diff --git a/.Rbuildignore b/.Rbuildignore
index aa57a16..1d57955 100644
--- a/.Rbuildignore
+++ b/.Rbuildignore
@@ -1,13 +1,16 @@
 # checklist
-^_pkgdown.yml$
 ^.*\.Rproj$
 ^.zenodo\.json$
+^CITATION\.cff$
+^LICENSE.md$
+^Meta$
+^README\.Rmd$
+^\.Rproj\.user$
 ^\.github$
 ^\.httr-oauth$
-^\.Rproj\.user$
 ^\.zenodo\.json$
+^_pkgdown.yml$
 ^checklist.yml$
-^CITATION\.cff$
 ^codecov.yml$
 ^codecov\.yml$
 ^codemeta\.json$
@@ -15,8 +18,6 @@
 ^data-raw$
 ^doc$
 ^docs$
-^LICENSE.md$
 ^man-roxygen$
-^Meta$
+^organisation.yml$
 ^pkgdown$
-^README\.Rmd$
diff --git a/.github/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md b/.github/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
index 24aa0a3..3236635 100644
--- a/.github/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
+++ b/.github/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ We are committed to making participation in this project a harassment-free exper
 everyone, regardless of level of experience, gender, gender identity and expression,
 sexual orientation, disability, personal appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, or religion.
 
-Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include the use of sexual language or
+Examples of unacceptable behaviour by participants include the use of sexual language or
 imagery, derogatory comments or personal attacks, trolling, public or private harassment,
 insults, or other unprofessional conduct.
 
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned
 Code of Conduct. Project maintainers who do not follow the Code of Conduct may be removed 
 from the project team.
 
-Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported by 
+Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behaviour may be reported by 
 opening an issue or contacting one or more of the project maintainers.
 
 This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant 
diff --git a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
index bca3a7d..0eeb16c 100644
--- a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -2,55 +2,38 @@
 
 ### Fixing typos
 
-Small typos or grammatical errors in documentation may be edited directly using
-the GitHub web interface, so long as the changes are made in the _source_ file.
-
-*  YES: you edit a roxygen comment in a `.R` file below `R/`.
-*  NO: you edit an `.Rd` file below `man/`.
+Small typos or grammatical errors in documentation may be edited directly using the GitHub web interface, so long as the changes are made in the _source_ file.
+E.g. edit a `roxygen2` comment in a `.R` file below `R/`, not in an `.Rd` file below `man/`.
 
 ### Prerequisites
 
-Before you make a substantial pull request, you should always file an issue and
-make sure someone from the team agrees that it’s a problem. If you’ve found a
-bug, create an associated issue and illustrate the bug with a minimal 
-[reprex](https://www.tidyverse.org/help/#reprex).
+Before you make a substantial pull request, you should always file an issue and make sure someone from the team agrees that it’s a problem. 
+If you’ve found a bug, create an associated issue and illustrate the bug with a minimal [reproducible example](https://www.tidyverse.org/help/#reprex).
 
 ### Pull request process
 
 *  We recommend that you create a Git branch for each pull request (PR).  
-*  Look at the Travis and AppVeyor build status before and after making changes.
-The `README` should contain badges for any continuous integration services used
-by the package.  
-*  We recommend the tidyverse [style guide](http://style.tidyverse.org).
-You can use the [styler](https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=styler) package to
-apply these styles, but please don't restyle code that has nothing to do with 
-your PR.  
-*  We use [roxygen2](https://cran.r-project.org/package=roxygen2).  
-*  We use [testthat](https://cran.r-project.org/package=testthat). Contributions
-with test cases included are easier to accept.  
-*  For user-facing changes, add a bullet to the top of `NEWS.md` below the
-current development version header describing the changes made followed by your
-GitHub username, and links to relevant issue(s)/PR(s).
+*  Look at the GitHub Actions build status before and after making changes.
+The `README` should contain badges for any continuous integration services used by the package.  
+*  We require the `tidyverse` [style guide](http://style.tidyverse.org).
+You can use the [`styler`](https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=styler) package to apply these styles, but please don't restyle code that has nothing to do with your PR.  
+*  We use [`roxygen2`](https://cran.r-project.org/package=roxygen2).  
+*  We use [`testthat`](https://cran.r-project.org/package=testthat). 
+Contributions with test cases included are easier to accept.  
+*  For user-facing changes, add a bullet to the top of `NEWS.md` below the current development version header describing the changes made followed by your GitHub username, and links to relevant issue(s)/PR(s).
 
 ### Code of Conduct
 
-Please note that the git2rdata project is released with a
-[Contributor Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md). By contributing to this
-project you agree to abide by its terms.
-
-### See rOpenSci [contributing guide](https://ropensci.github.io/dev_guide/contributingguide.html)
-for further details.
-
-### Discussion forum
-
-Check out our [discussion forum](https://discuss.ropensci.org) if you think your issue requires a longer form discussion.
+Please note that this project is released with a [Contributor Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md). 
+By contributing to this project you agree to abide by its terms.
 
 ### Prefer to Email? 
 
 Email the person listed as maintainer in the `DESCRIPTION` file of this repo.
 
-Though note that private discussions over email don't help others - of course email is totally warranted if it's a sensitive problem of any kind.
+Though note that private discussions over email don't help others - of course
+email is totally warranted if it's a sensitive problem of any kind.
 
 ### Thanks for contributing!
 
-This contributing guide is adapted from the tidyverse contributing guide available at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/r-lib/usethis/master/inst/templates/tidy-contributing.md 
+This contributing guide is adapted from the `tidyverse` contributing guide available at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/r-lib/usethis/master/inst/templates/tidy-contributing.md 
diff --git a/.github/pull_request_template.md b/.github/pull_request_template.md
index e1beac8..090375b 100644
--- a/.github/pull_request_template.md
+++ b/.github/pull_request_template.md
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ or similar - or if just relates to an issue make sure to mention
 it like "#4" -->
 
 ## Example
-<!--- if introducing a new feature or changing behavior of existing
+<!--- if introducing a new feature or changing behaviour of existing
 methods/functions, include an example if possible to do in brief form -->
 
 <!--- Did you remember to include tests? Unless you're just changing
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check_on_branch.yml b/.github/workflows/check_on_branch.yml
index ae97569..a013b02 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check_on_branch.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check_on_branch.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ on:
       - master
       - ghpages
 
-name: "check package"
+name: "check package with checklist"
 
 jobs:
   check-package:
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ jobs:
     name: "check package"
     env:
       CODECOV_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}
-      ORCID_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ORCID_TOKEN }}
+      GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
     steps:
-      - uses: inbo/actions/check_pkg@master
-        with:
-          token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
+      - uses: inbo/actions/check_pkg@checklist-0.4.1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check_on_different_r_os.yml b/.github/workflows/check_on_different_r_os.yml
index 31901aa..10c4a14 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check_on_different_r_os.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check_on_different_r_os.yml
@@ -22,78 +22,30 @@ jobs:
         config:
           - {os: macOS-latest,   r: 'release'}
           - {os: windows-latest, r: 'release'}
-          - {os: ubuntu-20.04,   r: 'devel', rspm: "https://packagemanager.rstudio.com/cran/__linux__/focal/latest"}
-          - {os: ubuntu-20.04,   r: 'oldrel',  rspm: "https://packagemanager.rstudio.com/cran/__linux__/focal/latest"}
+          - {os: ubuntu-22.04,   r: 'devel', rspm: "https://packagemanager.rstudio.com/cran/__linux__/jammy/latest"}
+          - {os: ubuntu-22.04,   r: 'oldrel', rspm: "https://packagemanager.rstudio.com/cran/__linux__/jammy/latest"}
 
     env:
       R_REMOTES_NO_ERRORS_FROM_WARNINGS: true
       _R_CHECK_SYSTEM_CLOCK_: false
       RSPM: ${{ matrix.config.rspm }}
       GITHUB_PAT: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-      ORCID_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ORCID_TOKEN }}
 
