Long listings (ls -l) have this format:

    - file
    d directory,                                            * executable
    ^   symbolic links (?)  file size (bytes)   file name   / directory
    ^           ^               ^                  ^        ^
    drwxr-xr-x 11 mkummel      2560 Mar  7 23:25 public_html/
    -rw-r--r--  1 mkummel     10297 Mar  8 23:42 index.html
                                            ^
     ^^^        user permission  (rwx)      date and time last modified
        ^^^     group permission (rwx)
           ^^^  world permission (rwx)

An alias lets you type something simple and do something complex. It's a shorthand for a command. If you want to type "dir" instead of "ls -l" then type alias dir 'ls -l'. The single quotes tell Unix that the enclosed text is one command. Aliases are more useful if they're permanent so you don't have to think about them. You can do this by adding the alias to your .cshrc file so they're automatically loaded when you start. Type pico .cshrc and look for the alias section and add what you want. It will be effective when you start. Just remember that if you make an alias with the name of a Unix command, that command will become unavailable.
Here are a few aliases from my .cshrc file:

# enter your aliases here in the form:
     # alias     this    means this

            alias       h       history         
            alias       m       more
            alias q quota -v
            alias       bye     exit
            alias  ls  ls -F
            alias       dir     ls
            alias  cdup cd ..
            alias motd more /etc/motd

A Unix script is a text file of commands that can be executed, like a .bat file in DOS. Unix contains a powerful programming language with loops and variables that I don't really understand. Here's a useful example. Unix can't rename a bunch of files at once the way DOS can. This is a problem if you develop Web pages on a DOS machine and then upload them to your Unix Server. You might have a bunch of .htm files that you want to rename as .html files, but Unix makes you do it one by one. This is actually not a defect. (It's a feature!) Unix is just being more consistent than DOS. So make a script!
Make a text file (eg with pico) with the following lines. The first line is special. It tells Unix what program or shell should execute the script. Other # lines are comments.

#! /bin/csh
    # htm2html converts *.htm files to *.html
    foreach f ( *.htm )
      set base=`basename $f .htm`
      mv $f $base.html
    end

Save this in your home directory as htm2html (or whatever). Then make it user-executable by typing chmod 700 htm2html. After this a * will appear by the file name when you ls -F, to show that it's executable. Change to a directory with .htm files and type ~/htm2html, and it will do its stuff. Think about scripts whenever you find yourself doing the same tedious thing over and over.

Dotfile names begin with a "." These files and directories don't show up when you list a directory unless you use the -a option, so they are also called hidden files. Type ls -la in your home directory to see what you have. Some of these dotfiles are crucial. They initialize your shell and the programs you use, like autoexec.bat in DOS and .ini files in Windows. rc means "run commands". These are all text files that can be edited, but change them at your peril. Make backups first!
Here's some of what I get when I type ls -laF:

.addressbook	my email addressbook.
.cshrc	my C-shell startup info, important!
.gopherrc	my gopher setup.
.history	list of past commands.
.login	login init, important!
.lynxrc	my lynx setup for WWW.
.ncftp/	hidden dir of ncftp stuff.
.newsrc	my list of subscribed newsgroups.
.pinerc	my pine setup for email.
.plan	text appears when I'm fingered, ok to edit.
.profile	Korn shell startup info, important!
.project	text appears when I'm fingered, ok to edit.
.signature	my signature file for mail and news, ok to edit.
.tin/	hidden dir of my tin stuff for usenet.
.ytalkrc	my ytalk setup.