diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fc161b4..5e3c3eb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 *.servers.lua
-examples/itte*.lua
-!sample.servers.lua
+examples/*/itte*.lua
+!hellobot.servers.lua
+!ramenkan.sample.servers.lua
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fb1540e..a844490 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,33 +7,16 @@ Currently supported:
 
 - Authentication via SASL (plain) or Nickserv
 - Joining multiple servers
+- Ad-hoc connecting to servers and joining channels
 - Config reload
 
 
-## Requirements
+## Installation
 
-- [Lua 5.x](https://www.lua.org/)
-- [luasocket](https://w3.impa.br/~diego/software/luasocket/)
-- [luasec](https://github.com/brunoos/luasec)
-
-
-## Usage
-
-See the bot files in the `examples/` directory for usage notes.
-
-
-## Example: ramenkan
-
-- Install Lua and other dependencies, e.g. for Alpine:
-  `apk add lua-socket lua-sec`
-
-- Copy the `itte*.lua` files to the `examples/` directory. Copy the
-  `examples/sample.servers.lua` as `ramenkan.servers.lua` and change the server
-  settings as applicable.
-
-- Run: `nohup lua /path/to/examples/ramenkan.lua >/dev/null 2>&1 &`
+Please see the [docs](docs/README.md).
 
 
 ## License
 
-BSD-3.0
+[BSD-3.0](https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause)
+
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea80f34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+# Itte Documentation
+
+
+## Requirements
+
+- [Lua 5.x](https://www.lua.org/)
+- [luasocket](https://w3.impa.br/~diego/software/luasocket/)
+- [luasec](https://github.com/brunoos/luasec)
+
+
+## Installation
+
+- Install Lua and other dependencies. Example:
+
+  - Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions: `apt-get install lua-socket lua-sec`
+
+  - Alpine Linux: `apk add lua-socket lua-sec`
+
+- Copy the `itte*.lua` files to the project directory.
+
+
+## Usage
+
+- Create two config files, or copy the sample files from `examples/` to the
+  same directory level as the `itte*.lua` files. Replace instances of
+  `[prefix]` hereafter with the name of your choice without spaces or special
+  characters, e.g. the project name.
+
+  - `[prefix].servers.lua`: list servers and global admins here.
+
+  - `[prefix].config.lua`: add bot settings and handlers here.
+
+- There are two variables in `*.servers.lua`:
+
+  - `itte_servers` (required): add a server to `itte_server` following the
+    example configurations.
+
+  - `itte_admins` (optional): this is a table of global admins who can access
+    bot-wide handlers like connecting servers. If left undefined, global
+    admin-only handlers will not be run. In some cases this may be desirable to
+    reduce incidents of bot tampering.
+
+- There are two optional variables in `*.config.lua`:
+
+  - `itte_config`: customise bot settings, such as the default response and
+    error messages shown to users.
+
+  - `itte_handlers`: most bots listen for some pre-defined code words (often
+    known as "commands") and respond by calling a handler, or function to
+    handle the request accordingly.
+
+    The module will refer to the keywords as codes to distinguish them
+    from IRC commands sent to the server like `JOIN` or `PART`. Name the
+    handler after the code word that will be used to trigger the function and
+    add it to `itte_handlers` so it can be automatically picked up by the
+    module. For example, if the code users will type is `!hello` (where `!` is
+    a prefix to mark it as a bot code), name the function
+    `itte_handlers.hello()`. Handler names cannot start with numbers or special
+    characters.
+
+- Initialise the module in a project file named `[prefix].lua` and add the
+  following to the file:
+
+  ```
+  -- Import the module
+  local itte = require("itte")
+
+  -- Set the prefix for the module to find the config files
+  -- The prefix is the name preceding `.servers.lua` and `.config.lua`
+  itte.confs.prefix = "[prefix]"
+
+  -- Call the run function
+  itte.run()
+  ```
+
+- Start the bot: `lua ./[prefix].lua`
+
+
+## Built-in service codes
+
+The module includes a number of built-in codes that bots can respond to. The
+full list can be viewed on IRC by issuing the code `!help` in a private
+message with a bot or in a channel where the bot is present. Admin users will
+also see admin-only codes to manage a bot.
+
+Global admin-only codes:
+
+- `connect [server] [user] [password]`: connect to server listed in the server
+  config, where `[server]` is the name given in the servers table (or use
+  `servers` to get the names).
+
+- `quit [server] [user] [password]`: disconnect from a server. The bot process
+  will automatically exit if it is not connected to any server.
+
+- `reload [user] [password]`: reload the bot config.
+
+- `servers [user] [password]`: list known/active servers from the config.
+
+Server admin-only codes:
+
+- `channels [password]`: list known channels from the server config.
+
+- `join [channel] [password]`: join channel(s), e.g. `!join #bots #programming
+  password`.
+
+- `part [channel] [passowrd]`: leave channel(s), e.g. `!part #bots password`.