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
-      - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r@master
+      - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2
         with:
           r-version: ${{ matrix.config.r }}
+          extra-repositories: https://inbo.r-universe.dev
 
-      - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-pandoc@master
+      - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-pandoc@v2
 
-      - name: Query dependencies
-        run: |
-          install.packages('remotes')
-          saveRDS(remotes::dev_package_deps(dependencies = TRUE), ".github/depends.Rds", version = 2)
-          writeLines(sprintf("R-%i.%i", getRversion()$major, getRversion()$minor), ".github/R-version")
-        shell: Rscript {0}
-
-      - name: Cache R packages
-        if: runner.os != 'Windows'
-        uses: actions/cache@v1
+      - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2
         with:
-          path: ${{ env.R_LIBS_USER }}
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('.github/R-version') }}-1-${{ hashFiles('.github/depends.Rds') }}
-          restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('.github/R-version') }}-1-
-
-      - name: Install system dependencies
-        if: runner.os == 'Linux'
-        env:
-          RHUB_PLATFORM: linux-x86_64-ubuntu-gcc
-        run: |
-          Rscript -e "remotes::install_github('r-hub/sysreqs')"
-          sysreqs=$(Rscript -e "cat(sysreqs::sysreq_commands('DESCRIPTION'))")
-          sudo -s eval "$sysreqs"
-          sudo apt-get install -y libcurl4-openssl-dev
-
-      - name: Install dependencies
-        run: |
-          remotes::install_deps(dependencies = TRUE)
-          remotes::install_cran("rcmdcheck")
-        shell: Rscript {0}
-
-      - name: Session info
-        run: |
-          options(width = 100)
-          pkgs <- installed.packages()[, "Package"]
-          sessioninfo::session_info(pkgs, include_base = TRUE)
-        shell: Rscript {0}
-
-      - name: Check
-        env:
-          _R_CHECK_CRAN_INCOMING_: false
-        run: rcmdcheck::rcmdcheck(args = c("--no-manual", "--as-cran"), error_on = "error", check_dir = "check")
-        shell: Rscript {0}
-
-      - name: Show testthat output
-        if: always()
-        run: find check -name 'testthat.Rout*' -exec cat '{}' \; || true
-        shell: bash
+          extra-packages: any::rcmdcheck
+          needs: check
 
-      - name: Upload check results
-        if: failure()
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@master
+      - uses: r-lib/actions/check-r-package@v2
         with:
-          name: ${{ runner.os }}-r${{ matrix.config.r }}-results
-          path: check
-          retention-days: 5
+          error-on: '"error"'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check_on_main.yml b/.github/workflows/check_on_main.yml
index 7a18341..65ca960 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check_on_main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check_on_main.yml
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ on:
     branches:
       - main
       - master
-  schedule:
-    - cron: '6 0 15 * *'
+permissions:
+  contents: write
 
-name: "check package on main"
+name: "check package on main with checklist"
 
 jobs:
   check-package:
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@ jobs:
     name: "check package"
     env:
       CODECOV_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}
-      ORCID_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ORCID_TOKEN }}
+      GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
     steps:
-      - uses: inbo/actions/check_pkg@master
-        with:
-          token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
+      - uses: inbo/actions/check_pkg@checklist-0.4.1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index c44a760..9b10b9f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,30 +1,30 @@
+name: Releases
+
 on:
   push:
     tags:
-      - 'v*'
-
-name: Create Release
+      - v*
+  workflow_run:
+    workflows: ["check package on main with checklist"]
+    types:
+      - completed
 
