HI bluebird. there are an infinity of ways to learn guitar playing. i started at age 18 or 19 and never really stopped playing until now, though there are some blank moments due to life and its imperatives. i started on the electric guitar my brother had bought some time before, a Samick, fender stratocaster replica. There were only four strings on that guitar, so i learned melodies, as many beginners do, note by note, almost like a bass player. Then when i felt i could play a little more and wanted to play and record my music in better conditions, i bought a gibson SG special, quite cheap at the time. It was only some years ago that i bought an acoustic guitar. Nylon strings. Very cheap, not sounding incredible, but actually i have recorded all my acoustics parts for my music with it. i'm not a professionnal but i can pretend to have achieved some "hearable" sounds, although far from perfect. I started playing different chords, rythm tracks, more seriously only when i got that acoustic guitar. i still can't write or read music, and never used any "tablatures" like those you can find in the magazines. But i can play chords, i can reproduce melodies and riffs, and i can improvise as well.
here's my story. yours is already different of course, and i'm sure you'll get your own way of playing. most of all, HAVE FUN!