diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ed7aaef..be04d19 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 # wikiq
 
-Tools for converting MediaWiki XML database dumps—the "history" dumps
-that include every revision of every page—into tabular datasets for
-research. The main tool is `wikiq`, a command line program that produces
-one row per revision with metadata such as the page, namespace,
-timestamp, editor, text size, and revert status, plus a range of
-optional computed columns.
+wikiq converts MediaWiki XML database dumps—the "history" dumps that
+include every revision of every page—into tabular datasets for research.
+It is a command line program that produces one row per revision with
+metadata such as the page, namespace, timestamp, editor, text size, and
+revert status, plus a range of optional computed columns.
 
 ## Installation
 
@@ -16,12 +15,17 @@ this repository:
     cd wikiq
     pip install .
 
-[uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/) works too (`uv sync`) and is convenient
-for development, but it is not required.
+Wikimedia dumps are usually compressed as 7z (most common), gz, or bz2.
+wikiq reads these by running your system's decompression tools, so it
+depends on `7za`, `zcat`, and `bzcat` for those respective formats. On
+Debian or Ubuntu, `apt install 7zip` provides `7za`; the others are
+standard.
 
-This installs everything needed for the columns most people use, and
-requires no compiler. Two features carry heavier dependencies and are
-therefore optional.
+That is everything most uses need, and none of it requires a compiler.
+Two further features carry heavier dependencies, so they are kept out of
+the base install.
+
+### Diffs and wikidiff2 persistence
 
 `--diff` and `-p wikidiff2` need
 [pywikidiff2](https://gitea.communitydata.science/groceryheist/pywikidiff2),
@@ -31,20 +35,18 @@ libthai:
 
     pip install 'pywikidiff2 @ git+https://gitea.communitydata.science/groceryheist/pywikidiff2.git'
 
+The other persistence methods, including the default `-p sequence`, do
+not need it.
+
+### Legacy persistence
+
 `-p legacy` needs `mediawiki-utilities`, which is only useful for
 reproducing results from older research projects:
 
     pip install '.[legacy]'
 
 wikiq tells you which of these to install if you use an option that
-needs one. The other persistence methods, including the default
-`-p sequence`, need neither.
-
-Wikimedia dumps are usually compressed as 7z (most common), gz, or bz2.
-wikiq reads these by running your system's decompression tools, so it
-depends on `7za`, `zcat`, and `bzcat` for those respective formats. On
-Debian or Ubuntu, `apt install 7zip` provides `7za`; the others are
-standard.
+needs one.
 
 ## Usage