diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 83290d9f..4d9815fe 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ FEDIREADS_DATABASE_BACKEND=postgres
 MEDIA_ROOT="images/"
 
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD="fedireads"
-POSTGRES_USER="postgres"
-POSTGRES_DB="postgres"
+POSTGRES_USER="fedireads"
+POSTGRES_DB="fedireads"
 
 RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_USER=rabbit
 RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_PASS=changeme
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b4a33ba2..68156d06 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -45,19 +45,42 @@ This project is still in its very early stages, but these are the higher-level f
 But this isn't a set in stone, unchangeable list, so if you have ideas about how this could be tweaked, changed, or improved, please open an issue and start a conversation about it.
 
 ## Setting up the developer environment
+You will need postgres installed and running on your computer.
 
-Install docker and run:
 ``` bash
-docker-compose build
-docker-compose up
-docker-compose exec web python manage.py migrate
+python3 -m venv venv
+source venv/bin/activate
+pip install -r requirements.txt
+createdb fedireads
 ```
 
+Create the psql user in `psql fedireads`:
+``` psql
+CREATE ROLE fedireads WITH LOGIN PASSWORD 'fedireads';
+GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE fedireads TO fedireads;
+```
+
+Initialize the database (or, more specifically, delete the existing database, run migrations, and start fresh):
+``` bash
+./rebuilddb.sh
+```
+This creates two users, `mouse` with password `password123` and `rat` with password `ratword`.
+
 And go to the app at `localhost:8000`
 
 For most testing, you'll want to use ngrok. Remember to set the DOMAIN in `.env` to your ngrok domain.
 
 
+### Docker
+You can also run the application in a docker container. You'll have to install the Docker and docker-compose:
+
+```bash
+docker-compose build
+docker-compose up
+docker-compose exec web python manage.py migrate
+```
+
+
 ## Project structure
 All the url routing is in `fedireads/urls.py`. This includes the application views (your home page, user page, book page, etc), application endpoints (things that happen when you click buttons), and federation api endpoints (inboxes, outboxes, webfinger, etc).
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 6be45726..a119f25d 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ services:
         image: postgres
         env_file: .env
         volumes:
-          - pgdata:/var/lib/posgresql/data
+          - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
         networks:
             - main
     web:
diff --git a/fedireads/settings.py b/fedireads/settings.py
index 23b2c1fd..c4ce0b2c 100644
--- a/fedireads/settings.py
+++ b/fedireads/settings.py
@@ -76,17 +76,28 @@ WSGI_APPLICATION = 'fedireads.wsgi.application'
 # Database
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/ref/settings/#databases
 
-DATABASES = {
-    'default': {
+FEDIREADS_DATABASE_BACKEND = env('FEDIREADS_DATABASE_BACKEND', 'postgres')
+
+FEDIREADS_DBS = {
+    'postgres': {
         'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2',
-        'NAME': 'postgres',
-        'USER': 'postgres',
-        'PASSWORD': '%s' % env('POSTGRES_PASSWORD', 'fedireads'),
+        'NAME': env('POSTGRES_DB', 'fedireads'),
+        'USER': env('POSTGRES_USER', 'fedireads'),
+        'PASSWORD': env('POSTGRES_PASSWORD', 'fedireads'),
         'HOST': 'db',
         'PORT': 5432
+    },
+    'sqlite': {
+        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
+        'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'fedireads.db')
     }
 }
 
+DATABASES = {
+    'default': FEDIREADS_DBS[FEDIREADS_DATABASE_BACKEND]
+}
+
+
 LOGIN_URL = '/login/'
 AUTH_USER_MODEL = 'fedireads.User'