Composting is pretty straightforward (stuff likes to decompose.) A couple things to keep in mind are: you want a mix of types of plant matter, so all leaves is not ideal (kitchen scraps are great,) some air, and some water. I handle this by not covering mine, so it gets rained on, and having a container for the pile with partially slatted sides. It also lets the birds eat the large bugs. You can stir it occasionally to make it go faster.

If you're willing to read some, an excellent book on composting is 'Let It Rot' by Stu Campbell; it's not too long. Some of the useful things I got from it were ideas of what should and shouldn't go into the pile.