+
+Codes accessible by all users:
+
+- `help`: list available service codes.
+
+- `ping`: send a pong message.
+
+
+## Running a bot as a background process
+
+There are multiple ways to have a bot run in the background.
+
+### nohup
+
+Using the `nohup` command is quick and simple, though it does not support
+restarting if the bot exits due to a network issue.
+
+To run the bot and discard any output by redirecting it to `/dev/null`:
+`nohup lua /path/to/[prefix].lua >/dev/null 2>&1 &`
+
+### Init scripts, e.g. systemd
+
+Startup scripts enable services to start automatically and relaunch in the
+event of an unexpected exit (unless expressly stopped through an init system
+command). The instructions below describe setting up and running a [systemd]
+service for a bot under a non-privileged user.
+
+- Create a systemd directory for the user running the bot if it does not
+  already exist: `mkdir -p /home/[user]/.config/systemd/user`
+
+- Copy the sample `*.service` to the user systemd directory and rename the file
+  to `[prefix].service`. Edit the service description, `WorkingDirectory` and
+  `ExecStart` values as needed. Use full paths for the `WorkingDirectory` and
+  location of the Lua executable, or the service file will not work.
+
+- Start and enable the service:
+
+  ```
+  systemctl --user start [prefix]
+  systemctl --user enable [prefix]
+  ```
+
+[systemd]: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.service.html
diff --git a/examples/hellobot/hellobot.config.lua b/examples/hellobot/hellobot.config.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57fa8bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/hellobot/hellobot.config.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- Custom variables
+-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+local hello_words = {
+  "ahoy!", "EHLO", "hai", "hello!", "henlo", "hey!", "hi!", "ACK (TCP)",
+  "aloha! (Hawaiian)", "ciao! (Italian)", "hallo (Dutch)", "hej (Swedish)",
+  "hola (Spanish)", "salut! (French)", "saluton (Esperanto)", "tag! (German)",
+  "toki! (Toki Pona)", "هلا (pron: hala)", "مااس (Arabic, pron: salaam)",
+  "สวัสดี (Thai, pron: sawatdee)", "你好 (Chinese, pron: ni hao)",
+  "こんにちわ (Japanese, pron: konnichiwa)", "안녕 (Korean, pron: annyeong)",
+  "नमस्ते (Hindi, pron: namaste)", "ᐊᐃ (Ai)", "Привет (Russian, pron: preevyet)",
+  "שָׁלוֹם (Hebrew, pron: shalom)", "kia ora (Māori)"
+}
+
+
+-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- Config
+-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+-- [[
+-- `itte_config`
+-- Add custom settings and override the default config settings here (see
+-- `itte.lua` for the full list). Settings need to be appended to this variable
+-- to be collected by the reload function.
+-- ]]
+itte_config = {
+  debug = true,
+}
+
+
+-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- Handlers
+-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+-- Load the main module.
+local irc = require("itte")
+-- Load the util module to use some helper functions.
+local util = require("itteutil")
+
+
+--[[
+-- `itte_handlers`
+-- Define any custom handlers in a new table, then assign the table to it.
+-- Handlers can also be added to it directly e.g. `itte_handlers.hello()`.
+-- Handler names should correspond to the service code name, e.g. a function
+-- `itte_handlers.hello()` will be called within chat as
+-- `[command_prefix]hello`, as in `!hello`.
+--
+-- Here an object called `h` is created for convenience, and functions will be
+-- added to it.
+--]]
+local h = {}
+
+
+-- Reply with a random greeting.
+-- The handler takes two parameters, `cxt` and `msg`.
+--
+-- The first is a context table that includes server details and a reference to
+-- the socket connection. The other is a message table, which is the IRC user
+-- message broken down into parts such as the sender, recipient, reply_to, and
+-- the code trigger used.
+--
+-- The context and message tables are required for the `message()` function to
+-- know which server and user to direct a response.
+--
+-- The `message()` function takes the server connection from the context table,
+-- a table of users or channels to reply to, and the text string, then formats
+-- the string into an IRC command and sends it to the server.
+--
+-- `util.pick()` is a helper function that takes a table of items and picks one
+-- randomly by default if the number of items is unspecified. It will return
+-- the items in a table, so `[1]` will get the one (and in this case, only)
+-- value in the table.
+function h.hello(cxt, msg)
+  irc.message(cxt, { msg.reply_to }, util.pick(hello_words)[1])
+end
+
+
+-- Hook up the handlers.
+itte_handlers = h
diff --git a/examples/ramenkan.lua b/examples/hellobot/hellobot.lua
similarity index 91%
rename from examples/ramenkan.lua
rename to examples/hellobot/hellobot.lua
index 304bc70..7b7e373 100644
--- a/examples/ramenkan.lua
+++ b/examples/hellobot/hellobot.lua
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 -- Initialise module.
-local ramenkan = require("itte")
+local hellobot = require("itte")
 
