path: root/doc/userguide/index.docbook

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
  <!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN" "dtd/kdex.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY kappname "<replaceable>KApp</replaceable>">
  <!ENTITY % addindex "INCLUDE">
 <!ENTITY % imageobjectco.module "INCLUDE">
  <!ENTITY getting-help SYSTEM "getting-help.docbook">
  <!ENTITY programs-controlling SYSTEM "programs-controlling.docbook">
  <!ENTITY troubleshooting-no-open SYSTEM "troubleshooting-no-open.docbook">
  <!ENTITY troubleshooting-network-x SYSTEM "troubleshooting-network-x.docbook">
  <!ENTITY windows-how-to SYSTEM "windows-how-to.docbook">
  <!ENTITY the-filemanager SYSTEM "the-filemanager.docbook">
  <!ENTITY panel-and-desktop SYSTEM "panel-and-desktop.docbook">
  <!ENTITY programs-and-documents SYSTEM "programs-and-documents.docbook">
  <!ENTITY control-center SYSTEM "control-center.docbook">
  <!ENTITY customizing-desktop SYSTEM "customizing-desktop.docbook">
  <!ENTITY base-kde-applications SYSTEM "base-kde-applications.docbook">
  <!ENTITY removable-disks SYSTEM "removable-disks.docbook">
  <!ENTITY burning-cds SYSTEM "burning-cds.docbook">
  <!ENTITY playing-music SYSTEM "playing-music.docbook">
  <!ENTITY playing-audiocds SYSTEM "playing-audiocds.docbook">
  <!ENTITY playing-movies SYSTEM "playing-movies.docbook">
  <!ENTITY your-kde-account SYSTEM "your-kde-account.docbook">
  <!ENTITY kde-as-root SYSTEM "kde-as-root.docbook">
  <!ENTITY switching-sessions SYSTEM "switching-sessions.docbook">
  <!ENTITY file-sharing SYSTEM "file-sharing.docbook">
  <!ENTITY networking-with-windows SYSTEM  "networking-with-windows.docbook">
  <!ENTITY shared-sessions SYSTEM "shared-sessions.docbook">
  <!ENTITY printer-setup SYSTEM "printer-setup.docbook">
  <!ENTITY printing-from-apps SYSTEM "printing-from-apps.docbook">
  <!ENTITY pdf-files SYSTEM "pdf-files.docbook">
  <!ENTITY font-installation SYSTEM "font-installation.docbook">
  <!ENTITY creating-graphics SYSTEM "creating-graphics.docbook">
  <!ENTITY screen-captures SYSTEM "screen-captures.docbook">
  <!ENTITY konsole-intro SYSTEM "konsole-intro.docbook">
  <!ENTITY kde-edutainment SYSTEM "kde-edutainment.docbook">
  <!ENTITY accessibility SYSTEM "accessibility.docbook">
  <!ENTITY under-the-hood SYSTEM "under-the-hood.docbook">
  <!ENTITY net-connection-setup SYSTEM "net-connection-setup.docbook">
  <!ENTITY email SYSTEM "email.docbook">
  <!ENTITY internet-shortcuts SYSTEM "internet-shortcuts.docbook">
  <!ENTITY browser-fine-tuning SYSTEM "browser-fine-tuning.docbook">
  <!ENTITY usenet SYSTEM "usenet.docbook">
  <!ENTITY messaging-intro SYSTEM "messaging-intro.docbook">
  <!ENTITY kde-office SYSTEM "kde-office.docbook">
  <!ENTITY kde-for-admins SYSTEM "kde-for-admins.docbook">
  <!ENTITY migrator-dictionary SYSTEM "migrator-dictionary.docbook">
  <!ENTITY glossary SYSTEM "glossary.docbook">
  <!ENTITY standard-menu-entries SYSTEM "standard-menu-entries.docbook">
  <!ENTITY where-next SYSTEM "where-next.docbook">
  <!ENTITY credits-and-license SYSTEM "credits-and-license.docbook">
  <!ENTITY groupware-with-kontact SYSTEM "groupware-kontact.docbook">
  <!ENTITY extragear-applications SYSTEM "extragear-applications.docbook">
  <!ENTITY migrator-applications SYSTEM "migrator-applications.docbook">
  <!ENTITY % English "INCLUDE">
]>

<book lang="&language;">
<bookinfo>
<title>The &kde; User Guide</title>

<authorgroup>
<corpauthor>
The &kde; Documentation Team
</corpauthor>

<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
</authorgroup>

<copyright>
<year>2004</year><year>2005</year>
<holder>The &kde; Documentation Team</holder>
</copyright>

<legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice>

<date>2004-06-16</date>
<releaseinfo>0.0.1</releaseinfo>

<abstract>
<para>A general user guide to &kde;
</para>

<para>Please report any problems with this document to
<email>kde-doc-english@kde.org</email>.
</para>
</abstract>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>desktop</keyword>
<keyword>handbook</keyword>
<keyword>tutorial</keyword>
</keywordset>

</bookinfo>

<part id="introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>

<chapter id="welcome">
<title>Welcome to the &kde; User Guide</title>

<para>This User Guide aims to provide an overview of the entire &kde; experience.  We
assume here that you have a standard, working installation of a complete &kde;
desktop environment, and the accompanying packages.  This book should be
your first point of reference for any simple &kde; configuration question, or
to find out how to perform a common task.</para>

<sect1 id="what-the-ug-is">
<title>What this book aims to be</title>

<para>The first place to look and a one stop shop for all questions you have
regarding your &kde; experience.</para>

<para>A Quick Start Guide to commonly performed tasks - In most cases, you do not
need to know the details of how to configure every option in an application,
in order to get down to work.  You will find step-by-step guides which
will work in most common situations, along with links to sources of
further information in case you have any problems.</para>

<para>There are also some tips and tricks showing you the most useful and
impressive features of &kde;, and ways to save you time and effort.</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="what-the-ug-is-not">
<title>What this book is not</title>

<para>The User Guide is not intended to be a replacement for the application
manuals.  You should turn to the handbook for help with specific program
configuration and troubleshooting issues not covered in this book. If the
answer is outside the scope of this book, we will tell you here precisely
where to look for further help.</para>

<para>You may also have a variety of third party packages, and some of these
applications are mentioned briefly here, but we normally cover only the
applications provided as part of a &kde; release.  This is not a judgment on
the value of third party applications, and in fact many of them are
excellent.</para>

<para>The User Guide is not specific to a distribution, and covers a default &kde;
installation.  Your local installation may be customized by your
distribution provider, or by yourself, and so our advice here is
generic. You may have to adjust paths in order to locate the files that are
discussed.</para>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="typographic-conventions">
<title>Conventions used in this book</title>

<para>We'll use the following formatting conventions to make it clear what
we're referring to:
<informaltable>
<tgroup cols="3">

<thead>
<row>
<entry>Type of Text</entry>
<entry>Style</entry>
<entry>Example</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>

<row>
<entry>Text appearing in the &GUI; (on buttons, &etc;)</entry>
<entry>Light gray background</entry>
<entry><guilabel>Settings</guilabel></entry>
</row>

<row>
<entry>Names of keys</entry>
<entry>Bold font</entry>
<entry>&Ctrl;</entry>
</row>

<row>
<entry>Menu entries</entry>
<entry><quote>Menu Name</quote>-><quote>Menu Item</quote></entry>
<entry><menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></entry>
</row>

<row>
<entry>Key combinations (pressed simultaneously)</entry>
<entry><quote>Modifier Key</quote>+<quote>Action Key</quote></entry>
<entry><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>Q</keycap>
</keycombo></entry>
</row>

<row>
<entry>Text you should enter</entry>
<entry>Bold, fixed width font</entry>
<entry><userinput>ls -al kde/</userinput></entry>
</row>

<row>
<entry>Text you should replace as appropriate</entry>
<entry>Italic green font</entry>
<entry><replaceable>user</replaceable></entry>
</row>

</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="system-locations">
<title>System Locations</title>

<para>You may need to know the following system locations:

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term>&kde; prefix</term>
<listitem><para>&kde; installs into its own folder tree, which you can find by
running the command <userinput><command>kde-config</command> <option>--prefix</option></userinput>. This folder is referred to
by the environment variables  $<envar>TDEDIRS</envar> and possibly
$<envar>TDEDIR</envar>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>&kde; user-specific settings</term>
<listitem><para>The environment variable $<envar>TDEHOME</envar>
points to the folder where &kde; should find user-specific settings.  If it is not
set, the default value of <filename
class="directory">~/.kde</filename> is used.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</para>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="overview">
<title>Overview, or <quote>Where to look in the User Guide</quote></title>

<para>Here's an overview of what's in the User Guide:</para>

<para><xref linkend="desktop"/> contains an introduction to the basic
use of &kde;, such as <xref linkend="windows-how-to-work"/>,  and the tools
that you'll be using in all &kde; applications, like <xref
linkend="programs-save-open" />. If you're new to &kde; or even
computers in general, you will probably find this section
helpful.</para>

