All openings follow the basic guidance: develop pieces and fight for the center. Knowing the theory, or at least few branches will save you a lot of time. And remember some openings are more difficult to play, i.e French is a very complecated opening if you play it as Black i wouldn't recommend it for a beginner. Slav on the other hand is more or less straightforward. Wouldn't need to much theory there.
Some very beginner questions about "theory"
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If you want to avoid traps, better you prepare yourself with couple of openings and potential traps in those openings.