Nitty Gritty Basics - .htaccess

can anyone give me a good, straightforward link to setting up .htaccess that will basically hold my hand?

I've kinda done it once, and only then have I set up the .htaccess file - not set usernames and passwords on it.

Any help is appreciated.
Hey, I'm a designer, not a coder. But willing (and somewhat eager) to learn.

and btw - I'm a terminal noob. Shh. don't tell anyone.

Thanks guys -

It seems odd to me that for something as rudimentary to site building as this, that there isn't an easy-to-use GUI script that would set it for any folder you dragged and dropped on it. Maybe a curious programmer might see this thread and write such a thing, so noobs like me could use it without having to stress their brains too much. <hint hint nudge nudge>