diff --git a/conf/settings.xml.template b/conf/settings.xml.template
index 4363c86dd..075192b8a 100644
--- a/conf/settings.xml.template
+++ b/conf/settings.xml.template
@@ -115,16 +115,16 @@
        - restricted: Restricted access: only allow users to log in if they have an entry in the local database (irrespective of successful authentication with LDAP).
        - enableUserImage: enable users images
        - disableSelfEdit: if true user cannot edit his own profile
-       - passwordStrength: XXX
-       - passwordStrengthAlgorithm: XXX
-       - passwordExpiration: XXX
-       - passwordHistory: XXX
-       - loginFailure: XXX
-       - autoLoginUser: XXX
-       - quota: XXX
-       - undelUserIds: XXX
-       - encryptionKey: XXX
-       - cookieLifetime: XXX
+       - passwordStrength: minimum strength of password, set to 0 to disable
+       - passwordStrengthAlgorithm: algorithm used to calculate password strenght (simple or advanced)
+       - passwordExpiration: number of days after password expires
+       - passwordHistory: number of remembered passwords
+       - loginFailure: maximum allowed login failures before an account is disabled
+       - autoLoginUser: id of user used if auto login is turned on
+       - quota: maximum allowed space on disc for each user
+       - undelUserIds: ids of users which cannot be deleted
+       - encryptionKey: arbitrary string used for creating form tokens
+       - cookieLifetime: lifetime of cookie in seconds, set to 0 for session cookies
     -->
     <authentication
       enableGuestLogin = "false"
@@ -188,7 +188,6 @@
       </connectors>
     </authentication>
     <!--
-       - ADOdbPath: Path to adodb. This is the directory containing the adodb directory
        - dbDriver: DB-Driver used by adodb (see adodb-readme)
        - dbHostname: DB-Server
        - dbDatabase: database where the tables for seeddms are stored (optional - see adodb-readme)
@@ -197,7 +196,6 @@
        - doNotCheckVersion: Whether or not to check the database schema for its correct version.
     -->
     <database
-      ADOdbPath = ""
       dbDriver = "_DBC_DBTYPE_"
       dbHostname = "_DBC_DBSERVER_"
       dbDatabase = "_DBC_DBNAME_"
@@ -209,8 +207,8 @@
        - smtpServer: SMTP Server hostname
        - smtpPort: SMTP Server port
        - smtpSendFrom: Send from
-       - smtpUser: XXX
-       - smtpPassword: XXX
+       - smtpUser: user name used for authenticating against smtp server
+       - smtpPassword: password used for authenticating against smtp server
     -->
     <smtp
       smtpServer = "localhost"
@@ -224,7 +222,7 @@
     <!--
        -siteDefaultPage: Default page on login. Defaults to out/out.ViewFolder.php
        - rootFolderID: ID of root-folder (mostly no need to change)
-       - showMissingTranslations: XXX
+       - showMissingTranslations: set true if missing translation shall be listed at end of page
     -->
     <display
       siteDefaultPage = ""
@@ -247,10 +245,10 @@
        - enableVersionModification: allow to modify versions after approval
        - enableDuplicateDocNames: allow duplicate names in a folder
        - enableDuplicateSubFolderNames: allow duplicate names in a folder
-       - enableOwnerRevApp: XXX
-       - enableSelfRevApp: XXX
-       - presetExpirationDate: XXX
-       - overrideMimeType: XXX
+       - enableOwnerRevApp: allow owner of a document to review and approve
+       - enableSelfRevApp: allow the user current logged in to add herself as a reviewer or approver
+       - presetExpirationDate: set to time period if each document shall expire
+       - overrideMimeType: set to true if the mimetype of a document version is determined by the server
     -->
     <edition
       enableAdminRevApp = "false"
@@ -275,9 +273,9 @@
        -                   be any number or string that does not already exist within $_contentDir.
        - maxDirID: Maximum number of sub-directories per parent directory. Default: 0.
        - updateNotifyTime: users are notified about document-changes that took place within the last "updateNotifyTime" seconds
-       - extraPath: XXX
-       - maxExecutionTime: XXX
-       - cmdTimeout: XXX
+       - extraPath: additional path which is added to php's include path
+       - maxExecutionTime: maximum script execution time, this cannot be larger than the value set in php.ini
+       - cmdTimeout: timeout in sec. for external commands
     -->
     <server
       coreDir = ""
@@ -290,9 +288,9 @@
       cmdTimeout = "1"
     />
     <!--
-       - enableNotificationAppRev: XXX
+       - enableNotificationAppRev: set to true if reviewers and approvers shall be informed about a pending review/approval
        - enableOwnerNotification: XXX
-       - enableNotificationWorkflow: XXX
+       - enableNotificationWorkflow: set to true if the users in the workflow shall be informed
     -->
     <notification
       enableNotificationAppRev = "true"