diff --git a/doc/devel/contributing.rst b/doc/devel/contributing.rst
index 5140260b3f63..c73469e11f3d 100644
--- a/doc/devel/contributing.rst
+++ b/doc/devel/contributing.rst
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ environment to build Matplotlib from source.
 To work on Matplotlib sources, it is strongly recommended to set up an alternative
 development environment, using the something like `virtual environments in python
 <http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/dev/virtualenvs/>`_, or a
-`conda environment <http://conda.pydata.org/docs/using/envs.html>`_.
+`conda environment <https://conda.io/docs/user-guide/tasks/manage-environments.html>`_.
 
 If you choose to use an already existing environment, and not a clean virtual or
 conda environment, uninstall the current version of Matplotlib in that environment
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ environment is set up properly::
 
   * :ref:`testing`
 
+.. _how_to_contribute:
 
 Contributing code
 =================
@@ -315,7 +316,7 @@ documentation is also a very important part of the project and often doesn't
 get as much attention as it deserves. If you find a typo in the documentation,
 or have made improvements, do not hesitate to send an email to the mailing
 list or submit a GitHub pull request. Full documentation can be found under
-the doc/ directory.
+the doc/ directory. Details for contributing to the documentation can be found :ref:`here <documenting-matplotlib>`. 
 
 It also helps us if you spread the word: reference the project from your blog
 and articles or link to it from your website!
diff --git a/doc/devel/documenting_mpl.rst b/doc/devel/documenting_mpl.rst
index 4141e1266480..d6155b051a8b 100644
--- a/doc/devel/documenting_mpl.rst
+++ b/doc/devel/documenting_mpl.rst
@@ -41,27 +41,46 @@ documentation built into their comments.  Don't directly edit the
 ``.rst`` files in :file:`doc/gallery` and :file:`doc/tutorials` as they are
 regenerated when the documentation are built.
 
-Installing dependencies
+
+Dependencies
 -----------------------
 
 The documentation for Matplotlib is generated from reStructuredText (ReST_)
 using the Sphinx_ documentation generation tool. There are several extra
-requirements that are needed to build the documentation. They are listed in
-:file:`doc-requirements.txt` and listed below:
+requirements, in addition to those in :ref:`Contributing <contributing>`, that are needed to build the documentation. They are listed in
+:file:`doc-requirements.txt` and below:
 
-* Sphinx>=1.3, !=1.5.0, !=1.6.4, !=1.7.3
+* Sphinx
 * colorspacious
 * IPython
-* numpydoc>=0.8
-* Pillow>=3.4
-* sphinx-gallery>=0.2
+* numpydoc
+* Pillow
+* sphinx-gallery
+* LaTeX  
 * graphviz
 
 .. note::
 
-  * You'll need a minimal working LaTeX distribution for many examples to run.
-  * `Graphviz <http://www.graphviz.org/Download.php>`_ is not a Python package,
-    and needs to be installed separately.
+  * You'll need a minimal working `LaTeX <https://www.latex-project.org/>`_ distribution for many examples in the documentation to run.
+  * `Graphviz <http://www.graphviz.org/>`_ is not a Python package,
+    and needs to be installed separately. 
+
+
+Install dependencies and create a documentation development environment
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+* See :ref:`installing_for_devs` and :ref:`how_to_contribute` to get the latest version of the code, set up a development environment, and create pull requests. 
+
+* Install the python dependencies in `doc-requirements.txt`: 
+
+.. note:: 
+
+  * colorspacious must be installed using conda-forge, not conda
+
+* Install the `LaTeX <https://www.latex-project.org/>`_ version for your OS 
+* Install `Graphviz <http://www.graphviz.org/>`_ for your OS
+
+
 
 Building the docs
 -----------------