Users of Kile have two choices when starting a new document: they can use the Wizard to begin a new document, selecting the type of document they would like to create and options such as font size, paper size, and so on; otherwise, they can write the code by hand.

		\documentclass[12pt]{article}
		\begin{document}
		Here is a bunch of text coded in LaTeX.
		\end{document}

Every document in L^AT_EX begins with the command \documentclass{TypeOfDocument}, unless you are using an older version of L^AT_EX, then the command is \documentstyle{TypeOfDocument}. There are currently two common version of L^AT_EX you might run into: version 2.09, which uses \documentstyle, and version 2_ε, which uses \documentclass to begin a document. The command \documentclass always follows the syntax \documentclass[optional argument]{class}.

Typing in the code example above from the text box gives you the following output:

		Here is a bunch of text coded in LaTeX.

The brackets that come after the command \documentclass contain the options for the command. The option [12pt] sets the size of the font for your article; if you do not set the font size in the beginning, you can set it later in the text.

Once you have typed in the code example from the box above, you will need to compile your L^AT_EX source code. The easiest way for you to compile L^AT_EX is to use the Build menu, or using the Quickbuild button.

Alt-2 is the keyboard shortcut to compile your source code.

You have to save your source code before you can compile; Kile will do this automatically for you.

If your document didn't compile, check the log for errors. When using the Quickbuild key, the KDVI viewer should be launched automatically; if it does not, look at the log.