@@ -324,13 +324,17 @@ Options
324324`--template=`*FILE*
325325: Use *FILE* as a custom template for the generated document. Implies
326326 `--standalone`. See [Templates](#templates) below for a description
327− of template syntax. If this option is not used, a default
328− template appropriate for the output format will be used. See also
329− `-D/--print-default-template`.
327+ of template syntax. If no extension is specified, an extension
328+ corresponding to the writer will be added, so that `--template=special`
329+ looks for `special.html` for HTML output. If the template is not
330+ found, pandoc will search for it in the user data directory
331+ (see `--data-dir`). If this option is not used, a default
332+ template appropriate for the output format will be used (see
333+ `-D/--print-default-template`).
330334
331335`-V` *KEY=VAL*, `--variable=`*KEY:VAL*
332336: Set the template variable *KEY* to the value *VAL* when rendering the
333− document in standalone mode. This is only useful when the
337+ document in standalone mode. This is generally only useful when the
334338 `--template` option is used to specify a custom template, since
335339 pandoc automatically sets the variables used in the default
336340 templates.
@@ -498,7 +502,7 @@ document. To see the default template that is used, just type
498502where `FORMAT` is the name of the output format. A custom template
499503can be specified using the `--template` option. You can also override
500504the system default templates for a given output format `FORMAT`
501−by putting a file `templates/FORMAT.template` in the user data
505+by putting a file `templates/default.FORMAT` in the user data
502506directory (see `--data-dir`, above).
503507
504508Templates may contain *variables*. Variable names are sequences of