I apologize in advance for being completely dense, but I do not understand OOP in action (I understand the principles, but when faced with OOP code, a fog envelops my brain), and I do not understand yii.
I am trying to put an image on my index page. I gather that you use CHtml::image($src, $alt, $htmlOptions). As the value for $src, you are supposed to use:
Your baseUrl usually points to your webroot directory. So there is a place for a folder like images. Do not put assets in your protected folder unless you are using them with asset manager to publish them in your webroot.assets.