 -- [[
 -- Set the config file paths.
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ local ramenkan = require("itte")
 -- Either set confs.prefix, *or* a combination of confs.config and
 -- confs.server, but not both.
 -- ]]
-ramenkan.confs.prefix = "ramenkan"
+hellobot.confs.prefix = "hellobot"
 
 -- Call the run function.
-ramenkan.run()
+hellobot.run()
diff --git a/examples/sample.servers.lua b/examples/hellobot/hellobot.servers.lua
similarity index 84%
rename from examples/sample.servers.lua
rename to examples/hellobot/hellobot.servers.lua
index d06962b..4ab8182 100644
--- a/examples/sample.servers.lua
+++ b/examples/hellobot/hellobot.servers.lua
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 --
 -- This variable is optional, but certain handlers like server disconnection
 -- will not work if it is unset.
-itte_admins = { globaladmin = "password", }
+itte_admins = { demo = "password", }
 
 
 -- `itte_servers`
@@ -22,13 +22,13 @@ itte_servers = {
   server_name = {
     host = "irc.example.tld",
     port = 6667,
-    channels = { "#channel-name" },
-    cap = { "sasl" },
+    channels = { "#channel1", "#channel2" },
+    cap = nil,
     nick = "botnick",
     auth_type = nil,
     auth_user = "botuser",
-    auth_pass = "password",
+    auth_pass = nil,
     code_prefix = "!",
-    admins = { adminuser = "password", },
+    admins = { demouser = "password", },
   },
 }
diff --git a/examples/hellobot/hellobot.service b/examples/hellobot/hellobot.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..78212a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/hellobot/hellobot.service
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=hellobot — an IRC bot
+
+[Service]
+WorkingDirectory=/path/to/hellobot
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/lua ./hellobot.lua
+Restart=always
+RestartSec=300
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=default.target
diff --git a/examples/ramenkan.config.lua b/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.config.lua
similarity index 96%
rename from examples/ramenkan.config.lua
rename to examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.config.lua
index 7092baa..5467bd6 100644
--- a/examples/ramenkan.config.lua
+++ b/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.config.lua
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@
 -- Ramen data
 -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
--- [[
--- This is sample data and could be split into another file.
--- ]]
-
 local ramen = {}
 
