diff --git a/bin/check_idp_error_urls.sh b/bin/check_idp_error_urls.sh
index 9c2825e..62b1b4f 100755
--- a/bin/check_idp_error_urls.sh
+++ b/bin/check_idp_error_urls.sh
@@ -41,19 +41,20 @@ display_help () {
 	   -q      Run quietly (i.e., write no messages to the terminal)
 	   -d      Path to an output directory
 	   -t      Time (in secs) allotted to connect to the host
-	   -m      Maximum time (in secs) allotted to a complete probe
+	   -m      Maximum time (in secs) allotted to complete a probe
 	   -u      Base URL of a Metadata Query Server
 	   -f      Path to a local metadata file
 
 	Option -h is mutually exclusive of all other options. Options
 	-q and -v are mutually exclusive of each other. Likewise options -u 
-	and -f are mutually exclusive of each other. Option -d is required
-	if file output is desired.
+	and -f are mutually exclusive of each other. If option -q is used, 
+	option -d is recommended as well, otherwise the script will produce
+	no output whatsoever.
+	
+	Option -v is a useful debugging tool. OTOH, option -q suppresses 
+	all output to the terminal, even error messages. Options -q and -d
+	are often used together for cron jobs.
 	
-	Option -q suppresses all output to the terminal, even error messages. 
-	If option -d is specified, output is written to files instead. In
-	particular, an error log is maintained in the output directory.
-
 	The argument of the -t option is the TCP connect time, that is, 
 	the maximum time (in secs) allotted to the TCP connection. Note 
 	that the TCP connect time includes the time it takes to do a 
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ display_help () {
 	The argument of the -m option is the maximum total time (in secs)
 	allotted to each probe. A reasonable value is a few seconds
 	beyond the TCP connect time. Any value less than the TCP connect
-	time causes the script to immediately fail. If the -m option is
+	time prevents the script from initializing. If the -m option is
 	present on the command line, then the -t option must also be 
 	present. If the -m option is omitted, its value is set to the 
 	TCP connect time plus 2 secs, whether or not the -t option is
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ display_help () {
 	
 	Entity metadata is required to process each identifier. Metadata is 
 	obtained in one of two ways, by consulting a Metadata Query Server 
-	just-in-time or by using a suitably comprehensive metadata aggregate
+	just-in-time or by using a suitably configured metadata aggregate
 	(perhaps the same aggregate from which the entityIDs were taken). 
 	These correspond to options -u and -f, respectively. Exactly one of 
 	these options is required.
@@ -255,7 +256,7 @@ for lib_filename in $LIB_FILENAMES; do
 	fi
 done
 
-# default timeout option
+# default parameter
 connect_timeout_default=2
 
 # output filenames