Camping: Tent set up

When you go to buy a tent you will find that there are alot to choose from. Pick one that suits your needs. Tents range from high dollar to affordable, canvas to nylon and they come in all shapes and sizes.
Setup:

First, Look around at your campsite. I look for a flat spot with a slight incline. This will allow water from rain or some type of human error, to run off away from the tent instead of creating a puddle under the tent.
Once you have chosen your spot. Remove all rocks, pine cones, etc,etc....
If you have one, throw down a tarp under your tent. A tarp is not necessary but it will keep the bottom of the tent cleaner and put a cheaper ground base between your tent floor and the ground. The tarp should be the same size or slightly smaller and the same shape as your tent. Build your tent over the tarp. You should stake down your tent to keep the wind from blowing it down or even blowing it away when you’re not in it.
Remember to always give water an escape route under your tent so it won't get trapped and puddle up. By all means stay away from low spots that could potentially become a pond.

I also recommend not doing as I do if you are unfamiliar with your tent. Always check out and/or follow the instruction given with your tent. Me? I like to figure things out without having to read the step by step. I figure I am on vacation and not on the clock. Which is usually a good thing, because I have wasted a whole lot of vacation time this way.
Our very first tent was given to us from my uncle. It had no instructions and more poles than was needed. Some of the poles were made from plastic water pipes. How hard could it be? We decided to find out.
In our backyard my wife and I started to put it together. A good hour went by before we got that tent up as it was made to. During which time we kicked it, cursed it and each other too. Until finally she claimed victory with the words, "Pull the poles up from the bottom pulling them together in the center". Thinking to myself, "That won't do it". But when I did, up it went. It was actually pretty easy once you got the concept down.
We still have that old tent with its plastic pole. As a family, we out grew it, there is nothing worse than to have to step all over everything in the tent just to change your cloths, so now it sits in a corner of the garage.
We graduated to 2 Dome tent one 11'x 11' for mom and I and for the kids, a 7'x 9' dome tent. These tents are so easy to put up and take down. Light weight and take up very little room when on the road.