diff --git a/custom_static/.gitignore b/custom_static/.gitignore
index 5e7d2734..e15381a8 100644
--- a/custom_static/.gitignore
+++ b/custom_static/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@
 *
 # Except this file
 !.gitignore
+!README.md
diff --git a/custom_static/README.md b/custom_static/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a07eaf1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/custom_static/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+Place your custom static files in this folder.
+Maintain the folder structure of the original static folder.
+For instance, if you have a custom background image for the index page, it would be located at:
+
+custom_static/img/index_images/index_blank_bg.jpg
+
+This directory will get searched first for the image, then fall back to the default.
diff --git a/custom_templates/.gitignore b/custom_templates/.gitignore
index b0407719..1d9c3463 100644
--- a/custom_templates/.gitignore
+++ b/custom_templates/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@
 *
 # Except this file
 !.gitignore
+!README.md
diff --git a/custom_templates/README.md b/custom_templates/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0dca78f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/custom_templates/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+Place your custom templates in this folder.
+Maintain the folder structure of the original templates folder.
+For instance, if you have a custom index page, it would be located at:
+
+custom_templates/public/index.html
+
+This directory will get searched first, then fall back to the defaults.