 ramen.noodle_broth_types = {
@@ -259,7 +255,6 @@ ramen.links = {
 -- Ramen functions
 -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
--- Load the util module early to use some helper functions.
 local util = require("itteutil")
 
 
@@ -373,12 +368,6 @@ end
 -- Config
 -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
--- [[
--- `itte_config`
--- Add custom settings and override the default config settings here.
--- Settings need to be appened to this variable to be collected by the reload
--- function.
--- ]]
 itte_config = {
   debug = true,
   messages = {
@@ -428,18 +417,7 @@ itte_config.messages.water = {
 -- Handlers
 -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
--- Load the module.
 local irc = require("itte")
-
-
---[[
--- `itte_handlers`
--- Define any custom handlers in a new table, then assign the table to it.
--- Handlers can also be added to it directly e.g. `itte_handlers.hello()`.
--- Handler names should correspond to the service code name, e.g. a function
--- `itte_handlers.hello()` will be called within chat as
--- `[command_prefix]hello`, as in `!hello`.
---]]
 local h = {}
 
 
diff --git a/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.lua b/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..416424c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+local ramenkan = require("itte")
+
+ramenkan.confs.prefix = "ramenkan"
+
+ramenkan.run()
diff --git a/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.sample.servers.lua b/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.sample.servers.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29b17cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.sample.servers.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+itte_admins = { USER = "PASSWORD" }
+
+itte_servers = {
+  town = {
+    host = "localhost",
+    port = 6697,
+    channels = { "#ramenkan", "#bots" },
+    nick = "ramenkan",
+    auth_user = "USER",
+    code_prefix = "!",
+    admins = { USER = "PASSWORD" },
+  },
+  casa = {
+    host = "m455.casa",
+    port = 6697,
+    channels = { "#kitchen", "#siliconpals" },
+    cap = { "sasl", "draft/chathistory" },
+    nick = "ramenkan",
+    auth_type = "sasl",
+    auth_user = "USER",
+    auth_pass = "PASSWORD",
+    code_prefix = "!",
+    admins = { USER = "PASSWORD" },
+  },
+  tildechat = {
+    host = "irc.tilde.chat",
+    port = 6697,
+    channels = { "#bots" },
+    nick = "ramenkan",
+    auth_user = "USER",
+    code_prefix = "!",
+    admins = { USER = "PASSWORD" },
+  },
+}
diff --git a/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.service b/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d474512
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/ramenkan/ramenkan.service
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=ramenkan — a ramen-themed IRC bot
+
+[Service]
+WorkingDirectory=%h/bin/itte/examples/ramenkan
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/lua ./ramenkan.lua
+Restart=always
+RestartSec=300
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=default.target
diff --git a/itte.lua b/itte.lua
index 6eb30a6..52518fe 100644
--- a/itte.lua
+++ b/itte.lua
@@ -126,7 +126,18 @@ function itte.get_config(reload)
   -- Update config with value overrides from itte_config
   if itte_config ~= nil then
     for k, v in pairs(itte_config) do
-      itte.config[k] = v
+      -- Second-level nested tables
+      if type(v) == "table" then
+        for kk, vv in pairs(v) do
+          if (type(vv) == "table") or (type(vv) == "function") then
+            itte.config[k] = v
+          else
+            itte.config[k][kk] = vv
+          end
+        end
+      else
+        itte.config[k] = v
+      end
     end
   end
   if itte_handlers ~= nil then itte.handlers = itte_handlers end