diff --git a/docs/installation.md b/docs/installation.md
index 7ee837ec..af45f2e9 100644
--- a/docs/installation.md
+++ b/docs/installation.md
@@ -14,7 +14,23 @@ This is the main supported approach for setting up a development environment. Yo
 After logging into Gitpod or creating an account we recommend also installing the Gitpod browser extension. This extension integrates extra functionality in websites such as Github.
 
 1. Go to our [Github repository](https://github.com/thegreenwebfoundation/admin-portal) and click on the Gitpod button if you have the browser extention installed or manually create and link it in your Gitpod Workspaces. It might take a couple of minutes to prepare the environment.
+
 2. After Gitpod is finished preparing the environment, it will open the workspace. Close any unnecessary terminal windows. To open a new fresh terminal window press ```Ctrl + ` ```.
+
+3. In almost all cases, you will need to have a _virtual environment_ set up so that the necessary commands for Django and other libraries are available to you. You can enter a virtual environment by typing `source .venv/bin/activate` from the the project root (i.e. `/workspace/admin-portal/`). You can tell you're a virtual environment - because your prompt will change from `gitpod /workspace/admin-portal (BRANCH_NAME) $` to `(.venv) gitpod /workspace/admin-portal (BRANCH_NAME) $`. Want more? [Learn more about virtual environments for python](https://realpython.com/python-virtual-environments-a-primer/)
+
+4. There is a makefile set up to allow easy access to common tasks, like running a development server, spinning up tailwind for front end development, creating a superuser and so on. There is tab-completion set up for github - to see the options available, type `make` and hit tab. You should see output like below:
+
+```
+(.venv) gitpod /workspace/admin-portal (BRANCH_NAME) $ make 
+data_analysis_repo    dev.tailwind.start    docker.release        release               
+dev.createsuperuser   dev.test              docs                  test                  
+dev.runserver         dev.test.only         docs.watch            test.only             
+dev.tailwind.install  docker.build          notebook.gitpod       venv                  
+```
+
+Open the makefile to read the docs about what each command does.
+
 ---
 ## Development on a local machine using virtual environments
 In an isolated [virtual environment](https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/venv.html) we are able to easily manage Python dependencies within the project.