8
That's not your site's homepage - that's the admin panel index. Click on the "Homepage" link (rhs of the grey-bar) to see your homepage. It will probably have "Main Menu" (with one item under it saying "Home") and "User Menu" (links to admin, notifications, Inbox, account settings and logout).
You need some "modules" to add content - the download doesn't come with any modules because there are so many to choose from so choosing a default module set would be nigh-on impossible.
What do you want your site to have - Forums, News, Articles, Links, Downloads? Let us know and we'll point you in the right direction on the modules front.
You will certainly want to download GIJOE's protector module from
http://xoops.peak.ne.jp/ - go for v3.16beta as it's absolutely rock-solid (in my experience) despite being a beta-version. GIJOE is a fabulous coder and wouldn't have released anything that he wasn't satisfied with. There is an installation guide that you can download from there. Follow it to the letter as this is a not a standard module install.
It gets much easier after this - honest
![](https://xoops.org/uploads/smil3dbd4d6422f04.gif)
You will also need a "theme" - this controls what your site looks like. IIRC, you'll have "Default" and "Zetagenesis" to choose from as part of the original download. Start be looking at some of the recent entries in the "Themes Library" (look in the "Community Menu" on the left). There's some nice-looking recent ones - take a peek at the "Kubrick" ones from a month or two ago - but take your time.
Tip:
If you look at themes from before early/mid 2006 then see if they are coded for the bottom-centre, bottom-right and bottom-left blocks that were introduced with XOOPS v2.0.14. You can check by downloading the theme and comparing its "theme.html" file with the Default theme's one. If you like a them and it doesn't have the coding then don't worry as its easily added.
HTH