<para><xref linkend="components"/> explains some important components
of a &kde; installation and how they fit together: &kde;'s multimedia
and networking capabilities are extensive, and not covered thoroughly
here, but there's a taster of both of them in this part of the User
Guide. At the end of this part, you'll find a guide to tweaking &kde;
just that little bit more, in <xref
linkend="tinkering-under-the-hood"/>.</para>

<para><xref linkend="kde-online"/> highlights &kde;'s suite of
Internet applications. &kde; includes a powerful web browser,
&konqueror;, a full-featured email client, &kmail;, a news reader,
&knode;, and many more applications to make your Internet experience
easier and more productive. This part of the User Guide contains
information about setting up these applications.</para>

<para><xref linkend="kde-for-administrators"/> is a reference guide to
some &kde; features which will be useful to administrators setting up
multi-user systems. This part also has information that may be useful
to &kde; users with single-user systems: where configuration files are
stored, what environment variables affect &kde;, and so on. The KIOSK
framework is the &kde; system which allows administrators to limit
what users can do in &kde;. It is potentially useful in many
situations, but especially for running single-function kiosks with,
for example, just a web browser, hence the name.</para>

</sect1>
</chapter>
</part>

<part id="desktop">
<title>The Desktop</title>

<chapter id="basics">
<title>The Basics</title>
<para>The <quote>desktop</quote><indexterm><primary>Desktop</primary>
</indexterm> is just the name for the layout of
the screen when you start &kde;. It looks something like this (on your
own system, it might look slightly different, but the main features
should be the
same):</para>

<screenshot>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="desktop.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject><phrase>A default desktop layout</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>

<para>Let us look at the most important parts: 
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Most of the screen is
taken up by the background<indexterm><primary>Background</primary></indexterm>. At the moment, there is a picture making up
the background. This picture is usually referred to as the
<quote>wallpaper,</quote><indexterm><primary>Wallpaper</primary></indexterm> and you can change it to make &kde; suit your
taste.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>In the top left-hand corner are two icons:
<guiicon>Trash</guiicon> and <guiicon>Home</guiicon>. Clicking on
these will open your <filename>Trash</filename> folder and Home
folder, respectively. You can add more icons to the desktop so that
you can open your favorite programs, or access removable media, with
just one click.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>At the bottom is the &kde; Panel<indexterm><primary>Panel</primary></indexterm>, also known as
<quote>&kicker;</quote>. The Panel contains several useful ways of
interacting with &kde;. It houses the &kmenu;, from where you can open
any &kde; application installed on your computer, it shows all the
programs that are currently running, as well as the time, and more.  
Take a look at  <xref linkend="panel-and-desktop"/> for more
information about the &kde; Panel.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist></para>

<!-- Put this somewhere else
At the far left is the &kmenu;
button. Clicking on this button will open the main &kde; menu, which
has links to all the installed &kde; applications, and some useful
commands, like <guilabel>Find Files</guilabel> and <guilabel>Log
Out</guilabel>. You can start an application by finding it in the
&kmenu; and clicking on its name. Like the other things on the
desktop, the &kmenu; can be changed to fit your needs.</para>
</listitem>
-->

<!-- Put this in the Panel section
<listitem><para>Next to the &kmenu; button are icons which will
start some commonly-used &kde; applications. icons are similar
to the ones on the desktop background, but you can only put links to
programs here (and not links to removable media, like CDs).</para>
</listitem>

-->

<sect1 id="logging-in">
<sect1info>
<authorgroup>
<author>
&Philip.Rodrigues;
</author>
</authorgroup>
</sect1info>

<title>Logging In and Logging Out</title>
<para>Basic TDM &amp; starttde stuff.</para>
<!-- Not sure what exactly to say about starttde and where to say it -->
<!-- (Phil) -->
<para>There are two ways to log into &kde;: graphically and via the
command line. We'll look at them both briefly:</para>

<sect2 id="logging-in-graphically">
<title>Logging in Graphically</title>
<indexterm><primary>login</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>&tdm;</primary></indexterm>