 jobs:
-  build:
-    name: Create Release
+  publish:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v2
-      - name: Get tag message
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - name: Get tag
         run: |
-          TAG_BODY=$(git tag --contains ${{ github.sha }} -n100 | awk '(NR>1)')
-          echo "::set-output name=TAG_BODY::$TAG_BODY"
-        id: tag-body
-      - name: Create Release
-        id: create_release
-        uses: actions/create-release@v1
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          git fetch --tags --force
+          TAG=$(git tag --contains $(git rev-parse HEAD))
+          TAG_BODY=$(git tag --contains $(git rev-parse HEAD) --format='%(contents)')
+          echo "tag=$TAG" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "$TAG_BODY" > body.md
+      - uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1
         with:
-          tag_name: ${{ github.ref }}
-          release_name: Release ${{ github.ref }}
-          body: ${{ steps.tag-body.outputs.TAG_BODY }}
-          draft: false
-          prerelease: false
+          name: Release ${{ env.tag }}
+          tag: ${{ env.tag }}
+          bodyFile: body.md
diff --git a/.github/workflows/rhub.yaml b/.github/workflows/rhub.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74ec7b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/rhub.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+# R-hub's generic GitHub Actions workflow file. It's canonical location is at
+# https://github.com/r-hub/actions/blob/v1/workflows/rhub.yaml
+# You can update this file to a newer version using the rhub2 package:
+#
+# rhub::rhub_setup()
+#
+# It is unlikely that you need to modify this file manually.
+
+name: R-hub
+run-name: "${{ github.event.inputs.id }}: ${{ github.event.inputs.name || format('Manually run by {0}', github.triggering_actor) }}"
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      config:
+        description: 'A comma separated list of R-hub platforms to use.'
+        type: string
+        default: 'linux,windows,macos'
+      name:
+        description: 'Run name. You can leave this empty now.'
+        type: string
+      id:
+        description: 'Unique ID. You can leave this empty now.'
+        type: string
+
+jobs:
+
+  setup:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      containers: ${{ steps.rhub-setup.outputs.containers }}
+      platforms: ${{ steps.rhub-setup.outputs.platforms }}
+
+    steps:
+    # NO NEED TO CHECKOUT HERE
+    - uses: r-hub/actions/setup@v1
+      with:
+        config: ${{ github.event.inputs.config }}
+      id: rhub-setup
+
+  linux-containers:
+    needs: setup
+    if: ${{ needs.setup.outputs.containers != '[]' }}
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: ${{ matrix.config.label }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        config: ${{ fromJson(needs.setup.outputs.containers) }}
+    container:
+      image: ${{ matrix.config.container }}
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: r-hub/actions/checkout@v1
+      - uses: r-hub/actions/platform-info@v1
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.RHUB_TOKEN }}
+          job-config: ${{ matrix.config.job-config }}
+      - uses: r-hub/actions/setup-deps@v1
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.RHUB_TOKEN }}
+          job-config: ${{ matrix.config.job-config }}
+      - uses: r-hub/actions/run-check@v1
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.RHUB_TOKEN }}
+          job-config: ${{ matrix.config.job-config }}
+
+  other-platforms:
+    needs: setup
+    if: ${{ needs.setup.outputs.platforms != '[]' }}
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.config.os }}
+    name: ${{ matrix.config.label }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        config: ${{ fromJson(needs.setup.outputs.platforms) }}
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: r-hub/actions/checkout@v1
+      - uses: r-hub/actions/setup-r@v1
+        with:
+          job-config: ${{ matrix.config.job-config }}
+          token: ${{ secrets.RHUB_TOKEN }}
+      - uses: r-hub/actions/platform-info@v1
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.RHUB_TOKEN }}
+          job-config: ${{ matrix.config.job-config }}
+      - uses: r-hub/actions/setup-deps@v1
+        with:
+          job-config: ${{ matrix.config.job-config }}
+          token: ${{ secrets.RHUB_TOKEN }}
+      - uses: r-hub/actions/run-check@v1
+        with:
+          job-config: ${{ matrix.config.job-config }}
+          token: ${{ secrets.RHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fa45244..acbf486 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,10 +1,25 @@
-.httr-oauth
+*.dbf
+*.doc*
+*.gddoc
+*.gdsheet
+*.gpkg
+*.html
+*.mdb
+*.shp*
+*.shx
+*.xls*
+*_files
+.DS_Store
 .RData
+.Renviron
 .Rhistory
 .Rproj.user
 .Ruserdata
-*.html
+.httr-oauth
+Meta
 doc
 docs
 inst/doc
-Meta
+libs
+output
+renv/library
diff --git a/.zenodo.json b/.zenodo.json
index 0dc7496..9191de3 100644
--- a/.zenodo.json
+++ b/.zenodo.json
@@ -1,47 +1,56 @@
 {
   "title": "git2rdata: Store and Retrieve Data.frames in a Git Repository",
-  "version": "0.4.0",
-  "description": "The git2rdata package is an R package for writing and reading dataframes as plain text files. A metadata file stores important information. 1) Storing metadata allows to maintain the classes of variables. By default, git2rdata optimizes the data for file storage. The optimization is most effective on data containing factors. The optimization makes the data less human readable. The user can turn this off when they prefer a human readable format over smaller files. Details on the implementation are available in vignette(\"plain_text\", package = \"git2rdata\"). 2) Storing metadata also allows smaller row based diffs between two consecutive commits. This is a useful feature when storing data as plain text files under version control. Details on this part of the implementation are available in vignette(\"version_control\", package = \"git2rdata\"). Although we envisioned git2rdata with a git workflow in mind, you can use it in combination with other version control systems like subversion or mercurial. 3) git2rdata is a useful tool in a reproducible and traceable workflow. vignette(\"workflow\", package = \"git2rdata\") gives a toy example. 4) vignette(\"efficiency\", package = \"git2rdata\") provides some insight into the efficiency of file storage, git repository size and speed for writing and reading.",
-  "creators": [
-    {
-      "name": "Onkelinx, Thierry",
-      "orcid": "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8804-4216"
-    }
-  ],
-  "upload_type": "software",
-  "access_right": "open",
+  "version": "0.4.1",
   "license": "GPL-3.0",
-  "communities": [
-    {
-      "identifier": "inbo"
-    }
+  "upload_type": "software",
+  "description": "<p>The git2rdata package is an R package for writing and reading dataframes as plain text files. A metadata file stores important information. 1) Storing metadata allows to maintain the classes of variables. By default, git2rdata optimizes the data for file storage. The optimization is most effective on data containing factors. The optimization makes the data less human readable. The user can turn this off when they prefer a human readable format over smaller files. Details on the implementation are available in vignette(“plain_text”, package = “git2rdata”). 2) Storing metadata also allows smaller row based diffs between two consecutive commits. This is a useful feature when storing data as plain text files under version control. Details on this part of the implementation are available in vignette(“version_control”, package = “git2rdata”). Although we envisioned git2rdata with a git workflow in mind, you can use it in combination with other version control systems like subversion or mercurial. 3) git2rdata is a useful tool in a reproducible and traceable workflow. vignette(“workflow”, package = “git2rdata”) gives a toy example. 4) vignette(“efficiency”, package = “git2rdata”) provides some insight into the efficiency of file storage, git repository size and speed for writing and reading.<\/p>",
+  "keywords": [
+    "git",
+    "version control",
+    "plain text data"
   ],
+  "access_right": "open",
+  "language": "eng",
   "contributors": [
+    {
+      "name": "Onkelinx, Thierry",
+      "affiliation": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
+      "orcid": "0000-0001-8804-4216",
+      "type": "contactperson"
+    },
     {
       "name": "Vanderhaeghe, Floris",
-      "type": "ProjectMember",
-      "orcid": "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6378-6229"
+      "affiliation": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
+      "orcid": "0000-0002-6378-6229",
+      "type": "projectmember"
     },
     {
       "name": "Desmet, Peter",
-      "type": "ProjectMember",
-      "orcid": "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8442-8025"
+      "affiliation": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
+      "orcid": "0000-0002-8442-8025",
+      "type": "projectmember"
     },
     {
       "name": "Lommelen, Els",
-      "type": "ProjectMember",
-      "orcid": "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3481-5684"
+      "affiliation": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
+      "orcid": "0000-0002-3481-5684",
+      "type": "projectmember"
     },
     {
-      "name": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest",
-      "type": "RightsHolder"
-    },
+      "name": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
+      "type": "rightsholder"
+    }
+  ],
+  "creators": [
     {
       "name": "Onkelinx, Thierry",
-      "type": "ContactPerson",
-      "orcid": "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8804-4216"
+      "affiliation": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
+      "orcid": "0000-0001-8804-4216"
     }
   ],
-  "language": "eng",
-  "keywords": ["R package", "reproducible research", "version control"]
+  "communities": [
+    {
+      "identifier": "inbo"
+    }
+  ]
 }
diff --git a/CITATION.cff b/CITATION.cff
index 8256b9a..9afa3b0 100644
--- a/CITATION.cff
+++ b/CITATION.cff
@@ -1,40 +1,43 @@
 cff-version: 1.2.0
-message: If you use this software, please cite it as below.
+message: If you use this software, please cite it using these metadata.
+title: "git2rdata: Store and Retrieve Data.frames in a Git Repository"
 authors:
-- family-names: Onkelinx
-  given-names: Thierry
-  orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8804-4216
+- given-names: Thierry
+  family-names: Onkelinx
+  affiliation: Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
+  orcid: 0000-0001-8804-4216
+keywords:
+- git
+- version control
+- plain text data
 contact:
-- email: thierry.onkelinx@inbo.be
+- given-names: Thierry
   family-names: Onkelinx
-  given-names: Thierry
-- email: info@inbo.be
-  name: Research Institute for Nature and Forest
-title: 'git2rdata: Store and Retrieve Data.frames in a Git Repository'
-version: 0.4.0
-abstract: The git2rdata package is an R package for writing and reading dataframes
+  affiliation: Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
+  orcid: 0000-0001-8804-4216
+doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1485309
+license: GPL-3.0
+repository-code: https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/
+type: software
+abstract: "The git2rdata package is an R package for writing and reading dataframes
   as plain text files. A metadata file stores important information. 1) Storing metadata
   allows to maintain the classes of variables. By default, git2rdata optimizes the
   data for file storage. The optimization is most effective on data containing factors.
   The optimization makes the data less human readable. The user can turn this off
   when they prefer a human readable format over smaller files. Details on the implementation
-  are available in vignette("plain_text", package = "git2rdata"). 2) Storing metadata
+  are available in vignette(\"plaintext\", package = \"git2rdata\"). 2) Storing metadata
   also allows smaller row based diffs between two consecutive commits. This is a useful
   feature when storing data as plain text files under version control. Details on
-  this part of the implementation are available in vignette("version_control", package
-  = "git2rdata"). Although we envisioned git2rdata with a git workflow in mind, you
-  can use it in combination with other version control systems like subversion or
-  mercurial. 3) git2rdata is a useful tool in a reproducible and traceable workflow.
-  vignette("workflow", package = "git2rdata") gives a toy example. 4) vignette("efficiency",
-  package = "git2rdata") provides some insight into the efficiency of file storage,
-  git repository size and speed for writing and reading.
-license: GPL-3.0
-type: software
-repository-code: https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/
+  this part of the implementation are available in vignette(\"versioncontrol\", package
+  = \"git2rdata\"). Although we envisioned git2rdata with a git workflow in mind,
+  you can use it in combination with other version control systems like subversion
+  or mercurial. 3) git2rdata is a useful tool in a reproducible and traceable workflow.
+  vignette(\"workflow\", package = \"git2rdata\") gives a toy example. 4) vignette(\"efficiency\",
+  package = \"git2rdata\") provides some insight into the efficiency of file storage,
+  git repository size and speed for writing and reading."
 identifiers:
+- type: doi
+  value: 10.5281/zenodo.1485309
 - type: url
   value: https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata/
-keywords:
-- R package
-- reproducible research
-- version control
+version: 0.4.1
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index a2fbc82..50f863d 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 Package: git2rdata
 Title: Store and Retrieve Data.frames in a Git Repository
-Version: 0.4.0
+Version: 0.4.1
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Thierry", "Onkelinx", , "thierry.onkelinx@inbo.be", role = c("aut", "cre"),
-           comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0001-8804-4216")),
+           comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0001-8804-4216", affiliation = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)")),
     person("Floris", "Vanderhaeghe", , "floris.vanderhaeghe@inbo.be", role = "ctb",
-           comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-6378-6229")),
+           comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-6378-6229", affiliation = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)")),
     person("Peter", "Desmet", , "peter.desmet@inbo.be", role = "ctb",
-           comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-8442-8025")),
+           comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-8442-8025", affiliation = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)")),
     person("Els", "Lommelen", , "els.lommelen@inbo.be", role = "ctb",
-           comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-3481-5684")),
-    person("Research Institute for Nature and Forest", , , "info@inbo.be", role = c("cph", "fnd"))
+           comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-3481-5684", affiliation = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)")),
+    person("Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)", , , "info@inbo.be", role = c("cph", "fnd"))
   )
 Description: The git2rdata package is an R package for writing and reading
     dataframes as plain text files.  A metadata file stores important
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ Description: The git2rdata package is an R package for writing and reading
     repository size and speed for writing and reading.
 License: GPL-3
 URL: https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata/,
-    https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/
+    https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/,
+    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1485309
 BugReports: https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/issues
 Depends: 
     R (>= 3.5.0)
@@ -48,29 +49,33 @@ Suggests:
     knitr,
     microbenchmark,
     rmarkdown,
-    spelling,
     testthat
 VignetteBuilder: 
     knitr
+Config/checklist/communities: inbo
+Config/checklist/keywords: git; version control; plain text data
 Encoding: UTF-8
-Language: eng
+Language: en-GB
 Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
-RoxygenNote: 7.1.2
+RoxygenNote: 7.3.2
 Collate:
     'clean_data_path.R'
     'datahash.R'
+    'display_metadata.R'
     'git2rdata_package.R'
     'write_vc.R'
     'is_git2rdata.R'
     'is_git2rmeta.R'
     'list_data.R'
     'meta.R'
+    'print.R'
     'prune.R'
     'read_vc.R'
     'recent_commit.R'
     'reexport.R'
     'relabel.R'
     'rename_variable.R'
+    'update_metadata.R'
     'upgrade_data.R'
     'utils.R'
     'verify_vc.R'
diff --git a/LICENSE.md b/LICENSE.md
index 2fb2e74..379c1b2 100644
--- a/LICENSE.md
+++ b/LICENSE.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-### GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
+# GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
 
