ok if i have a small or medium generator and want to connect a houses lights and mthe water purifier near the water what should i install bvecause the wires dont seem to travle far and i dont want to use a new genmeratpor for ever device or house

You'll need to connect them by daisy-chaining connections. I think it's the section just to left of generators in build menu.

In the connectors section of the power menu are 2 different towers a small & a large they power most things ( but not all ) in a radius provided they are connected by wire to a generator or generators they actually are very handy in allowing you to establish a grid in a settlement many lights that you can not directly connect wire to are powered by these towers I would suggest using the large version it's cheaper on resources in the long run & has a bigger radius than the small or so it seems hope this helps

is it the power pilons?

Yup. Pylons are for outside. The small conectors- three of the same, except for orentation, are to be used on and in buildings.

does anyone know of a list or guide as to what each item is for under build mode? would be tremendously helpfull

By the by, to get the max range out of your pylons, place the pylon down then hook them up with wire, then drag them along until it goes red and find the sweet spot where it can still be placed. You can get some pretty neat and tidy set-ups that way.

In short:

You must construct additional pylons. <:

That made me smile.

I just had to pylon some jokes. Haven't been dispensing enough puns lately.