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I am trying to use mod_perl to create a website.

Why? How did you reach that decision?

I am finding the documentation online to be quite technical and am having trouble answering some basic questions.

That is called a red flag :) an alarm bell :)

Forget about mod_perl for the moment and start making a list of things you're trying to accomplish

Then devote a day to looking for existing software that satisfies your goals

Good reading material in no particular order: http://perl.apache.org/docs/tutorials/index.html; http://www.masonbook.com/; http://modperlbook.org/html/index.html; http://mojolicio.us/perldoc/Mojolicious/Guides/Cookbook; http://search.cpan.org/perldoc?Catalyst::Manual::Cookbook; http://p3rl.org/Dancer::Cookbook
slightly weaker material, but there be gold in them hills, dig for more: Web Application design patterns with Mod_perl; Reflections on the design of a pure-Moose web app...; mod_perl web app design considerations

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