<para>If you see a screen a little bit like the one below when you
start up your computer, then you are all set for logging in
graphically. Just enter your username in the
<guilabel>Login</guilabel> text box and your password in the
<guilabel>Password</guilabel> text box. Your password will not be shown
as you type it; it will probably be shown as asterisks. When you have
entered that information, click on the <guibutton>Login</guibutton>
button, and &kde; will start up. The &kde; splash screen will appear,
and keep you informed about the progress of &kde; startup, and when
it is done, &kde; will be ready to use.</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="logging-in-via-cmdline">
<title>Logging in via the Command Line</title>
<indexterm><primary><command>starttde</command></primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary><command>startx</command></primary></indexterm>

<para>If you prefer using the command line, you can log in to &kde;
with the <command>startx</command> command. Add the line
<userinput>exec starttde</userinput> to the
<filename>.xinitrc</filename> file in your home folder (create it
if it does not exist), save the file, and then run
<command>startx</command>. &kde; should start in the same way as if
you had logged in graphically.</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="logging-out">
<title>Logging Out</title>
<indexterm><primary>logout</primary></indexterm>

<para>Once you have finished using &kde; for the moment, you will
want to log out until next time. The easiest way to do this is to
click on the &kmenu; at the bottom left of your screen, and then
select the <guimenuitem>Log Out...</guimenuitem> item. A dialog with the
text <guilabel>End session for
<replaceable>username</replaceable></guilabel> will appear. To confirm
that you want to log out, click on the <guibutton>End Current Session</guibutton>
button. If you change your mind, and decide to carry on using &kde;
for now, hit <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<title>Related Information</title>
<listitem><para>The &tdm; Handbook has information about using and setting up
the &kde; graphical login manager. You can read it in &khelpcenter; or
by entering <userinput>help:/tdm</userinput> in &konqueror;'s
<guilabel>Location</guilabel> bar.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>
</sect1>

&getting-help;
&windows-how-to;

&the-filemanager;


</chapter>

&panel-and-desktop;

&programs-and-documents;

</part>

<part id="components">
<title>&kde; Components</title>

&control-center;

&base-kde-applications;

&extragear-applications;

<chapter id="multimedia">
<title>Multimedia With &kde;</title>

&removable-disks;

&playing-music;

&playing-audiocds;

&playing-movies;

</chapter>

<chapter id="multiuser-kde">
<title>&kde; the Multiuser Desktop</title>

&your-kde-account;

&kde-as-root;

&switching-sessions;
</chapter>

<chapter id="networking">
<title>Networking with &kde;</title>

&file-sharing;

&networking-with-windows;

&shared-sessions;
</chapter>

<chapter id="graphics-printing-and-fonts">
<title>Graphics, Printing, and Fonts</title>

&printer-setup;

&printing-from-apps;

&pdf-files;

&font-installation;

&creating-graphics;

</chapter>
&customizing-desktop;

&konsole-intro;

&kde-edutainment;

&accessibility;

&under-the-hood;
</part>

<part id="kde-online">
<title>&kde; and the Internet</title>

&net-connection-setup;

&email;

<chapter id="browser">
<title>&konqueror;</title>

<para>Intro to the browser</para>

&internet-shortcuts;

&browser-fine-tuning;
</chapter>

&usenet;

&messaging-intro;

</part>

&kde-office;

&kde-for-admins;

<part id="more">
<title>More Tools</title>

&migrator-applications;

&migrator-dictionary;

&standard-menu-entries;

&glossary;

<chapter id="troubleshooting">
<title>Troubleshooting Problems</title>

<para>Problems that aren't</para>

<para>Frozen apps (how to kill them)</para>

<para>Things won't open</para>

<para>That scary crash dialog</para>

<para>Reporting Bugs</para>

<para>More Resources</para>

&troubleshooting-network-x;

&troubleshooting-no-open;

</chapter>

<chapter id="contributing">
<title>Contributing to &kde;</title>

<para>Some basic information to get encourage people to contribute to
&kde;, information about what's available, and how to get
started.</para>

</chapter>

</part>


<appendix id="appendix-credits">
<title>Credits and Licenses</title>

&credits-and-license;

<sect1 id="license">
<title>License</title>

<!-- TRANS:CREDIT_FOR_TRANSLATORS -->

&underFDL;
</sect1>

</appendix>

&documentation.index;


</book>

<!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file
Local variables:
mode: xml
sgml-omittag:nil
sgml-shorttag:nil
sgml-namecase-general:nil
sgml-general-insert-case:lower
sgml-minimize-attributes:nil
sgml-always-quote-attributes:t
sgml-indent-step:0
sgml-indent-data:true
sgml-parent-document:nil
sgml-exposed-tags:nil
sgml-local-catalogs:nil
sgml-local-ecat-files:nil
End:
-->