diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1a1f5ad..3d0ab97 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -290,3 +290,11 @@ __pycache__/
 *.btm.cs
 *.odx.cs
 *.xsd.cs
+
+_site/*
+index.md
+toc.yml
+.fsdocs/*
+docs/*
+# documentation
+pentole/* 
diff --git a/Pentole/logginghelpers.fs b/Pentole/logginghelpers.fs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8543593
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Pentole/logginghelpers.fs
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+/// Provides convenience function to initialiaze and use Serilog loggers.
+module Pentole.LoggingHelpers
+
+open System
+
+open Serilog
+open Serilog.Events
+open Serilog.Sinks.SystemConsole.Themes
+open Serilog.Sinks.File
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Choose the minimum log level for a namespace.
+/// </summary>
+/// <example>
+/// <code>
+/// let logger_config: LoggingHelpers.Configuration = {
+///    files = []
+///    template = LoggingHelpers.Default.debug_template
+///    theme = LoggingHelpers.Default.theme
+///    overrides = [Warning "Microsoft.AspNetCore.MvC"; Info "Orleans.Runtime"]
+/// }
+///
+/// let logger = LoggingHelpers.from_config logger_config
+/// </code>
+/// </example>
+type Override =
+    | Verbose of string
+    | Debug of string
+    | Information of string
+    | Warning of string
+    | Error of string
+    | Fatal of string
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Indicates if flushing to the output file can be buffered or not.
+/// </summary>
+type Buffered = Yes | No
+/// <summary>
+/// Enable multi-process shared log files.
+/// </summary>
+type Shared = Yes | No
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Roll when the file reaches fileSizeLimitBytes.
+/// </summary>
+/// <remarks>
+/// See also <code>FileConfiguration.file_size_bytes_limit</code>
+/// </remarks>
+type RollOnSizeLimit = Yes | No
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Configuration settings for file logging.
+/// </summary>
+/// <remarks>
+/// For FileLifecyceHooks and LoggingLevelSwitch see the relevant Serilog documentation.
+/// </remarks>
+type FileConfiguration = {
+    path: string
+    level: LogEventLevel
+    template: string
+    format_provider: System.IFormatProvider
+    file_size_bytes_limit: uint64
+    level_switch: Core.LoggingLevelSwitch option
+    buffered: Buffered
+    shared: Shared
+    flush_interval: TimeSpan option
+    rolling_interval: RollingInterval
+    roll_on_size_limit: RollOnSizeLimit
+    retained_files: uint
+    lifecycle_hooks: FileLifecycleHooks option
+}
+
+type Configuration = {
+    theme: SystemConsoleTheme
+    overrides: Override list
+    template: string
+    files: FileConfiguration list
+}
+/// <summary>
+/// Configures and creates a Serilog logger from the given configuration.
+/// </summary>
+/// <param name="c">The configuration object containing settings for logging.</param>
+/// <returns>A configured Serilog Logger instance.</returns>
+/// <example>
+/// <code>
+/// let config = { theme = Default.theme; overrides = Default.overrides; template = Default.template; files = [] }
+/// let logger = from_config config
+/// </code>
+/// </example>
+let from_config (c: Configuration) =
+
+    let override_ (lc: LoggerConfiguration) = function
+        | Verbose namespace_ ->
+            lc.MinimumLevel.Override (namespace_, LogEventLevel.Verbose)
+        | Debug namespace_ ->
+            lc.MinimumLevel.Override (namespace_, LogEventLevel.Debug)
+        | Information namespace_ ->
+            lc.MinimumLevel.Override (namespace_, LogEventLevel.Information)
+        | Warning namespace_ ->
+            lc.MinimumLevel.Override (namespace_, LogEventLevel.Warning)
+        | Error namespace_ ->
+            lc.MinimumLevel.Override (namespace_, LogEventLevel.Error)
+        | Fatal namespace_ ->
+            lc.MinimumLevel.Override (namespace_, LogEventLevel.Fatal)
+
+    let lc =
+        c.overrides
+        |> List.fold (fun lc target -> override_ lc target) (LoggerConfiguration())
+
+    let null_or = function | Some a -> a | None -> null
+    let buffered = function | Buffered.Yes -> true | Buffered.No -> false
+    let shared = function | Shared.Yes -> true | Shared.No -> false
+    let roll = function | RollOnSizeLimit.Yes -> true | RollOnSizeLimit.No -> false
+
+    let flush_interval = function Some ts -> Nullable ts | None -> Nullable<TimeSpan> ()
+        
+    let lc =
+        c.files
+        |> List.fold (fun (lc: LoggerConfiguration) (fc: FileConfiguration) ->
+                        lc.WriteTo.File(
+                            path = fc.path,
+                            restrictedToMinimumLevel = fc.level,
+                            outputTemplate = fc.template,
+                            formatProvider = fc.format_provider,
+                            fileSizeLimitBytes = Nullable (int64 fc.file_size_bytes_limit),
+                            levelSwitch = null_or fc.level_switch,
+                            buffered = buffered fc.buffered,
+                            shared = shared fc.shared,
+                            flushToDiskInterval = flush_interval fc.flush_interval,
+                            rollingInterval = fc.rolling_interval,
+                            rollOnFileSizeLimit = roll fc.roll_on_size_limit,
+                            retainedFileCountLimit = Nullable (int fc.retained_files),
+                            encoding = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8,
+                            hooks = null_or fc.lifecycle_hooks,
+                            retainedFileTimeLimit = TimeSpan.Zero))
+                      lc
+
+    lc
+      .WriteTo.Console(theme=c.theme, outputTemplate=c.template)
+      .CreateLogger()
+
+/// Holds some conventional defaults for the LoggingHelpers module
+module Default =
+    let retained_files = 31 (* one month *)
+    let file_size_bytes = 1 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 (* 1GB *)
+    let size_limit = 1 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 (* 1GB *)
+    let template = "{Timestamp:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff zzz} [{Level:u3}] {Message:lj}{NewLine}{Exception}";
+    let debug_template = "[{Timestamp:HH:mm:ss} {Level:u3}] |{SourceContext}| {Message:lj}{NewLine}{Exception}"
+    let theme = Serilog.Sinks.SystemConsole.Themes.SystemConsoleTheme.Literate
+
+    let overrides = [
+        Warning "Orleans.Runtime"
+        Warning "Orleans.Hosting"
+        Warning "Microsoft"
+        // Warning "Microsoft.AspNetCore"
+        // Warning "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting"
+        // Warning "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc"
+        // Warning "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing"
+        // Warning "Orleans.Runtime.Silo"
+//        Warning "Orleans.Runtime.SiloOptionsLogger"
+        // Warning "Orleans.Runtime.SiloHostedService"
+    ]