diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
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--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -1,10 +1,74 @@
-Submit a pull request!
-
 # Development environment
 
-The [librivox-ansible](https://github.com/LibriVox/librivox-ansible) playbooks
-can be used to set up a local development server. It comes with a [database
-snapshot](https://github.com/LibriVox/librivox-ansible/blob/master/resources/librivox_catalog_scrubbed.sql.bz2)
-that has been
-[scrubbed](https://github.com/LibriVox/librivox-ansible/blob/master/dbscrub.py)
-of all personal information.
+The [librivox-ansible] playbooks can be used to set up a local development
+server. They come with a [database snapshot] that has been
+[scrubbed][database-scrub-script] of all personal information.
+
+Please follow the instructions in that repo for getting set up locally, and then
+you can navigate to https://librivox.org/search to view the catalog. (It uses a
+self-signed cert locally, so you should expect a safety warning.)
+
+[librivox-ansible]: https://github.com/LibriVox/librivox-ansible
+[database snapshot]: https://github.com/LibriVox/librivox-ansible/blob/master/resources/librivox_catalog_scrubbed.sql.bz2
+[database-scrub-script]: https://github.com/LibriVox/librivox-ansible/blob/master/dbscrub.py
+
+
+# Getting started
+
+If you set up the development environment using the ansible playbooks above,
+then all of the code will be living under `/librivox/www/librivox.org/catalog`.
+
+librivox-catalog is a PHP app built on top of [CodeIgniter 3]. If you haven't
+used CodeIgniter before, or it's been a little while, then I'd particularly
+recommend reading these:
+
+ - [Application Flow Chart](https://codeigniter.com/userguide3/overview/appflow.html)
+ - [Tutorial](https://codeigniter.com/userguide3/tutorial/index.html)
+
+They'll give you some idea of how it all fits together and where to find
+different bits of code.
+
+[CodeIgniter 3]: https://codeigniter.com/userguide3/general/welcome.html
+
+
+# Writing tests
+
+For testing, we use [phpunit] with [ci-phpunit-test]. You can find our tests
+under [`application/tests`](./application/tests), and there's a README there
+that describes how to get started using [composer]. This is the crux of it:
+
+```
+$ php composer.phar install
+$ XDEBUG_MODE=coverage ./vendor/bin/phpunit -c application/tests/
+```
+
+[phpunit]: https://phpunit.de/
+[ci-phpunit-test]: https://github.com/kenjis/ci-phpunit-test/
+[composer]: https://getcomposer.org/
+
+
+# Logging in to the admin dashboard locally
+
+All of the tools for managing users, projects, authors, etc. live on the
+management dashboards, most of which you need a username/password to log in
+with. If you're using the default localdev setup, then you can log in using
+these:
+
+```
+URL: https://librivox.org/workflow
+Username: administrator
+Password: librivox
+```
+
+That password will work for any user, so feel free to log in as whoever you want
+really.
+
+
+# Raising your Pull Request
+
+There aren't any special rules around raising a PR. When you raise it, the
+branch builds will try to start up the site and run the tests. You won't have
+permission to add any reviewers, but someone will take a look when they have a
+moment. Please keep in mind that Librivox doesn't have any full-time devs or
+anything, it's just volunteers making whatever time they can, so your patience
+and support are appreciated.