 Version 3, 29 June 2007
 
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 9e7634f..7371ab5 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ S3method(meta,factor)
 S3method(meta,integer)
 S3method(meta,logical)
 S3method(meta,numeric)
+S3method(print,git2rdata)
 S3method(print,meta_detail)
 S3method(print,meta_list)
 S3method(prune_meta,character)
@@ -39,6 +40,10 @@ S3method(rename_variable,git_repository)
 S3method(rm_data,character)
 S3method(rm_data,default)
 S3method(rm_data,git_repository)
+S3method(summary,git2rdata)
+S3method(update_metadata,character)
+S3method(update_metadata,default)
+S3method(update_metadata,git_repository)
 S3method(upgrade_data,character)
 S3method(upgrade_data,default)
 S3method(upgrade_data,git_repository)
@@ -46,6 +51,7 @@ S3method(write_vc,character)
 S3method(write_vc,default)
 S3method(write_vc,git_repository)
 export(commit)
+export(display_metadata)
 export(is_git2rdata)
 export(is_git2rmeta)
 export(list_data)
@@ -60,11 +66,13 @@ export(rename_variable)
 export(repository)
 export(rm_data)
 export(status)
+export(update_metadata)
 export(upgrade_data)
 export(verify_vc)
 export(write_vc)
 importFrom(assertthat,"on_failure<-")
 importFrom(assertthat,assert_that)
+importFrom(assertthat,has_attr)
 importFrom(assertthat,has_name)
 importFrom(assertthat,is.flag)
 importFrom(assertthat,is.string)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 1b49361..f8a08c0 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+# git2rdata 0.4.1
+
+* Add `update_metadata()` to update the description of a `git2rdata` object.
+  See `vignette("metadata")` for more details.
+* Update the checklist and pkgdown infrastructure.
+
 # git2rdata 0.4.0
 
