Help Wanted

I have a forum on my not for profit site and need to build side panels. I already have a header and footer but would like people to see what else is going on in the site. I have had several people attempt to build the side panels and both times this has resulted in my site going down for quite some time. I realise that this is a difficult one and with no funds it is almost impossible. I know a little bit and would be quite willing to attempt to do it myself if someone could just tell me what to do. So are there any good samaritans out there? Queensah