I tried to respond, but keep getting a message the connection is refused, so I guess there is trouble with the site.

What your friends are telling you is that you are looking for the COMPRESSION stroke. How you find that is to plug the hole with the pad of your fingertip or thumb, and have someone keep tapping the starter. At times you will feel suction, but you are looking for air being blown out of the hole. This is telling you that the valves are closed, and your piston is on the way to the top of the compression stroke, Top Dead Center.

As you feel the compression continuing, look for the timing mark to be coming up toward the pointer. You can now rotate the crank until the mark is right on zero. Now look at your distributor rotor, with the cap off. Is it pointing right to the same plug wire that is going to number one? If so, you are timed enough to fire the engine, and then time it better once it is running.