 ## New features
diff --git a/R/clean_data_path.R b/R/clean_data_path.R
index 2a5ea67..7931a4e 100644
--- a/R/clean_data_path.R
+++ b/R/clean_data_path.R
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #' file extensions
 #' @inheritParams write_vc
 #' @param normalize Normalize the path? Defaults to TRUE
-#' @return A named vector with "raw_file" and "meta_file", refering to the
+#' @return A named vector with "raw_file" and "meta_file", referring to the
 #' `".tsv"` and `".yml"` files.
 #' @noRd
 #' @family internal
diff --git a/R/display_metadata.R b/R/display_metadata.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..445026a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/display_metadata.R
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#' Display metadata for a `git2rdata` object
+#' @param x a `git2rdata` object
+#' @param minimal logical, if `TRUE` only a message is displayed
+#' @family storage
+#' @export
+#' @importFrom assertthat has_attr
+display_metadata <- function(x, minimal = FALSE) {
+  stopifnot("`x` is not a `git2rdata` object" = inherits(x, "git2rdata"))
+  assert_that(is.flag(minimal), noNA(minimal))
+  if (minimal) {
+    cat("\nUse `display_metadata()` to view the metadata.")
+    return(invisible(NULL))
+  }
+  display_element_description(x, "table name", "Table name")
+  display_element_description(x, "title", "Title")
+  display_element_description(x, "description", "Description")
+  display_element_description(x, "source", "Path")
+  display_element_description(x, "sorting", "Sorting order")
+  display_element_description(x, "optimize", "Optimized storage")
+  cat("Variables:\n")
+  vapply(colnames(x), display_colname_description, character(1), x = x) |>
+    cat(sep = "")
+  return(invisible(NULL))
+}
+
+#' @importFrom assertthat has_attr is.string noNA
+display_element_description <- function(x, element, text) {
+  assert_that(is.string(element), is.string(text), noNA(element), noNA(text))
+  value <- "NA"
+  if (has_attr(x, element)) {
+    value <- attr(x, element)
+  }
+  if (length(names(value))) {
+    value <- sprintf("%s (%s)", value, names(value))
+  }
+  sprintf("%s: %s\n", text, paste(value, collapse = ", ")) |>
+    cat()
+}
+
+#' @importFrom assertthat has_attr is.string noNA
+display_colname_description <- function(x, colname) {
+  assert_that(is.string(colname), noNA(colname))
+  value <- "NA"
+  if (has_attr(x[[colname]], "description")) {
+    value <- attr(x[[colname]], "description")
+  }
+  sprintf("  - %s: %s\n", colname, value)
+}
diff --git a/R/meta.R b/R/meta.R
index 72993f6..22483df 100644
--- a/R/meta.R
+++ b/R/meta.R
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ Please use a different NA string or consider using a factor.", call. = FALSE)
   to_escape <- grepl(ifelse(optimize, "(\"|\t|\n)", "(\"|,|\n)"), x)
   x[to_escape] <- paste0("\"", x[to_escape], "\"")
   x[is.na(x)] <- na
-  m <- list(class = "character", na_string = na)
+  list(class = "character", na_string = na) -> m
   class(m) <- "meta_detail"
   attr(x, "meta") <- m
   return(x)
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ Please use a different NA string or consider using a factor.", call. = FALSE)
 
 #' @export
 meta.integer <- function(x, ...) {
-  m <- list(class = "integer")
+  list(class = "integer") -> m
   class(m) <- "meta_detail"
   attr(x, "meta") <- m
   return(x)
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ meta.integer <- function(x, ...) {
 
 #' @export
 meta.numeric <- function(x, ...) {
-  m <- list(class = "numeric")
+  list(class = "numeric") -> m
   class(m) <- "meta_detail"
   attr(x, "meta") <- m
   return(x)
@@ -131,9 +131,10 @@ Please use a different NA string or use optimize = TRUE")
     z <- meta(as.character(x), optimize = optimize, na = na, ...)
   }
 
-  m <- list(class = "factor", na_string = na, optimize = optimize,
-            labels = names(index), index = unname(index),
-            ordered = is.ordered(x))
+  list(
+    class = "factor", na_string = na, optimize = optimize,
+    labels = names(index), index = unname(index), ordered = is.ordered(x)
+  ) -> m
   class(m) <- "meta_detail"
   attr(z, "meta") <- m
   return(z)
@@ -147,7 +148,7 @@ meta.logical <- function(x, optimize = TRUE, ...) {
   if (optimize) {
     x <- as.integer(x)
   }
-  m <- list(class = "logical", optimize = optimize)
+  list(class = "logical", optimize = optimize) -> m
   class(m) <- "meta_detail"
   attr(x, "meta") <- m
   return(x)
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ meta.logical <- function(x, optimize = TRUE, ...) {
 
 #' @export
 meta.complex <- function(x, ...) {
-  m <- list(class = "complex")
+  list(class = "complex") -> m
   class(m) <- "meta_detail"
   attr(x, "meta") <- m
   return(x)
@@ -168,12 +169,16 @@ meta.POSIXct <- function(x, optimize = TRUE, ...) {
   assert_that(is.flag(optimize), noNA(optimize))
   if (optimize) {
     z <- unclass(x)
-    m <- list(class = "POSIXct", optimize = TRUE,
-              origin = "1970-01-01 00:00:00", timezone = "UTC")
+    list(
+      class = "POSIXct", optimize = TRUE, origin = "1970-01-01 00:00:00",
+      timezone = "UTC"
+    ) -> m
   } else {
     z <- format(x, format = "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ", tz = "UTC")
-    m <- list(class = "POSIXct", optimize = FALSE,
-              format = "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ", timezone = "UTC")
+    list(
+      class = "POSIXct", optimize = FALSE, format = "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ",
+      timezone = "UTC"
+    ) -> m
   }
   class(m) <- "meta_detail"
   attr(z, "meta") <- m
@@ -187,10 +192,10 @@ meta.Date <- function(x, optimize = TRUE, ...) {
   assert_that(is.flag(optimize), noNA(optimize))
   if (optimize) {
     z <- as.integer(x)
-    m <- list(class = "Date", optimize = TRUE, origin = "1970-01-01")
+    list(class = "Date", optimize = TRUE, origin = "1970-01-01") -> m
   } else {
     z <- format(x, format = "%Y-%m-%d")
-    m <- list(class = "Date", optimize = FALSE, format = "%Y-%m-%d")
+    list(class = "Date", optimize = FALSE, format = "%Y-%m-%d") -> m
   }
   class(m) <- "meta_detail"
   attr(z, "meta") <- m
@@ -206,7 +211,7 @@ meta.Date <- function(x, optimize = TRUE, ...) {
 #' plus an additional `..generic` element. `..generic` is a reserved name for
 #' the metadata and not allowed as column name in a `data.frame`.
 #'
-#' \code{\link{write_vc}} uses this function to prepare a dataframe for storage.
+#' `write_vc()` uses this function to prepare a dataframe for storage.
 #' Existing metadata is passed through the optional `old` argument. This
 #' argument intended for internal use.
 #' @rdname meta
@@ -267,7 +272,16 @@ Add extra sorting variables to ensure small diffs.", sorted)
     generic <- c(generic, split_by = list(split_by))
   }
   # calculate meta for each column
-  if (has_name(dots, "old")) {
+  if (!has_name(dots, "old")) {
+    z <- lapply(
+      colnames(x),
+      function(id, optimize, na) {
+        meta(x[[id]], optimize = optimize, na = na)
+      },
+      optimize = optimize, na = na
+    )
+    names(z) <- colnames(x)
+  } else {
     common <- names(old)[names(old) %in% colnames(x)]
     if (length(common)) {
       z_common <- lapply(
@@ -280,8 +294,7 @@ Add extra sorting variables to ensure small diffs.", sorted)
           )
         },
         optimize = old[["..generic"]][["optimize"]],
-        na = old[["..generic"]][["NA string"]],
-        strict = strict
+        na = old[["..generic"]][["NA string"]], strict = strict
       )
       names(z_common) <- common
     } else {
@@ -289,13 +302,18 @@ Add extra sorting variables to ensure small diffs.", sorted)
     }
     new <- colnames(x)[!colnames(x) %in% names(old)]
     if (length(new)) {
-      z_new <- lapply(x[new], meta, optimize = optimize, na = na)
+      z_new <- lapply(
+        new,
+        function(id, optimize, na) {
+          meta(x[[id]], optimize = optimize, na = na)
+        },
+        optimize = optimize, na = na
+      )
+      names(z_new) <- new
     } else {
       z_new <- list()
     }
     z <- c(z_common, z_new)
-  } else {
-    z <- lapply(x, meta, optimize = optimize, na = na)
   }
 
