A good idea of what you are doing and a plan of what you want to achieve and lots of TIME to prepare to learn about Xoops and how it all works.

First of all read A Visual Introduction to Xoops and Xoops installation guide

Both are available in the Xoops Documentation. This will give you a good overview of what Xoops is and what is required to install it. You will also need the Xoops operations guide to learn how to set up your site once it is installed.

You may also wish to install supplementary programs like an FTP lient, image management tools, text editors etc. For this see this FAQ on suggested programs.

You should also have a server and available webspace. See Xoops FAQ for more about your needs. Look in the terms and defintitions section for anything you are not clear about. You can also access the Xoops Glossary which is a document in progress.

You will need at least 50MB of web space to run xoops with some modules and room for forum/ news posts etc.

There may be other considerations, like domain names, your site content requirements and maybe a specific look or style. Get familiar with the different aspects of xoops: Core, Modules, Themes, user groups and blocks.

All these should be part of your plan.

Now give yourself t-i-m-e ... to assimilate what xoops is about and how to install it. Browsing this FAQ section and the forums will equip you with lots of ideas and things to think about.

Make a rough plan of what your site will be about. When you install Xoops it comes in a pretty plain package with no modules installed. You have a blank canvas. You can go about things experimentally, uploading, installing testing and deleting modules and themes. This is ok, but why not make a second installation of xoops, as a test site that no-one will see except you. Now use this for your experiments and pass on only your final decisions to the main production site.

Another recommendation is to install a MYsql and apache server on your own local machine. Doing this will allow you to run a xoops website without using the internet. There are two download packages you can use.
Wamp5 Server The upside is it uses updated versions of mysql and php etc. It is very easy to use, makes no registry changes and also has a link to the WWW directory (where you put your xoops websites) Highly recommended.!!

The Uniform Server Also comes recomended as just as easy to use.
Take a look at both and see which you feel comfortable with.

Once installed on your local machine, you can install xoops and experiment to your hearts content with themes, modules and using the admin section.

Learn to administrate your site on your own machine ... make mistakes, learn backups and restore, whatever you want. If things go drastically wrong, there's no harm done and you can simply install the package again.

In the first answer to this question was thisyou need t-i-m-e This is so true.
If you are really new to it all you will see from the range of Q and A you will have a lot to learn - or maybe lots of gaps to fill. Be patient with yourself...Besides all the technical stuff to start with you will need

1. Patience with yourself.

2. Time to learn about what you can do.

3. Be prepared to take risks and try things out. try a local installation for experiments before you put them on your web server.

4. Research for the answers to your questions before you ask them in the forum or Q and A - more than likely you will find the answer you are looking for as it has already been asked.

5. Go to Xoops for dummies if you are a real novice. Follow it completely - make sure you read it all - including the troubleshooting - and you should be off to a smooth start!

6. If you are a visual learner there is a fabulous range of tutorials at Johns Xoops Tutorials

Good luck!