diff --git a/README b/README
index 8ba04d5..967bd48 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -2,3 +2,24 @@ tstatus
 -------
 
 simple modular status bar program
+
+compilation
+===========
+
+get your hostname:
+$ hostname
+
+if it's in the list of hostnames supported, make with this:
+CFLAGS="-D$hostname" make
+
+to make a debug build use:
+make debug
+
+to clean:
+make clean
+
+configuration
+=============
+
+configuration lies mostly in tstatus.c for now. Should change later.
+if you want to configure a specific module, the code should be pretty simple.