diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index db3e5175b..34ecd2ef2 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,41 +1,39 @@
-APP_NAME=Laravel
+APP_NAME=PixelFed Test
 APP_ENV=local
 APP_KEY=
 APP_DEBUG=true
 APP_URL=http://localhost
 
+ADMIN_DOMAIN="localhost"
+APP_DOMAIN="localhost"
+
 LOG_CHANNEL=stack
 
 DB_CONNECTION=mysql
 DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
 DB_PORT=3306
-DB_DATABASE=homestead
-DB_USERNAME=homestead
-DB_PASSWORD=secret
+DB_DATABASE=
+DB_USERNAME=
+DB_PASSWORD=
 
 BROADCAST_DRIVER=log
-CACHE_DRIVER=file
-SESSION_DRIVER=file
+CACHE_DRIVER=redis
+SESSION_DRIVER=redis
 SESSION_LIFETIME=120
-QUEUE_DRIVER=sync
+QUEUE_DRIVER=redis
 
 REDIS_HOST=127.0.0.1
 REDIS_PASSWORD=null
 REDIS_PORT=6379
 
-MAIL_DRIVER=smtp
+MAIL_DRIVER=log
 MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailtrap.io
 MAIL_PORT=2525
 MAIL_USERNAME=null
 MAIL_PASSWORD=null
 MAIL_ENCRYPTION=null
 
-PUSHER_APP_ID=
-PUSHER_APP_KEY=
-PUSHER_APP_SECRET=
-PUSHER_APP_CLUSTER=mt1
-
-SESSION_DOMAIN=".pixelfed.dev"
+SESSION_DOMAIN=localhost
 SESSION_SECURE_COOKIE=true
 API_BASE="/api/1/"
 API_SEARCH="/api/search"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c6ea6e002..15f30985f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,76 @@
-# PixelFed 
-Federated Image Sharing
+# PixelFed: Federated Image Sharing
 
-> This project is still in active development and not yet ready for use.
\ No newline at end of file
+PixelFed is a federated social image sharing platform, similar to instagram.
+Federation is done using the [ActivityPub](https://activitypub.rocks/) protocol,
+which is used by [Mastodon](http://joinmastodon.org/), [PeerTube](https://joinpeertube.org/en/),
+[Pleroma](https://pleroma.social/), and more. Through ActivityPub PixelFed can share
+and interact with these platforms, as well as other instances of PixelFed. 
+
+**_Please note this is alpha software, not recommended for production use,
+and federation is not supported yet._**
+
+PixelFed is very early into the development stage. If you would like to have a
+permanent instance with minimal breakage, **do not use this software until
+there is a stable release**. The following setup instructions are intended for
+testing and development.
+
+## Requirements
+ - PHP >= 7.1.3 (7.2+ recommended for stable version)
+ - MySQL, Postgres (MariaDB and sqlite are not supported yet)
+ - Redis
+ - Composer
+ - GD or ImageMagick
+ - OpenSSL PHP Extension
+ - PDO PHP Extension
+ - Mbstring PHP Extension
+ - Tokenizer PHP Extension
+ - XML PHP Extension
+ - Ctype PHP Extension
+ - JSON PHP Extension
+ - JpegOptim
+ - Optipng
+ - Pngquant 2
+ - SVGO
+ - Gifsicle
+
+## Installation
+
+This guide assumes you have NGINX/Apache installed, along with the dependencies.
+Those will not be covered in these early docs.
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/dansup/pixelfed.git
+cd pixelfed
+composer install
+cp .env.example .env
+```
+
+**Edit .env file with proper values**
+
+```bash
+php artisan key:generate
+```
+
+```bash
+php artisan storage:link
+php artisan migrate
+php artisan horizon
+php artisan serve --host=localhost --port=80
+```
+
+Check your browser at http://localhost
+
+## Communication
+
+The ways you can communicate on the project are below. Before interacting, please
+read through the [Code Of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).
+
+* IRC: #pixelfed on irc.freenode.net ([#freenode_#pixelfed:matrix.org through
+Matrix](https://matrix.to/#/#freenode_#pixelfed:matrix.org)
+* Project on Mastodon: [@pixelfed@mastodon.social](https://mastodon.social/@pixelfed)
+* E-mail: [hello@pixelfed.org](mailto:hello@pixelfed.org)
+
+## Support
+
+The lead maintainer is on Patreon! You can become a Patron at
+https://www.patreon.com/dansup
\ No newline at end of file