I used to be completely gobsmacked by compost, and completely bewildered by how everyone would say it is easy, you just... then follow up with a thesis of explanation!

In the end what worked for me was a cheapo compost bin (the black kind with the open bottom and easily removable lid. You just throw in kitchen scraps (not meat though) and try to follow up with a mix of things every now and again. So every now and again throw in some green waste, some paper/cardboard, alternating in a very general sort of way

The real trick though is aeration. I bought a specially designed compost steak from the hardware store which is sort of like a corkscrew at the base with a handle at the top. I left it sitting in the compost bin and every time I added something, I gave the whole thing a little bit of a mix. Getting air into the mix speeds up the composting, stops it from just 'rotting' (hence smell, rodents and no compost) and left me with usable compost in 3 months! Then I simply lifted the bin off the mound, moved it to a new spot and dug the compost through the garden bed.

Hope that helps and makes sense.

You can reapply that process in any type of compost bin/mound/box.

food/green/paper + regular air/turning = compost!

ETA: Another option is a Bokashi Bin. I am now in an apartment so can't have a compost bin so this is the next best thing. It is a bucket that sits in your kitchen to which you add your scraps and a special fermentation mix that speeds up the organic breakdown and stops the rotten food smell. When the bin is full you bury it in the garden to complete the breaking down process. It also makes a liquid fertiliser much like a worm farm as a by product.