   # compose generic metadata list
diff --git a/R/print.R b/R/print.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a3871e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/print.R
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#' Print method for `git2rdata` objects.
+#'
+#' Prints the data and the description of the columns when available.
+#' @param x a `git2rdata` object
+#' @param ... additional arguments passed to `print`
+#' @family internal
+#' @export
+print.git2rdata <- function(x, ...) {
+  print.data.frame(x, ...)
+  display_metadata(x, minimal = TRUE)
+  return(invisible(NULL))
+}
+
+#' Summary method for `git2rdata` objects.
+#'
+#' Prints the summary of the data and the description of the columns when
+#' available.
+#' @param object a `git2rdata` object
+#' @param ... additional arguments passed to `summary`
+#' @family internal
+#' @export
+summary.git2rdata <- function(object, ...) {
+  summary.data.frame(object, ...) |>
+    print()
+  display_metadata(object, minimal = TRUE)
+  return(invisible(NULL))
+}
diff --git a/R/read_vc.R b/R/read_vc.R
index 5cabdae..2c57d41 100644
--- a/R/read_vc.R
+++ b/R/read_vc.R
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 #'
 #' @inheritParams write_vc
 #' @return The `data.frame` with the file names and hashes as attributes.
+#' It has the additional class `"git2rdata"` to support extra methods to
+#' display the descriptions.
 #' @rdname read_vc
 #' @export
 #' @family storage
@@ -127,12 +129,40 @@ read_vc.character <- function(file, root = ".") {
     details = details, optimize = optimize
   )
 
-  names(file) <-
-    c(
+  names(file) <- c(
       meta_data[["..generic"]][["data_hash"]],
       meta_data[["..generic"]][["hash"]]
     )
   attr(raw_data, "source") <- file
+
+  has_description <- vapply(
+    details, FUN.VALUE = logical(1),
+    FUN = function(x) {
+      "description" %in% names(x)
+    }
+  )
+  has_description <- names(has_description)[has_description]
+  for (desc in has_description) {
+    attr(raw_data[[desc]], "description") <- details[[desc]]$description
+  }
+
+  if (has_name(meta_data[["..generic"]], "name")) {
+    attr(raw_data, "table name") <- meta_data[["..generic"]][["name"]]
+  }
+
+  if (has_name(meta_data[["..generic"]], "title")) {
+    attr(raw_data, "title") <- meta_data[["..generic"]][["title"]]
+  }
+
+  if (has_name(meta_data[["..generic"]], "description")) {
+    attr(raw_data, "description") <- meta_data[["..generic"]][["description"]]
+  }
+
+  attr(raw_data, "optimize") <- meta_data[["..generic"]][["optimize"]]
+  attr(raw_data, "sorting") <- meta_data[["..generic"]][["sorting"]]
+
+  class(raw_data) <- c("git2rdata", class(raw_data))
+
   return(raw_data)
 }
 
diff --git a/R/update_metadata.R b/R/update_metadata.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f09b6bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/update_metadata.R
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+#' Update the description of a `git2rdata` object
+#'
+#' Allows to update the description of the fields, the table name, the title,
+#' and the description of a `git2rdata` object.
+#' All arguments are optional.
+#' Setting an argument to `NA` or an empty string will remove the corresponding
+#' field from the metadata.
+#'
+#' @inheritParams is_git2rmeta
+#' @param field_description a named character vector with the new descriptions
+#' for the fields.
+#' The names of the vector must match the variable names.
+#' @param name a character string with the new table name of the object.
+#' @param title a character string with the new title of the object.
+#' @param description a character string with the new description of the object.
+#' @family storage
+#' @export
+#' @importFrom assertthat assert_that has_name
+update_metadata <- function(
+  file, root = ".", field_description, name, title, description
+) {
+  UseMethod("update_metadata", root)
+}
+
+#' @export
+update_metadata.default <- function(
+  file, root = ".", field_description, name, title, description
+) {
+  stop("a 'root' of class ", class(root), " is not supported", call. = FALSE)
+}
+
+#' @export
+update_metadata.git_repository <- function(
+    file, root = ".", field_description, name, title, description
+) {
+  update_metadata(
+    file = file, root = workdir(root), name = name, title = title,
+    description = description, field_description = field_description
+  )
+}
+
+#' @export
+update_metadata.character <- function(
+  file, root = ".", field_description, name, title, description
+) {
+  root <- normalizePath(root, winslash = "/", mustWork = TRUE)
+  file <- clean_data_path(root = root, file = file)
+  is_git2rmeta(
+    file = remove_root(file = file["meta_file"], root = root), root = root,
+    message = "error"
+  )
+  old <- read_yaml(file["meta_file"])
+  class(old) <- "meta_list"
+  if (!missing(field_description)) {
+    assert_that(
+      is.character(field_description), length(field_description) > 0,
+      !has_name(field_description, "..generic")
+    )
+    stopifnot(
+      "names in `field_description` don't match variable names" =
+        all(names(field_description) %in% names(old))
+    )
+    for (field_name in names(field_description)) {
+      old[[field_name]][["description"]] <- update_or_drop(
+        field_description[[field_name]]
+      )
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (!missing(name)) {
+    old[["..generic"]][["name"]] <- update_or_drop(name)
+  }
+
+  if (!missing(title)) {
+    old[["..generic"]][["title"]] <- update_or_drop(title)
+  }
+
+  if (!missing(description)) {
+    old[["..generic"]][["description"]] <- update_or_drop(description)
+  }
+
+  packageVersion("git2rdata") |>
+    as.character() -> old[["..generic"]][["git2rdata"]]
+  metadata_hash(old) -> old[["..generic"]][["hash"]]
+  write_yaml(old, file["meta_file"])
+  return(invisible(NULL))
+}
+
+#' @importFrom assertthat assert_that is.string
+update_or_drop <- function(x) {
+  assert_that(is.string(x))
+  if (is.na(x) || x == "") {
+    return(NULL)
+  } else {
+    return(x)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index 3c139c2..a6d4744 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -1,11 +1,3 @@
-# function used by devtools::release()
-# gramr is avaible from https://github.com/ropenscilabs/gramr
-release_questions <- function() { # nocov start
-  c(
-    "Did you ran `gramr::check_project(exclude_chunks = TRUE)`"
-  )
-} # nocov end
-
 #' @noRd
 #' @importFrom utils flush.console
 #' @importFrom assertthat assert_that is.flag noNA
diff --git a/R/write_vc.R b/R/write_vc.R
index c1bfd21..50715ec 100644
--- a/R/write_vc.R
+++ b/R/write_vc.R
@@ -85,8 +85,10 @@ write_vc.character <- function(
     )
     old <- read_yaml(file["meta_file"])
     class(old) <- "meta_list"
-    raw_data <- meta(x, optimize = optimize, na = na, sorting = sorting,
-                     old = old, strict = strict, split_by = split_by)
+    raw_data <- meta(
+      x, optimize = optimize, na = na, sorting = sorting, old = old,
+      strict = strict, split_by = split_by
+    )
     problems <- compare_meta(attr(raw_data, "meta"), old)
     if (length(problems)) {
       problems <- c(
@@ -161,8 +163,7 @@ write_vc.character <- function(
     packageVersion("git2rdata")
   )
   meta_data[["..generic"]][["data_hash"]] <- datahash(file["raw_file"])
-  write_yaml(meta_data, file["meta_file"],
-             fileEncoding = "UTF-8")
+  write_yaml(meta_data, file["meta_file"], fileEncoding = "UTF-8")
 
