Plan to smoke some ribs for the first time later today.

I try to keep ribs simple. no wrapping or basting or any of that. 250ish for 4-5 hrs. sauce during the last 30 min.

What kind of cooker you using?

Weber kettle smoking is easy. Do not overload with lit coals and try to keep the top vent open as much as possible and control the temp with the bottom vent. Do you have a way to monitor the temp at the lid?
Place the lit coals on one side and indirect cook the ribs on the other. Baste with sauce about 30 minutes to pulling them off, open up the vents to get the temp up and sauce will caramelize.