diff --git a/docs/socialaccount/configuration.rst b/docs/socialaccount/configuration.rst
index 37af16e23c..452b9fe623 100644
--- a/docs/socialaccount/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/socialaccount/configuration.rst
@@ -68,43 +68,7 @@ Available settings:
   require POST requests.
 
 ``SOCIALACCOUNT_PROVIDERS`` (default: ``{}``)
-  Dictionary containing provider specific settings.
-
-  The 'APP' section for each provider is generic to all providers and
-  can also be specified in the database using a ``SocialApp`` model
-  instance instead of here. All other sections are provider-specific and
-  are documented in the `for each provider separately
-  <providers/index.html>`__.
-
-  Example::
-
-    SOCIALACCOUNT_PROVIDERS = {
-        "github": {
-            # For each provider, you can choose whether or not the
-            # email address(es) retrieved from the provider are to be
-            # interpreted as verified.
-            "VERIFIED_EMAIL": True
-        },
-        "google": {
-            # For each OAuth based provider, either add a ``SocialApp``
-            # (``socialaccount`` app) containing the required client
-            # credentials, or list them here:
-            "APP": {
-                "client_id": "123",
-                "secret": "456",
-                "key": ""
-            },
-            # These are provider-specific settings that can only be
-            # listed here:
-            "SCOPE": [
-                "profile",
-                "email",
-            ],
-            "AUTH_PARAMS": {
-                "access_type": "online",
-            }
-        }
-    }
+  Dictionary containing `provider specific settings <provider_configuration.html>`__.
 
 ``SOCIALACCOUNT_QUERY_EMAIL`` (default: ``ACCOUNT_EMAIL_REQUIRED``)
   Request email address from 3rd party account provider? E.g. using
diff --git a/docs/socialaccount/index.rst b/docs/socialaccount/index.rst
index 6a1612c1c3..af4836fdfc 100644
--- a/docs/socialaccount/index.rst
+++ b/docs/socialaccount/index.rst
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Social Accounts
 
    introduction
    configuration
+   provider_configuration
    views
    templates
    forms
diff --git a/docs/socialaccount/provider_configuration.rst b/docs/socialaccount/provider_configuration.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..384c3d8262
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/socialaccount/provider_configuration.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+Provider Configuration
+======================
+
+Providers typically require various configuration parameters before your users
+can authenticate with them. For example, for a regular OAuth provider you first
+need to setup an OAuth app over on the provider developer portal. Then, you need
+to configure the resulting client ID and client secret in your application.
+
+Even though providers with other protocols may use different terminology, the
+overall idea remains the same. Throughout allauth the term "social app" ("app"
+for short) refers to the unit of configuration of a provider. You provide the
+app configuration either in your project ``settings.py``, or, by means of
+setting up ``SocialApp`` instances via the Django admin. When picking a method,
+consider the following:
+
+- Using the Django admin to setup ``SocialApp`` instances effectively stores
+  secrets in your database, which has security implications.
+
+- The ``SocialApp`` approach has (optional) support for the Django sites
+  (``django.contrib.sites``). For example, it allows you to setup multiple apps
+  for one and the same provider, and assign an app to a specific
+  site/domain. This may be of use in a multi tenant setup.
+
+**Important**: While you can mix both methods, be aware you need to avoid
+configuring one and the same provider both via ``settings.py`` and a
+``SocialApp`` instance.  In that case, it is not clear what app to pick,
+resulting in a ``MultipleObjectsReturned`` exception.
+
+The examples presented in this documentation are all settings based. If you
+prefer the ``SocialApp`` based approach, simply create an entry via the Django
+admin and populate the fields exactly like listed in the example.
+
+The ``SOCIALACCOUNT_PROVIDERS`` setting is used to configure providers and their
+apps. Next to the secrets that are configured per app, there are also parameters
+such as ``VERIFIED_EMAIL`` that hold for all apps. The following is an example
+configuration::
+
+    SOCIALACCOUNT_PROVIDERS = {
+        "github": {
+            # For each provider, you can choose whether or not the
+            # email address(es) retrieved from the provider are to be
+            # interpreted as verified.
+            "VERIFIED_EMAIL": True
+        },
+        "google": {
+            # For each OAuth based provider, either add a ``SocialApp``
+            # (``socialaccount`` app) containing the required client
+            # credentials, or list them here:
+            "APPS": [
+                {
+                    "client_id": "123",
+                    "secret": "456",
+                    "key": ""
+                },
+            ],
+            # These are provider-specific settings that can only be
+            # listed here:
+            "SCOPE": [
+                "profile",
+                "email",
+            ],
+            "AUTH_PARAMS": {
+                "access_type": "online",
+            },
+        }
+    }
+
+Note that provider-specific settings are documented `for each
+provider separately <providers/index.html>`__.
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index d0560f3d5a..874fc452ff 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
         python310Packages.python3-openid
         python310Packages.python3-saml
         python310Packages.qrcode
+        python310Packages.sphinx-rtd-theme
         python310Packages.requests-oauthlib
         python310Packages.tox
         sphinx