Arduino Uno SMD + Monster Moto Shield + DC motors

Hi there,
I am an arduino newbie and for my semester project I am working with an arduino and a few motors. My primary equipments are-
Arduino UNO SMD Arduino Uno - R3 SMD - DEV-11224 - SparkFun Electronics
Monster Moto Shield SparkFun Monster Moto Shield - DEV-10182 - SparkFun Electronics
The motor is a generic 9-18V DC

My biggest problem is getting the moto shield to interface with the arduino. The webpage for the motor shield has a sample code, but i cannot get my motors to run. Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you in advance.

You need to give more information, all we know so far is that you have bought something and can't get it to work. You say you have set it up like the web page but you must be missing something somewhere. So without knowing what you have actually done it is impossible to say what you have done wrong.
So a diagram of how you have wired it up and maybe a photo of your setup would help.

Here are the pictures-
Imgur
First Image is the motor shield stacked to UNO, yellow wires to the motor and green to power supply; for this configuration I am trying to run the code that was on the motor shields website

/*  MonsterMoto Shield Example Sketch
  date: 5/24/11
  code by: Jim Lindblom
  hardware by: Nate Bernstein
  SparkFun Electronics
 
 License: CC-SA 3.0, feel free to use this code however you'd like.
 Please improve upon it! Let me know how you've made it better.
 
 This is really simple example code to get you some basic
 functionality with the MonsterMoto Shield. The MonsterMote uses
 two VNH2SP30 high-current full-bridge motor drivers.
 
 Use the motorGo(uint8_t motor, uint8_t direct, uint8_t pwm) 
 function to get motors going in either CW, CCW, BRAKEVCC, or 
 BRAKEGND. Use motorOff(int motor) to turn a specific motor off.
 
 The motor variable in each function should be either a 0 or a 1.
 pwm in the motorGo function should be a value between 0 and 255.
 */
#define BRAKEVCC 0
#define CW   1
#define CCW  2
#define BRAKEGND 3
#define CS_THRESHOLD 100

/*  VNH2SP30 pin definitions
 xxx[0] controls '1' outputs
 xxx[1] controls '2' outputs */
int inApin[2] = {7, 4};  // INA: Clockwise input
int inBpin[2] = {8, 9}; // INB: Counter-clockwise input
int pwmpin[2] = {5, 6}; // PWM input
int cspin[2] = {2, 3}; // CS: Current sense ANALOG input
int enpin[2] = {0, 1}; // EN: Status of switches output (Analog pin)

int statpin = 13;

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);
  
  pinMode(statpin, OUTPUT);

  // Initialize digital pins as outputs
  for (int i=0; i<2; i++)
  {
    pinMode(inApin[i], OUTPUT);
    pinMode(inBpin[i], OUTPUT);
    pinMode(pwmpin[i], OUTPUT);
  }
  // Initialize braked
  for (int i=0; i<2; i++)
  {
    digitalWrite(inApin[i], LOW);
    digitalWrite(inBpin[i], LOW);
  }
  // motorGo(0, CW, 1023);
  // motorGo(1, CCW, 1023);
}

void loop()
{
  motorGo(0, CW, 1023);
  motorGo(1, CCW, 1023);
  delay(500);

  motorGo(0, CCW, 1023);
  motorGo(1, CW, 1023);
  delay(500);
  
  if ((analogRead(cspin[0]) < CS_THRESHOLD) && (analogRead(cspin[1]) < CS_THRESHOLD))
    digitalWrite(statpin, HIGH);
}

void motorOff(int motor)
{
  // Initialize braked
  for (int i=0; i<2; i++)
  {
    digitalWrite(inApin[i], LOW);
    digitalWrite(inBpin[i], LOW);
  }
  analogWrite(pwmpin[motor], 0);
}

/* motorGo() will set a motor going in a specific direction
 the motor will continue going in that direction, at that speed
 until told to do otherwise.
 
 motor: this should be either 0 or 1, will selet which of the two
 motors to be controlled
 
 direct: Should be between 0 and 3, with the following result
 0: Brake to VCC
 1: Clockwise
 2: CounterClockwise
 3: Brake to GND
 
 pwm: should be a value between ? and 1023, higher the number, the faster
 it'll go
 */
void motorGo(uint8_t motor, uint8_t direct, uint8_t pwm)
{
  if (motor <= 1)
  {
    if (direct <=4)
    {
      // Set inA[motor]
      if (direct <=1)
        digitalWrite(inApin[motor], HIGH);
      else
        digitalWrite(inApin[motor], LOW);

      // Set inB[motor]
      if ((direct==0)||(direct==2))
        digitalWrite(inBpin[motor], HIGH);
      else
        digitalWrite(inBpin[motor], LOW);

      analogWrite(pwmpin[motor], pwm);
    }
  }
}

The second picture is the schematic diagram of a circuit I made to control a motor. This circuit worked, here is the code-

int motorPin = 9;

void setup()
{
  //Set the PWM Motor pin as an output
  pinMode(motorPin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
  //Increase Motor Speed from 0 -> 255
  for (int i=0; i<=255; i++)
  {
    analogWrite(motorPin, i);
    delay(40);
  }
  
  delay(500); 
  
  //Decrease Motor Speed from 255 -> 0
  for(int i=255; i>=0; i--)
  {
    analogWrite(motorPin, i);
    delay(40);
  }
  
  delay(500); 
  
}

nothingoli:
Here are the pictures-
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
First Image is the motor shield stacked to UNO, yellow wires to the motor and green to power supply;

Before we go any further - exactly -how- do you have those wires attached, because to me, they look like they are simply stuck in the holes, with nothing else holding them in place. Notice how large the holes are? This is because this is a seriously large h-bridge, and you should be using much thicker gauge wire (unless your motor is seriously undersized for the bridge - what are it's specs, mainly running/stall current?). That wire needs to be soldered in place on the holes, or you need to install screw terminals soldered into the holes (if the connection needs to be changed for some reason). Finally, once you know the current needs for the motor, if it is greater than (IIRC) 6-7 amps, you will likely need a heatsink on that driver board.

I am only prototyping now, so the motors are relatively small and hence I havent soldered anything. I have already placed an order of screw terminals. But my concern here is why doesn't the code from the website work? Have I done the wiring properly?

Those wires are defiantly not making any contact, it is the first thing to correct. The schematic has a symbol that looks like a triangle, is this a diode? If it is you need to connect the anode to the collector not to ground.

the schematic is for a different circuit. i got that circuit to work, but that circuit has a low cutoff. hence i got the power shield. the wires are making contact. me and my friend hold the power cables and the motor cables to make sure they're touching(ordered screw terminals already)

the schematic is for a different circuit

Yes I spotted that actually,

i got that circuit to work

it doesn't mean it isn't wrong.

but that circuit has a low cutoff

I have no idea what that means.

the wires are making contact. me and my friend hold the power cables and the motor cables to make sure they're touching

If you are going to play like that then just give up you are too stupid to play with electronics.