diff --git a/documentation/dev-manual/dev-manual-common-tasks.xml b/documentation/dev-manual/dev-manual-common-tasks.xml
index ef801d616d..775a3d872a 100644
--- a/documentation/dev-manual/dev-manual-common-tasks.xml
+++ b/documentation/dev-manual/dev-manual-common-tasks.xml
@@ -3595,16 +3595,16 @@
                     <para>Your configuration file needs to set the following
                     required variables:
                     <literallayout class='monospaced'>
-     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-DISTRO_NAME'><filename>DISTRO_NAME</filename></ulink> [required]
-     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-DISTRO_VERSION'><filename>DISTRO_VERSION</filename></ulink> [required]
+     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-DISTRO_NAME'><filename>DISTRO_NAME</filename></ulink>
+     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-DISTRO_VERSION'><filename>DISTRO_VERSION</filename></ulink>
                     </literallayout>
                     These following variables are optional and you typically
                     set them from the distribution configuration file:
                     <literallayout class='monospaced'>
-     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-DISTRO_FEATURES'><filename>DISTRO_FEATURES</filename></ulink> [optional]
-     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-DISTRO_EXTRA_RDEPENDS'><filename>DISTRO_EXTRA_RDEPENDS</filename></ulink> [optional]
-     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-DISTRO_EXTRA_RRECOMMENDS'><filename>DISTRO_EXTRA_RRECOMMENDS</filename></ulink> [optional]
-     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-TCLIBC'><filename>TCLIBC</filename></ulink> [optional]
+     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-DISTRO_FEATURES'><filename>DISTRO_FEATURES</filename></ulink>
+     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-DISTRO_EXTRA_RDEPENDS'><filename>DISTRO_EXTRA_RDEPENDS</filename></ulink>
+     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-DISTRO_EXTRA_RRECOMMENDS'><filename>DISTRO_EXTRA_RRECOMMENDS</filename></ulink>
+     <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-TCLIBC'><filename>TCLIBC</filename></ulink>
                     </literallayout>
                     <tip>
                         If you want to base your distribution configuration file
@@ -3648,7 +3648,8 @@
                             already installed by another recipe.
                             If you have distro-specific configuration files
                             that are included by an existing recipe, you should
-                            add a <filename>.bbappend</filename> for those.
+                            add an append file (<filename>.bbappend</filename>)
+                            for those.
                             For general information and recommendations
                             on how to add recipes to your layer, see the
                             "<link linkend='creating-your-own-layer'>Creating Your Own Layer</link>"