diff --git a/cgit.c b/cgit.c
index 38b0ba5..a402758 100644
--- a/cgit.c
+++ b/cgit.c
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ void config_cb(const char *name, const char *value)
 {
 	if (!strcmp(name, "root-title"))
 		ctx.cfg.root_title = xstrdup(value);
+	else if (!strcmp(name, "root-desc"))
+		ctx.cfg.root_desc = xstrdup(value);
+	else if (!strcmp(name, "root-readme"))
+		ctx.cfg.root_readme = xstrdup(value);
 	else if (!strcmp(name, "css"))
 		ctx.cfg.css = xstrdup(value);
 	else if (!strcmp(name, "logo"))
@@ -159,6 +163,7 @@ static void prepare_context(struct cgit_context *ctx)
 	ctx->cfg.renamelimit = -1;
 	ctx->cfg.robots = "index, nofollow";
 	ctx->cfg.root_title = "Git repository browser";
+	ctx->cfg.root_desc = "a fast webinterface for the git dscm";
 	ctx->cfg.script_name = CGIT_SCRIPT_NAME;
 	ctx->page.mimetype = "text/html";
 	ctx->page.charset = PAGE_ENCODING;
@@ -304,7 +309,16 @@ static void process_request(struct cgit_context *ctx)
 		return;
 	}
 
-	if (cmd->want_repo && prepare_repo_cmd(ctx))
+	if (cmd->want_repo && !ctx->repo) {
+		cgit_print_http_headers(ctx);
+		cgit_print_docstart(ctx);
+		cgit_print_pageheader(ctx);
+		cgit_print_error(fmt("No repository selected"));
+		cgit_print_docend();
+		return;
+	}
+
+	if (ctx->repo && prepare_repo_cmd(ctx))
 		return;
 
 	if (cmd->want_layout) {
diff --git a/cgit.h b/cgit.h
index a3b6535..daebeff 100644
--- a/cgit.h
+++ b/cgit.h
@@ -132,6 +132,8 @@ struct cgit_config {
 	char *repo_group;
 	char *robots;
 	char *root_title;
+	char *root_desc;
+	char *root_readme;
 	char *script_name;
 	char *virtual_root;
 	int cache_dynamic_ttl;
diff --git a/cmd.c b/cmd.c
index e0eacbe..6cc91e6 100644
--- a/cmd.c
+++ b/cmd.c
@@ -20,6 +20,14 @@
 #include "ui-tag.h"
 #include "ui-tree.h"
 
+static void about_fn(struct cgit_context *ctx)
+{
+	if (ctx->repo)
+		cgit_print_repo_readme();
+	else
+		cgit_print_site_readme();
+}
+
 static void blob_fn(struct cgit_context *ctx)
 {
 	cgit_print_blob(ctx->qry.sha1, ctx->qry.path);
@@ -84,6 +92,7 @@ static void tree_fn(struct cgit_context *ctx)
 struct cgit_cmd *cgit_get_cmd(struct cgit_context *ctx)
 {
 	static struct cgit_cmd cmds[] = {
+		def_cmd(about, 0, 1),
 		def_cmd(blob, 1, 0),
 		def_cmd(commit, 1, 1),
 		def_cmd(diff, 1, 1),
diff --git a/ui-repolist.c b/ui-repolist.c
index 98009c0..3f78e28 100644
--- a/ui-repolist.c
+++ b/ui-repolist.c
@@ -61,12 +61,6 @@ int is_match(struct cgit_repo *repo)
 
 void print_header(int columns)
 {
-	if (ctx.cfg.index_header) {
-		htmlf("<tr class='nohover'><td colspan='%d' class='include-block'>",
-		      columns);
-		html_include(ctx.cfg.index_header);
-		html("</td></tr>");
-	}
 	html("<tr class='nohover'>"
 	     "<th class='left'>Name</th>"
 	     "<th class='left'>Description</th>"
@@ -90,6 +84,9 @@ void cgit_print_repolist()
 	cgit_print_docstart(&ctx);
 	cgit_print_pageheader(&ctx);
 
+	if (ctx.cfg.index_header)
+		html_include(ctx.cfg.index_header);
+
 	html("<table summary='repository list' class='list nowrap'>");
 	for (i=0; i<cgit_repolist.count; i++) {
 		ctx.repo = &cgit_repolist.repos[i];
@@ -139,3 +136,9 @@ void cgit_print_repolist()
 		cgit_print_error("No repositories found");
 	cgit_print_docend();
 }
+
+void cgit_print_site_readme()
+{
+	if (ctx.cfg.root_readme)
+		html_include(ctx.cfg.root_readme);
+}
diff --git a/ui-repolist.h b/ui-repolist.h
index c23e5d2..5b1e542 100644
--- a/ui-repolist.h
+++ b/ui-repolist.h
@@ -2,5 +2,6 @@
 #define UI_REPOLIST_H
 
 extern void cgit_print_repolist();
+extern void cgit_print_site_readme();
 
