diff --git a/.env.sample b/.env.sample
index 9ecf7e9..f71be38 100644
--- a/.env.sample
+++ b/.env.sample
@@ -1,4 +1,17 @@
-DATABASE_URL=postgres:///myurl
+################################
+#                              #
+#   THIS IS A SECRET FILE!!!   #
+#                              #
+# Do not add your .env to git! #
+#                              #
+################################
+
+# SECRET_KEY encrypts things. In production it should be a random string.
 SECRET_KEY=mysecretshouldnotbeongit
+
+# Set DATABASE_URL to use something other than the default SQLite.
+# DATABASE_URL=postgres:///myurl
+
+# Set Open Humans project CLIENT_ID and CLIENT_SECRET.
 OH_CLIENT_ID=myclientidshouldnotbeongit
 OH_CLIENT_SECRET=myclientsecretshouldnotbeongit
diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
index 0d8f1c3..8a0d8f9 100644
--- a/LICENSE
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 MIT License
 
-Copyright (c) 2018 Bastian Greshake Tzovaras
+Copyright (c) 2018 Bastian Greshake Tzovaras, Mad Price Ball
 
 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
 of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 21ac247..a4f9a7c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -24,17 +24,22 @@ conda create -n oh_uploader python=3.6
 pip install -r requirements.txt
 ```
 
-*Step 2: Install heroku-CLI & PostgreSQL*
+*Step 2: Install Heroku Command Line Interface (CLI)*
 
-If you are running MacOS the easiest way to do this is using [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/). If you are on a Linux machine you [should be able to do the same things using Linuxbrew](https://virtualenv.pypa.io/en/stable/). After installing Homebrew/Linuxbrew
-you can do:
+You should install the Heroku CLI to run this app. Heroku has [installation instructions for MacOS, Windows, and Linux](https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/heroku-cli#download-and-install).
+
+If you are running MacOS the easiest way to do this is using [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/). After installing Homebrew you can do:
 
 ```
-brew install postgres
 brew install heroku/brew/heroku
 ```
 
-Once this is done you can start the setup of your *Open Humans uploader* by copying the example `.env` file (`cp .env.sample .env`) and entering at least your database URL. Once this is done you can migrate your database using `heroku local:run python manage.py migrate`. Afterwards you can start the webserver of your local heroku environment using `heroku local`.
+Once this is done you can complete minimal setup by:
+* Create an `.env` file from the example: `cp .env.sample .env`)
+* Edit `.env` to set a random string for `DJANGO_SECRET`
+* Migrate your database using `heroku local:run python manage.py migrate`
+
+Now you can run the webserver of your local heroku environment using `heroku local`.
 
 To fully set up your uploader you will have to modify some files, as described below.
 
diff --git a/config.yaml b/config.yaml
index 24c7268..39a2da9 100644
--- a/config.yaml
+++ b/config.yaml
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ project_description: This template demonstrates how you can run your own Open Hu
 # REQUIRED: Where can we find your project on Open Humans
 oh_activity_page: https://www.openhumans.org/activity/your-project-url/
 
-# REQUIRED: which URL will lead to your Open Humans uploader
-app_base_url: http://127.0.0.1:5000
+# Optional: which URL will lead to your Open Humans uploader
+# Defaults to http://127.0.0.1:500 if not set.
+# app_base_url: http://127.0.0.1:5000
 
 # REQUIRED: Tell Open Humans what kind of data is being uploaded
 file_description: This is an example file that doesnt have any meaning.
diff --git a/oh_data_uploader/settings.py b/oh_data_uploader/settings.py
index 445a52a..09628dd 100644
--- a/oh_data_uploader/settings.py
+++ b/oh_data_uploader/settings.py
@@ -30,7 +30,13 @@
 # SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
 DEBUG = False if os.getenv('DEBUG', '').lower() == 'false' else True
 
-ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*']
+# Establish whether this is running on Heroku
+ON_HEROKU = os.getenv('ON_HEROKU', '').lower() == 'true'
+
+if ON_HEROKU:
+    ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*']
+else:
+    ALLOWED_HOSTS = []
 
 
 # Read OH settings from .env/environment variables
@@ -43,7 +49,8 @@
 YAML_CONFIG = yaml.load(''.join(yaml_content))
 YAML_CONFIG['file_tags_string'] = str(YAML_CONFIG['file_tags'])
 
-APP_BASE_URL = YAML_CONFIG['app_base_url']
+# Set up base URL.
+APP_BASE_URL = YAML_CONFIG.get('app_base_url', 'http://127.0.0.1:5000')
 if APP_BASE_URL[-1] == "/":
     APP_BASE_URL = APP_BASE_URL[:-1]
 
@@ -96,9 +103,16 @@
 # Database
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/ref/settings/#databases
 
-db_from_env = dj_database_url.config(conn_max_age=500)
+DATABASES = {
+    'default': {
+        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
+        'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
+    }
+}
 
-DATABASES = {'default': db_from_env}
+if ON_HEROKU:
+    db_from_env = dj_database_url.config(conn_max_age=500)
+    DATABASES = {'default': db_from_env}
 
 
 # Password validation