# Fundamentals

This next section is designed to show you how to start &kword; and some basic but important concepts you should understand when using &kword;

## Starting &kword;

&kword; can be started one of four ways:

1. You can select &kword; through the system menus, under: K-Button Office KWord.

2. If you are in a terminal program (&konsole;, Xterm, &etc;), you can type:

       $ kword
       &

   Or

       $ kword
       filename &

3. Using &konqueror;, you can click on your data file (&kword; documents end in `.kwd`). This will automatically start &kword; and begin editing the file.

4. Using the &koffice; Workspace.

## An Introduction to Templates

OK, so the first question you may have is:

Why do I need to use a frames based word processor, when I am perfectly happy writing my letters on my current, page layout, word processor?

Well the good news is, adjusting to a frames based word processor is easy and once you select a template, &kword; can act just like the page layout word processor you are used to. There are templates available for simple correspondence and day to day use.

When you need to generate a more complex document (newsletters, posters, &etc;), however, you will not need to switch to a different application to generate these special documents. There are templates in &kword; which will help you generate your newsletters or other more complicated documents.

OK. So now that you are willing to give this a try, we should talk briefly about what templates are, what templates can do for you and how you work with templates.

What are templates and what can they do for me

A template can be thought of as an initial mold for your document.

When we sit down to write a document, we already have an idea of what the final product will look like. If you are writing a letter to a business, you want a document with only one column, which goes all the way across the page, and from top to bottom of the page. When you sit down to author a newsletter for a local organization, however, you may want a large title across the top, and several columns for quick news articles.

With &kword;, you can use this predetermined notion of how your document should look too make your work easier. By using a template, you can create a set of frames to approximate this final layout. For your business letter, you can select one large frame that covers the page from top to bottom and side to side (excluding margins of course). For that newsletter, however, you may decide that a two or three column document is more to your liking. Once you select this template, &kword; will create the frames for you.

What if I decide later to change my layout

This is not a problem. If you begin your document as a single column document and decide later that two columns is better for your needs, you can add another column. The purpose of templates is not to limit your ability to change your layout, but rather to take some of the work load off you whenever possible. Choosing the correct template when you begin your document will simplify the formatting (as opposed to always selecting the default template and making your changes later.), but it is also important to remember that choosing the wrong template will not limit your work.

Working with frames (aka Your First Document)

The following section, consists of two fundamental topics which you should understand before we continue, followed by a step by step walk through of the most important functions you will need to understand to complete a complex document. We will generate the start of a newsletter using this tutorial. If you do not want to complete the tutorial, or have questions about a specific aspect of frames, you can use the following to jump directly to that section of the tutorial:

1. The difference between Text Oriented and Page Layout templates

2. Choosing the initial template

3. Selecting a frame and entering text into that frame

4. Changing the size of a frame

5. Moving a frame on the page

6. Adding a new frame and making text flow between two frames

7. Deleting a frame

This tutorial is designed to be done in order, starting with The difference between Text Oriented and Page Layout templates. I recommend going through the tutorial in order at least once.

## The difference between Text Oriented and Page Layout templates

Before we begin with the tutorial, it is important that the difference between Text Oriented and Page Layout templates is clear in your mind.

Text Oriented

  The Text Oriented templates are designed to act like page-oriented word processors. When you select a Text Oriented template, you will create a template with one or more frames. The first frame is distinctly tied to the paper size of your document. When you increase or decrease the paper size or change the margins, the frame size is automatically adjusted. You are not able to move this frame around on the page and you cannot delete this frame. If you need to adjust the size or position of this frame, you must adjust the margins. On top of the first frame, you can, of course, add additional frames. These frames can contain pictures, text or whatever you want. These new frames can be moved, re-sized and deleted to suit your needs. If you want it, &kword; will even wrap the text from the first frame around any information in any subsequent frames.

Page Layout

  These templates are designed for desktop publishing. When you select a template from this class, all of the frames are created equal. This is where the difference between Page Layout and Text Oriented template lies. None of the frames in a Page Layout template are tied to the page as tightly as the main frame in a Text Oriented template is. Each of the frames is independent of the page size, and can be moved or re-sized without changing margins, &etc; Of course this also means that altering the margins or paper size of your document requires that you individually move/resize each frame.

As you can see, the choice between Page Layout and Text Oriented templates is a choice between flexibility (Page Layout) and convenience (Text Oriented). You can create any document you like with either type of template.

If the concept of templates is still unclear, please follow along with the following tutorial. The first document you create will use a Page Layout template. This should help clarify exactly how templates function.