diff --git a/tren.rst b/tren.rst
index 8766f4d..00870d4 100644
--- a/tren.rst
+++ b/tren.rst
@@ -1407,7 +1407,69 @@
 releases of  **tren** may add more of these, so it's good to
 periodically reread this material.
 
-File Attribute renaming tokens
+How **tren** Uses File Metadata
+================================
+
+Files and directories have so-called "metadata" associated with them
+like who owns them, how long they are, what date they were modified,
+and so on.  (This information is commonly described in a data structure
+called ``stat``.  Even non-Unix systems like Windows have some version
+of this data structure.)
+
+The file attribute- and sequence renaming tokens are built on this
+metadata, so it's worth taking a moment to understand just *how*
+it is used.  **tren** keeps track of the following information
+for every file- or directory you've named on the command line:
+
+  - The order the file appears on *the command line*
+  - The order the file appears *alphabetically*
+  - The *original name* of the file before any renaming took place
+  - The date/time it was last *accessed*
+  - The date/time it was last *modified*
+  - The date/time it's directory entry (inode) was last *modified*
+  - The *inode number* for the file
+  - The *device number* where the directory entry (inode) lives
+  - The *numeric group ID* the file belongs to
+  - The *name of the group* the file belongs to
+  - The *numeric user ID* of the file owner
+  - The *name of the user* that owns the file
+  - The *mode or permissions* for the file
+  - The *number of links* to the file
+  - The *size* of the file
+
+
+**tren** uses this information to resolve file attribute renaming
+tokens, compute the value of a particular sequence renaming token and
+so on.  For example, a sequence renaming token based on group *name*
+will order the sequence *alphabetically by group name* whereas one
+based on *group ID* will order it numerically.
+
+It is likely that you'll only be interested in a small subset of
+these. For completness, though, **tren** keeps track of all the
+metadata available about the files- or directories named on the
+command line and makes it available in the form of renaming tokens.
+
+Most commonly, you'll find yourself using the command line,
+alphabetic, original name, length, and various time/date renaming
+tokens.  Since there are actually three different kinds of date stamps
+maintained in modern filesystems, it's worth knowing the difference
+between them.  A good tutorial can be found here:
+
+  http://chandynasty.blogspot.com/2007/01/difference-between-unix-mtime-ctime.html
+
+.. NOTE:: **tren** is portable across many operating systems because
+          it is written in the Python programming language.  Python
+          *mostly* works the exact same way everywhere.  However,
+          Windows presents some problems because it does not quite
+          work the same way as Unix-derived OSs do.  In particular, if
+          you need to make use of the User/Group ID/Name renaming
+          tokens on Windows, consider installing the ``win32all``
+          extensions to your Windows Python installation.  If you
+          don't, **tren** will base its order on the generic names
+          "WindowsUser" and "WindowsGroup".
+
+
+File Attribute Renaming Tokens
 ==============================
 
 These tokens are derived from information about the file or
@@ -1794,7 +1856,7 @@
 
 ::
 
-  $Id: tren.rst,v 1.159 2010/03/29 17:40:19 tundra Exp $
+  $Id: tren.rst,v 1.160 2010/03/29 18:44:06 tundra Exp $
 
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