Im using subversion via Coda on a Mac, and I have just set up my first site and following online tutorials I set my svn repository using command line at the terminal.
However when I go to my site, I see my files for the site on my local side, with either a question mark which says 'add file' when I hover over it and when I click that a green circle with a white 'A' saying 'commit this file'? when I hover over it. What does all this this mean?
Im new to this so please forgive me.
When using Coda the easiest way is to click sites and create a new site for your project. Note there is a form for completing your SVN at the bottom.
However, what you are seeing is A meaning that your files have been added and are ready to be committed to svn. Typically in Coda you'd do this by selecting the added files and right clicking commit.
There is a wealth of information in general about SVN available here : http://svnbook.red-bean.com/nightly/en/index.html
Coda's SVN client is one of the many flavors of GUI's that make it easy for you to see what you are doing in a very visual way but it all usually is based on the same principle.
edit: Just to elaborate slightly; the actual reason you are being asked to commit is that Coda is asking you to make the decision whether you want the working copy (your local copy) to send changes to the repository (where you are storing your files).
Each commit creates a revision that allows you to look back through each individual commit and see what was changed and when. This will provide useful in future for finding errors or comparing files.