is Hostony supposed to update those for me? If not, how do I do it?

Thanks for putting up with me so far. XD

The DNS probobly hasn't resolved yet (it can take up to 72 hrs)
Until then you would have to use your servers ip address
I suggest you submit a trouble ticket to support if your needs are immediate.
http://support.hostony.com
They will explain how to do this.
The forum is checked by staff when they get the chance, but as they will tell you
their first priority is the actual support ticket system.
also live ICQ is another option you have.

ftp://67.15.16.19

You should change name servers for the domain.