diff --git a/apps/common/conf/settings.py b/apps/common/conf/settings.py
index afbba62697..7a9edfefce 100644
--- a/apps/common/conf/settings.py
+++ b/apps/common/conf/settings.py
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
 from django.conf import settings
+from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 
 TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY = getattr(settings, 'COMMON_TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY', u'/tmp')
+
+setting_description = {
+    'COMMON_TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY': _(u'Temporary directory used site wide to store thumbnails, previews and temporary files.  If none is specified, one will be created using tempfile.mkdtemp()')
+}
diff --git a/apps/converter/conf/settings.py b/apps/converter/conf/settings.py
index 1570deebe0..9ac3689d70 100755
--- a/apps/converter/conf/settings.py
+++ b/apps/converter/conf/settings.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 from django.conf import settings
+from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
+
 
 CONVERT_PATH = getattr(settings, 'CONVERTER_CONVERT_PATH', u'/usr/bin/convert')
 UNPAPER_PATH = getattr(settings, 'CONVERTER_UNPAPER_PATH', u'/usr/bin/unpaper')
@@ -7,3 +9,10 @@ OCR_OPTIONS = getattr(settings, 'CONVERTER_OCR_OPTIONS', u'-colorspace Gray -dep
 DEFAULT_OPTIONS = getattr(settings, 'CONVERTER_DEFAULT_OPTIONS', u'')
 LOW_QUALITY_OPTIONS = getattr(settings, 'CONVERTER_LOW_QUALITY_OPTIONS', u'')
 HIGH_QUALITY_OPTIONS = getattr(settings, 'CONVERTER_HIGH_QUALITY_OPTIONS', u'-density 400')
+
+
+setting_description = {
+    'CONVERTER_CONVERT_PATH':_(u'File path to imagemagick\'s convert program.'),
+    'CONVERTER_IDENTIFY_PATH':_(u'File path to imagemagick\'s identify program.'),
+    'CONVERTER_UNPAPER_PATH':_(u'File path to unpaper program.'),
+}
diff --git a/apps/documents/conf/settings.py b/apps/documents/conf/settings.py
index ec3a1d5411..b1df5c02d6 100755
--- a/apps/documents/conf/settings.py
+++ b/apps/documents/conf/settings.py
@@ -59,3 +59,7 @@ DEFAULT_TRANSFORMATIONS = getattr(settings, 'DOCUMENTS_DEFAULT_TRANSFORMATIONS',
 GROUP_MAX_RESULTS = getattr(settings, 'DOCUMENTS_GROUP_MAX_RESULTS', 20)
 GROUP_SHOW_EMPTY = getattr(settings, 'DOCUMENTS_GROUP_SHOW_EMPTY', True)
 GROUP_SHOW_THUMBNAIL = getattr(settings, 'DOCUMENTS_GROUP_SHOW_THUMBNAIL', True)
+
+setting_description = {
+    'DOCUMENTS_GROUP_SHOW_THUMBNAIL': _(u'Show document thumbnail in metadata group list')
+}
diff --git a/apps/main/views.py b/apps/main/views.py
index 2dc0b2c17b..704d1a228f 100755
--- a/apps/main/views.py
+++ b/apps/main/views.py
@@ -39,8 +39,10 @@ def check_settings(request):
         #Groups
         {'name':'DOCUMENTS_GROUP_MAX_RESULTS', 'value':documents_settings.GROUP_MAX_RESULTS},
         {'name':'DOCUMENTS_GROUP_SHOW_EMPTY', 'value':documents_settings.GROUP_SHOW_EMPTY},
-        {'name':'DOCUMENTS_GROUP_SHOW_THUMBNAIL', 'value':documents_settings.GROUP_SHOW_THUMBNAIL},
-
+        {'name':'DOCUMENTS_GROUP_SHOW_THUMBNAIL',
+            'value':documents_settings.GROUP_SHOW_THUMBNAIL,
+            'description':documents_settings.setting_description},
+            
         #Filesystem_serving
         {'name':'FILESYSTEM_FILESERVING_ENABLE', 'value':filesystem_serving_settings.FILESERVING_ENABLE},
         {'name':'FILESYSTEM_FILESERVING_PATH', 'value':filesystem_serving_settings.FILESERVING_PATH, 'exists':True},
@@ -49,12 +51,20 @@ def check_settings(request):
         
         
         #Common
-        {'name':'COMMON_TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY', 'value':common_settings.TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY, 'exists':True},
+        {'name':'COMMON_TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY',
+            'value':common_settings.TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY, 'exists':True,
+            'description':common_settings.setting_description},
 
         #Converter
-        {'name':'CONVERTER_CONVERT_PATH', 'value':converter_settings.CONVERT_PATH, 'exists':True},
-        {'name':'CONVERTER_UNPAPER_PATH', 'value':converter_settings.UNPAPER_PATH, 'exists':True},
-        {'name':'CONVERTER_IDENTIFY_PATH', 'value':converter_settings.IDENTIFY_PATH, 'exists':True},
+        {'name':'CONVERTER_CONVERT_PATH',
+            'value':converter_settings.CONVERT_PATH, 'exists':True,
+            'description':converter_settings.setting_description},
+        {'name':'CONVERTER_UNPAPER_PATH',
+            'value':converter_settings.UNPAPER_PATH, 'exists':True,
+            'description':converter_settings.setting_description},
+        {'name':'CONVERTER_IDENTIFY_PATH',
+            'value':converter_settings.IDENTIFY_PATH, 'exists':True,
+            'description':converter_settings.setting_description},
         {'name':'CONVERTER_OCR_OPTIONS', 'value':converter_settings.OCR_OPTIONS},
         {'name':'CONVERTER_DEFAULT_OPTIONS', 'value':converter_settings.DEFAULT_OPTIONS},
         {'name':'CONVERTER_LOW_QUALITY_OPTIONS', 'value':converter_settings.LOW_QUALITY_OPTIONS},
@@ -74,6 +84,7 @@ def check_settings(request):
         'extra_columns':[
             {'name':_(u'name'), 'attribute':'name'},
             {'name':_(u'value'), 'attribute': lambda x: _return_type(x['value'])},
+            {'name':_(u'description'), 'attribute': lambda x: x.get('description', {}).get(x['name'], '')},
             {'name':_(u'exists'), 'attribute':lambda x: exists_with_famfam(x['value']) if 'exists' in x else ''},
         ]
     }
diff --git a/docs/Changelog.txt b/docs/Changelog.txt
index 9e23ccf878..b0749e1924 100644
--- a/docs/Changelog.txt
+++ b/docs/Changelog.txt
@@ -57,3 +57,4 @@
 2011-Mar 05
 * If current user is superuser or staff show thumbnail & preview generation error messages
 * Added a setting to show document thumbnail in metadata group list
+* Started adding configurations setting descriptions