   hashes <- remove_root(file = file, root = root)
   names(hashes) <-
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index afbd027..500c969 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 [![CRAN status](https://www.r-pkg.org/badges/version/git2rdata)](https://cran.r-project.org/package=git2rdata)
 [![Project Status: Active – The project has reached a stable, usable state and is being actively developed.](https://www.repostatus.org/badges/latest/active.svg)](https://www.repostatus.org/#active)
 [![lifecycle](https://img.shields.io/badge/lifecycle-stable-green.svg)](https://lifecycle.r-lib.org/articles/stages.html#stable)
-[![](https://badges.ropensci.org/263_status.svg)](https://github.com/ropensci/software-review/issues/263)
+[![ROpenSci review](https://badges.ropensci.org/263_status.svg)](https://github.com/ropensci/software-review/issues/263)
 [![Licence](https://img.shields.io/badge/licence-GPL--3-blue.svg)](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html)
 [![minimal R version](https://img.shields.io/badge/R%3E%3D-3.5.0-6666ff.svg)](https://cran.r-project.org/)
 [![DOI](https://zenodo.org/badge/147685405.svg)](https://zenodo.org/badge/latestdoi/147685405)
@@ -56,9 +56,11 @@ See `vignette("workflow", package = "git2rdata")`.
 Use this to check whether an existing analysis is obsolete due to new data. 
 This allows to not rerun up to date analyses, saving resources.
 
-## Talk About `git2rdata` at useR!2019 in Toulouse, France
+## Talk About `git2rdata` at
+useR!2019<!-- spell-check: ignore -->
+in Toulouse, France
 
-<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/sbRPmakBFqo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
+<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/sbRPmakBFqo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><!-- spell-check: ignore -->
 
 ## Installation
 
diff --git a/_pkgdown.yml b/_pkgdown.yml
index 5f96500..ac7dff8 100644
--- a/_pkgdown.yml
+++ b/_pkgdown.yml
@@ -1,33 +1,39 @@
+url: https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata
+template:
+  bootstrap: 5
+  light-switch: false
 navbar:
   title: ~
   type: default
-  left:
-  - text: NEWS
-    href: news/index.html
-  - text: Tutorials
-    href: articles/index.html
-    menu:
-    - text: Getting started storing dataframes as plain text
-      href: articles/plain_text.html
-    - text: Storing dataframes under version control
-      href: articles/version_control.html
-    - text: Potential workflow
-      href: articles/workflow.html
-    - text: Efficiency
-      href: articles/efficiency.html
-    - text: Large dataframes
-      href: articles/split_by.html
-  - text: Functions
-    href: reference/index.html
-  - text: Contributing
-    href: CONTRIBUTING.html
-  right:
-  - icon: "fa fa-github"
-    href: https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata
-  - icon: "fa fa-twitter"
-    href: https://twitter.com/INBOVlaanderen
-  - icon: "fa fa-facebook"
-    href: https://www.facebook.com/pg/INBOVlaanderen
+  structure:
+    left:  [intro, reference, news, tutorials, contributing]
+    right: [search, github]
+  components:
+    tutorials:
+      text: Tutorials
+      href: articles/index.html
+      menu:
+      - text: Getting started storing dataframes as plain text
+        href: articles/plain_text.html
+      - text: Storing dataframes under version control
+        href: articles/version_control.html
+      - text: Metadata
+        href: articles/metadata.html
+      - text: Potential workflow
+        href: articles/workflow.html
+      - text: Efficiency
+        href: articles/efficiency.html
+      - text: Large dataframes
+        href: articles/split_by.html
+    contributing:
+      text: Contributing
+      href: CONTRIBUTING.html
+    twitter:
+      icon: "fa fa-twitter"
+      href: https://twitter.com/INBOVlaanderen
+    facebook:
+      icon: "fa fa-facebook"
+      href: https://www.facebook.com/pg/INBOVlaanderen
 
 reference:
 - title: Storage
@@ -43,6 +49,6 @@ reference:
 authors:
   Thierry Onkelinx:
     href: "https://www.muscardinus.be"
-  Research Institute for Nature and Forest:
+  Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO):
     href: "https://www.vlaanderen.be/inbo/en-gb"
-    html: "<img src='https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata/reference/figures/logo-en.png' height=24>"
+    html: "<img src='https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata/reference/figures/logo-en.png' height=24 alt='logo of the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)'>"
diff --git a/checklist.yml b/checklist.yml
index ba0a85a..8873b7b 100644
--- a/checklist.yml
+++ b/checklist.yml
@@ -3,10 +3,22 @@ package: yes
 allowed:
   warnings: []
   notes: []
-citation_roles:
-- aut
-- cre
-keywords:
-- R package
-- reproducible research
-- version control
+required:
+- CITATION
+- DESCRIPTION
+- R CMD check
+- checklist
+- codemeta
+- documentation
+- filename conventions
+- folder conventions
+- license
+- lintr
+- repository secret
+- spelling
+spelling:
+  default: en-GB
+  ignore:
+  - .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.md
+  - LICENSE.md
+  - cran-comments.md
diff --git a/codecov.yml b/codecov.yml
index 2938b0e..6c208bb 100644
--- a/codecov.yml
+++ b/codecov.yml
@@ -1,17 +1,17 @@
 comment: true
 
