Hi. I’m new to Scrivenor. I have some ideas for a novel. As I am a newbie should I use the basic Scrivenor template or go straight to the Novel version? My thoughts are that I could use the basic so that I familiarise myself with the software before using something more complex. Thanks for any help. 
Yes, good idea to use the basic template.
Put information, like web links, pictures, and text files, in the Research folder.
Save the Draft folder for actual versions of your story.
You can learn a lot by starting with an old composition: essay, story, journal entries.
Good luck, and welcome to the Scrivener forum.
The best thing you can do first of all is to spend 60 to 90 minutes going through the Interactive Tutorial (under the application’s Help menu). If still uncertain, view some of the videos here, especially the first couple. Then I’d start using the Novel template (Edit: or the blank project, as druid recommends). Later, if stuck, have a look at the Scrivener videos further down the video page, and use the Manual, also under the Help menu, for look-up reference.
The templates are not a bad place to start out with. I wouldn’t say they are any more complicated. They have a suggested way of being used that can be useful if you’re just starting out with the program and the whole idea of writing in a big outline is new. Blank doesn’t give you any cues. You get one empty text document that you can start typing in immediately and that’s it. Additionally there is nothing concrete or special about templates—so if in the process of familiarising yourself with the software you find you prefer another way of working, it is usually not difficult to do so. They only describe a loose suggestion and have some settings set up to assume you’ll follow those suggestions. Everything about it can be changed.
Thank you Druid. Much appreciated
Thank you Hugh. Much appreciated
Thank you AmberV, much appreciated