help with else if scripting

[noob1]

Hi everybody, my first post here.
I have just recently picked up my first linux distro. I dual boot ubuntu and windows xp until i can use ubuntu without help. I like it so far and what I really like is that my cell phone which is a palm pre runs linux as well. I can ssh into it and control it from my ubuntu console.
Anyway I have learned quite a bit just from google but I am stuck right now and google is not really yielding the results i seek.

So my problem is I am working on a really simple script that has no value except that I want to learn these commands and I keep getting the "bad variable" error.
I know what this means but I dont know how to fix it. I am trying to create this script that when run you will pick a number 1-10 and try to guess the predetermined result, in this case the number is 7. I realize that there are many errors so if anybody could point me in the right direction that would be great.

echo "Pick a number 1 through 10:"
read number
if $number -ge 8
then
echo "wrong number"
else
if $number -le 6 
then
echo "wrong number"
else 
if $number -eq 7 
then
echo "correct number" 
fi

why is "number" a bad variable. Thanks in advance for any help. Also please dont flame me too much for sloppy work because i dont learn by being flamed i can only learn if know what i did wrong.

[HROAdmin26]

Bash Scripting Guide

Tests

Also, please try and encapsulate your "code" entries on the forum using the CODE tag around that text.

Example code text:

CODE...HERE

[noob1]

thanks for the quick reply. I read over the pages you listed however they are a little out of my league right now. I can only understand the simple stuff.
so is there any simple way to make numbers 0-9 a variable? i figured numbers would have been built in variables.

[HROAdmin26]

#1 List the exact steps taken and the exact error messages verbatim when reporting an issue.

#2 Review the Bash guide again. You don't have a valid if-then stanza - your syntax is wrong. When your syntax is wrong, errors spit out by the interpreter may not be the actual issue. Google "bash debugging" - put #!/bin/bash -x at the beginning of your script to echo some debug info.

7.3. Other Comparison Operators

A binary comparison operator compares two variables or quantities. Note that integer and string comparison use a different set of operators.

integer comparison

-eq

is equal to

if [ "$a" -eq "$b" ]
-ne

is not equal to

if [ "$a" -ne "$b" ]
-gt

is greater than

if [ "$a" -gt "$b" ]
-ge

is greater than or equal to

if [ "$a" -ge "$b" ]
-lt

is less than

if [ "$a" -lt "$b" ]
-le

is less than or equal to

if [ "$a" -le "$b" ]

Else if and elif

elif

elif is a contraction for else if. The effect is to nest an inner if/then construct within an outer one.

if [ condition1 ]
then
command1
command2
command3
elif [ condition2 ]
# Same as else if
then
command4
command5
else
default-command
fi

[noob1]

Thank you again. That has given me plenty to digest and work with. Thank you so much. I am happy to be a part of the community.