 #endif /* UI_REPOLIST_H */
diff --git a/ui-shared.c b/ui-shared.c
index 8a804c2..d08ede9 100644
--- a/ui-shared.c
+++ b/ui-shared.c
@@ -114,6 +114,49 @@ char *cgit_currurl()
 		return fmt("%s/", ctx.cfg.virtual_root);
 }
 
+static void site_url(char *page, char *search)
+{
+	char *delim = "?";
+
+	if (ctx.cfg.virtual_root) {
+		html_attr(ctx.cfg.virtual_root);
+		if (ctx.cfg.virtual_root[strlen(ctx.cfg.virtual_root) - 1] != '/')
+			html("/");
+	} else
+		html(ctx.cfg.script_name);
+
+	if (page) {
+		htmlf("?p=%s", page);
+		delim = "&";
+	}
+	if (search) {
+		html(delim);
+		html("q=");
+		html_attr(search);
+	}
+}
+
+static void site_link(char *page, char *name, char *title, char *class,
+		       char *search)
+{
+	html("<a");
+	if (title) {
+		html(" title='");
+		html_attr(title);
+		html("'");
+	}
+	if (class) {
+		html(" class='");
+		html_attr(class);
+		html("'");
+	}
+	html(" href='");
+	site_url(page, search);
+	html("'>");
+	html_txt(name);
+	html("</a>");
+}
+
 static char *repolink(char *title, char *class, char *page, char *head,
 		      char *path)
 {
@@ -510,7 +553,10 @@ void cgit_print_pageheader(struct cgit_context *ctx)
 		html_txt(ctx->repo->desc);
 	} else {
 		html(">");
-		html_txt("a fast webinterface for the git dscm");
+		if (ctx->cfg.root_desc)
+			html_txt(ctx->cfg.root_desc);
+		else if (ctx->cfg.index_info)
+			html_include(ctx->cfg.index_info);
 	}
 	html("</td></tr></table>\n");
 
@@ -528,6 +574,10 @@ void cgit_print_pageheader(struct cgit_context *ctx)
 				 ctx->qry.head, ctx->qry.sha1);
 		cgit_diff_link("diff", NULL, hc(cmd, "diff"), ctx->qry.head,
 			       ctx->qry.sha1, ctx->qry.sha2, NULL);
+		if (ctx->repo->readme)
+			reporevlink("about", "about", NULL,
+				    hc(cmd, "about"), ctx->qry.head, NULL,
+				    NULL);
 		html("</td><td class='form'>");
 		html("<form class='right' method='get' action='");
 		if (ctx->cfg.virtual_root)
@@ -546,9 +596,9 @@ void cgit_print_pageheader(struct cgit_context *ctx)
 		html("<input type='submit' value='search'/>\n");
 		html("</form>\n");
 	} else {
-		html("<a class='active' href='");
-		html_attr(cgit_rooturl());
-		html("'>index</a>\n");
+		site_link(NULL, "index", NULL, hc(cmd, "repolist"), NULL);
+		if (ctx->cfg.root_readme)
+			site_link("about", "about", NULL, hc(cmd, "about"), NULL);
 		html("</td><td class='form'>");
 		html("<form method='get' action='");
 		html_attr(cgit_rooturl());
diff --git a/ui-summary.c b/ui-summary.c
index 318148a..ad0b4a7 100644
--- a/ui-summary.c
+++ b/ui-summary.c
@@ -13,11 +13,6 @@
 
 void cgit_print_summary()
 {
-	if (ctx.repo->readme) {
-		html("<div id='summary'>");
-		html_include(ctx.repo->readme);
-		html("</div>");
-	}
 	html("<table summary='repository info' class='list nowrap'>");
 	cgit_print_branches(ctx.cfg.summary_branches);
 	html("<tr class='nohover'><td colspan='4'>&nbsp;</td></tr>");
@@ -29,3 +24,12 @@ void cgit_print_summary()
 	}
 	html("</table>");
 }
+
+void cgit_print_repo_readme()
+{
+	if (ctx.repo->readme) {
+		html("<div id='summary'>");
+		html_include(ctx.repo->readme);
+		html("</div>");
+	}
+}
diff --git a/ui-summary.h b/ui-summary.h
index 37aedd2..3e13039 100644
--- a/ui-summary.h
+++ b/ui-summary.h
@@ -2,5 +2,6 @@
 #define UI_SUMMARY_H
 
 extern void cgit_print_summary();
+extern void cgit_print_repo_readme();
 
 #endif /* UI_SUMMARY_H */