how do i port forward for a minecraft server so me and my friends can play?

I have a c3000z and century link I'm not really a tech or a web designer so i have not much concept for all that stuff but i do know i need to put in my public ip address, tcp udp, ports (25565), and allow firewall but after all that it doesnt seem to be working. I checked what the problem was and it was apparently the port fowarding. im just a simple person so i dont understand what i did wrong