under interface and features there are only 2 spots to enter a path. and the paths looked correct.
Resource path: /home/p153j4p5/public_html/assets/
Enter the physical path to the resource directory. This setting is usually automatically generated. If you’re using IIS, however, MODx may not be able to work the path out on its own, causing the Resource Browser to show an error. In that case, you can enter the path to the images directory here (the path as you’d see it in Windows Explorer). NOTE: The resource directory must contain the subfolders images, files, flash and media in order for the resource browser to function correctly.
Resource URL: assets/
Enter the virtual path to resource directory. This setting is usually automatically generated. If you’re using IIS, however, MODx may not be able to work the URL out on it’s own, causing the Resource Browser to show an error. In that case, you can enter the URL to the images directory here (the URL as you’d enter it on Internet Explorer).
under file manager i added assets after the path
My homepage remains to be the modx homepage
File Manager Path: /home/p153j4p5/public_html/assets
IIS often does not populate the document_root setting properly, which is used by the file manager to determine what you can look at. If you’re having problems using the file manager, make sure this path points to the root of your MODx installation.