diff --git a/_config.yml b/_config.yml
index 721cc74a81d0c71021a679360bd006965f9b07d5..4850575492eaed8556ccb9d35afd3c462f93a9fa 100644
--- a/_config.yml
+++ b/_config.yml
@@ -42,9 +42,11 @@ aux_links:
 footer_content: "Copyright &copy; 2017-2019 Patrick Marsceill. Distributed by an <a href=\"https://github.com/pmarsceill/just-the-docs/tree/master/LICENSE.txt\">MIT license.</a>"
 # Footer metadata
 show_last_edit_time: true
-last_edit_time_format: "%b %e %Y at %I:%M %p"
+last_edit_time_format: "%b %e %Y at %I:%M %p" # uses ruby's time format: https://ruby-doc.org/stdlib-2.7.0/libdoc/time/rdoc/Time.html
 show_gh_edit_link: true
-gh_edit_repository: "https://github.com/pmarsceill/just-the-docs"
+gh_edit_repository: "https://github.com/pmarsceill/just-the-docs" # the github URL for your repo
+gh_edit_branch: "master" # switch to the branch that your docs is served from
+gh_edit_view_mode: "tree" # switch to "edit" if you want the user to jump into the editor immediately
 edit_link_text: "Edit this page on GitHub."
 
 # Color scheme currently only supports "dark" or nil (default)
diff --git a/_layouts/default.html b/_layouts/default.html
index 4496d9da4e9eb1718edaadc4f8c946c7f384b424..86f7469ad908850d1b74ee869c9c60874631151e 100644
--- a/_layouts/default.html
+++ b/_layouts/default.html
@@ -94,9 +94,16 @@ layout: table_wrappers
                 Page last modified: {{ page.last_modified_date | date: site.last_edit_time_format }}.
               </p>
               {% endif %}
-              {% if site.show_gh_edit_link and site.edit_link_text %}
+              {% 
+                if 
+                  site.show_gh_edit_link and 
+                  site.edit_link_text and 
+                  site.gh_edit_repository and 
+                  site.gh_edit_view_mode and 
+                  site.gh_edit_branch
+              %}
               <p class="text-small text-grey-dk-000 mb-0">
-                <a href="{{ site.gh_edit_repository }}/tree/master/{{ page.path }}">{{ site.edit_link_text }}</a>
+                <a href="{{ site.gh_edit_repository }}/{{site.gh_edit_view_mode}}/{{site.gh_edit_branch}}/{{ page.path }}">{{ site.edit_link_text }}</a>
               </p>
               {% endif %}
               {% if site.footer_content != nil %}
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 86dd7ebd8fed0a372eed03b78762a15646c9afc5..74a0d0c95f11f45bb1e9c0bba21bf84b78ee06a1 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -67,15 +67,19 @@ heading_anchors: true
 footer_content: "Copyright &copy; 2017-2019 Patrick Marsceill. Distributed by an <a href=\"https://github.com/pmarsceill/just-the-docs/tree/master/LICENSE.txt\">MIT license.</a>"
 # Footer metadata
 show_last_edit_time: true
-last_edit_time_format: "%b %e %Y at %I:%M %p"
+last_edit_time_format: "%b %e %Y at %I:%M %p" # uses ruby's time format
 show_gh_edit_link: true
-gh_edit_repository: "https://github.com/pmarsceill/just-the-docs"
-edit_link_text: "Edit this page on GitHub"
+gh_edit_repository: "https://github.com/pmarsceill/just-the-docs" # the github URL for your repo
+gh_edit_branch: "master" # switch to the branch that your docs is served from
+gh_edit_view_mode: "tree" # switch to "edit" if you want the user to jump into the editor immediately
+edit_link_text: "Edit this page on GitHub."
 ```
 
 * the "page last modified" data will only display if a page has a key called `last_modified_date`, formatted in some readable date format
 * `last_edit_time_format` uses Ruby's DateTime formatter; see examples and more information [at this link.](https://apidock.com/ruby/DateTime/strftime)
-* `gh_edit_repository` should be changed to the project's GitHub repository
+* `gh_edit_repository` is the URL of the project's GitHub repository
+* `gh_edit_branch` is the branch that the docs site is served from; defaults to `master`
+* `gh_edit_view_mode` is `"tree"` by default, which brings the user to the github page; switch to `"edit"` to bring the user directly into editing mode
 
 ## Color scheme