The pads on the back are just for setting the 'address' of the Tx & Rx units. If you only have this one set, you can leave them as is.
Take out this line, your part does not need it.
vw_set_ptt_inverted(true);
For your transmitter, you can load up an array and send it like this:
msg[0]=key; // load the array with the key character --> fill this as needed
digitalWrite(ledPin, true); // Flash a light to show transmitting
vw_send((uint8_t *)msg, strlen(msg)); // send the character out
// Serial.println(key); // for debugging only
vw_wait_tx(); // Wait until the whole message is gone
delay (50); // need some delay or seem to miss key presses
digitalWrite(ledPin, false); // turn off the flash of LED
The receive side will get the data as a string of character
// **********************************************************************************************
// look for wireless input
uint8_t buf[VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN];
uint8_t buflen = VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN;
if (vw_get_message(buf, &buflen)) // Non-blocking
{
int i;
digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); // Turn on LED to show working a message
// Message with a good checksum received, dump it.
//Serial.println("Got: "); // Show on PC for debugging
// for (i = 0; i < buflen; i++)
// {
//Serial.print(byte(buf[i]));
// }
//Serial.println(""); // spaces it out for the monitor
So I think you're pretty close.