diff --git a/handlers.py b/handlers.py
index 5d175c2..ab6864f 100644
--- a/handlers.py
+++ b/handlers.py
@@ -427,7 +427,7 @@ def handle_add_submit(body):
                 f'<label>Title:</label><br>'
                 f'<input name="manual_title" size="50" placeholder="page title" required><br><br>'
                 f'<label>Description:</label><br>'
-                f'<textarea name="manual_description" rows="4" cols="50" placeholder="what is this site about?" required></textarea><br><br>'
+                f'<textarea name="manual_description" rows="4" cols="50" placeholder="what is this site about? (optional)"></textarea><br><br>'
                 f'<button type="submit">save manually</button>'
                 f"</form>"
                 f'<a href="/">back</a>'
@@ -445,8 +445,8 @@ def handle_add_manual_submit(body):
     if not url:
         return handle_add_form("URL is required.")
     
-    if not manual_title or not manual_desc:
-        return handle_add_form("Title and description are required for manual entry.")
+    if not manual_title:
+        return handle_add_form("Title is required for manual entry.")
 
     db = get_db()
     try:
@@ -604,7 +604,8 @@ def handle_edit_form(page_id, msg=""):
         f'<label>Note (why you saved this):</label><br>'
         f'<input name="note" value="{esc(row["note"])}" size="50"><br><br>'
         f'<label>Tags (comma-separated):</label><br>'
-        f'<input name="tags" value="{esc(tags)}" size="50"><br><br>'
+        f'<input name="tags" value="{esc(tags)}" size="50"> '
+        f'<small>(tag: private to keep private)</small><br><br>'
         f'<button type="submit">save</button>'
         f"</form>"
         f"<p>{msg}</p>"
@@ -769,7 +770,8 @@ def handle_style_form(msg=""):
         f'<input name="site_name" value="{esc(name)}" placeholder="tinyweb" size="30"><br><br>'
         f"<h2>sharing</h2>"
         f'<label><input type="checkbox" name="sharing_enabled" value="1"{checked}>'
-        f" share your site list publicly at /api/sites</label><br><br>"
+        f" share your site list publicly at /api/sites</label><br>"
+        f"<small>Note: pages tagged: private will not be shared.</small><br><br>"
         f"<h2>mesh network</h2>"
         f"<p>Connect to a Reticulum transport node to reach other peers.</p>"
         f"<small>Default: reticulum.derickphan.com:4242</small><br>"