 coverage:
-  precision: 2
+  precision: 1
   round: down
   range: "70...100"
   status:
-    project:
+    patch:
       default:
         target: auto
-        threshold: 1%
+        threshold: 10%
         informational: true
-    patch:
+    project:
       default:
         target: auto
         threshold: 1%
-        informational: true
+        informational: false
diff --git a/codemeta.json b/codemeta.json
index e5d42f6..f611617 100644
--- a/codemeta.json
+++ b/codemeta.json
@@ -1,26 +1,20 @@
 {
-  "@context": [
-    "https://doi.org/10.5063/schema/codemeta-2.0",
-    "http://schema.org"
-  ],
+  "@context": "https://doi.org/10.5063/schema/codemeta-2.0",
   "@type": "SoftwareSourceCode",
   "identifier": "git2rdata",
-  "description": "Make versioning of data.frame easy and efficient using git\n    repositories.",
+  "description": "The git2rdata package is an R package for writing and reading dataframes as plain text files. A metadata file stores important information. 1) Storing metadata allows to maintain the classes of variables. By default, git2rdata optimizes the data for file storage. The optimization is most effective on data containing factors. The optimization makes the data less human readable. The user can turn this off when they prefer a human readable format over smaller files. Details on the implementation are available in vignette(\"plain_text\", package = \"git2rdata\"). 2) Storing metadata also allows smaller row based diffs between two consecutive commits. This is a useful feature when storing data as plain text files under version control. Details on this part of the implementation are available in vignette(\"version_control\", package = \"git2rdata\"). Although we envisioned git2rdata with a git workflow in mind, you can use it in combination with other version control systems like subversion or mercurial. 3) git2rdata is a useful tool in a reproducible and traceable workflow. vignette(\"workflow\", package = \"git2rdata\") gives a toy example. 4) vignette(\"efficiency\", package = \"git2rdata\") provides some insight into the efficiency of file storage, git repository size and speed for writing and reading.",
   "name": "git2rdata: Store and Retrieve Data.frames in a Git Repository",
-  "codeRepository": "https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata",
-  "relatedLink": [
-    "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1485309",
-    "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=git2rdata"
-  ],
+  "relatedLink": ["https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata/", "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1485309", "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=git2rdata"],
+  "codeRepository": "https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/",
   "issueTracker": "https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/issues",
   "license": "https://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-3.0",
-  "version": "0.3.0",
+  "version": "0.4.1",
   "programmingLanguage": {
     "@type": "ComputerLanguage",
     "name": "R",
     "url": "https://r-project.org"
   },
-  "runtimePlatform": "R version 4.0.2 (2020-06-22)",
+  "runtimePlatform": "R version 4.4.1 (2024-06-14)",
   "provider": {
     "@id": "https://cran.r-project.org",
     "@type": "Organization",
@@ -62,14 +56,14 @@
   "copyrightHolder": [
     {
       "@type": "Organization",
-      "name": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest",
+      "name": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
       "email": "info@inbo.be"
     }
   ],
   "funder": [
     {
       "@type": "Organization",
-      "name": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest",
+      "name": "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
       "email": "info@inbo.be"
     }
   ],
@@ -131,18 +125,6 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=rmarkdown"
     },
-    {
-      "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
-      "identifier": "spelling",
-      "name": "spelling",
-      "provider": {
-        "@id": "https://cran.r-project.org",
-        "@type": "Organization",
-        "name": "Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN)",
-        "url": "https://cran.r-project.org"
-      },
-      "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=spelling"
-    },
     {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "testthat",
@@ -156,14 +138,14 @@
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=testthat"
     }
   ],
-  "softwareRequirements": [
-    {
+  "softwareRequirements": {
+    "1": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "R",
       "name": "R",
       "version": ">= 3.5.0"
     },
-    {
+    "2": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "assertthat",
       "name": "assertthat",
@@ -175,7 +157,7 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=assertthat"
     },
-    {
+    "3": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "git2r",
       "name": "git2r",
@@ -188,12 +170,12 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=git2r"
     },
-    {
+    "4": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "methods",
       "name": "methods"
     },
-    {
+    "5": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "yaml",
       "name": "yaml",
@@ -204,23 +186,36 @@
         "url": "https://cran.r-project.org"
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=yaml"
+    },
+    "SystemRequirements": null
+  },
+  "fileSize": "757.058KB",
+  "citation": [
+    {
+      "@type": "SoftwareSourceCode",
+      "datePublished": "2024",
+      "author": {
+        "author": {
+          "@type": "Person",
+          "givenName": "Thierry",
+          "familyName": "Onkelinx"
+        }
+      },
+      "name": "git2rdata: Store and Retrieve Data.frames in a Git Repository. Version 0.4.1",
+      "identifier": "10.5281/zenodo.1485309",
+      "url": "https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata/",
+      "@id": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1485309",
+      "sameAs": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1485309"
     }
   ],
-  "fileSize": "762.31KB",
   "releaseNotes": "https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/blob/master/NEWS.md",
-  "readme": "https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/blob/master/README.md",
-  "contIntegration": "https://codecov.io/gh/ropensci/git2rdata",
-  "developmentStatus": ["https://www.repostatus.org/#active", "https://www.tidyverse.org/lifecycle/#maturing"],
+  "readme": "https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/blob/main/README.md",
+  "contIntegration": "https://app.codecov.io/gh/ropensci/git2rdata",
+  "developmentStatus": ["https://www.repostatus.org/#active", "https://lifecycle.r-lib.org/articles/stages.html#stable"],
   "review": {
     "@type": "Review",
     "url": "https://github.com/ropensci/software-review/issues/263",
     "provider": "https://ropensci.org"
   },
-  "keywords": [
-    "r",
-    "rstats",
-    "r-package",
-    "version-control",
-    "reproducible-research"
-  ]
+  "keywords": ["r", "rstats", "r-package", "version-control", "reproducible-research"]
 }
diff --git a/cran-comments.md b/cran-comments.md
index b0f7a17..6920180 100644
--- a/cran-comments.md
+++ b/cran-comments.md
@@ -1,28 +1,15 @@
 ## Test environments
 
 * local
-    * ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS, R 4.1.3
+    * ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS, R 4.4.1
 * github actions
     * macOS-latest, release
     * windows-latest, release
-    * ubuntu 20.04, devel
-    * ubuntu 20.04, oldrel
-    * checklist package: ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS, R 4.1.3
-* r-hub
-    * debian: clang-devel, gcc-devel, gcc-patched, gcc-release
-    * fedora: clang-devel, gcc-devel
-    * macos: highsierra-release-cran
-    * windows_x86_64: devel, oldrel, release
+    * ubuntu 22.04, devel
+    * ubuntu 22.04, oldrel
+    * checklist 0.4.1 on ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS, R 4.4.1
+        * https://inbo.r-universe.dev/checklist
 
 ## R CMD check results
 
 0 errors | 0 warnings | 0 note
-
-r-hub gave a false positive note
-
-Windows Server 2022, R-devel, 64 bit
-
-checking for detritus in the temp directory ... NOTE
-Found the following files/directories:
-  'lastMiKTeXException'
-  
diff --git a/inst/CITATION b/inst/CITATION
index ba849f4..03d5c32 100644
--- a/inst/CITATION
+++ b/inst/CITATION
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 citHeader("To cite `git2rdata` in publications please use:")
 # begin checklist entry
-citEntry(
-  entry = "Manual",
-  title = "git2rdata: Store and Retrieve Data.frames in a Git Repository. Version 0.4.0",
-  author = c(person(given = "Thierry", family = "Onkelinx")),
-  year = 2022,
+bibentry(
+  bibtype = "Manual",
+  title = "git2rdata: Store and Retrieve Data.frames in a Git Repository. Version 0.4.1",
+  author = c( author = c(person(given = "Thierry", family = "Onkelinx"))),
+  year = 2024,
   url = "https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata/",
   abstract = "The git2rdata package is an R package for writing and reading dataframes as plain text files. A metadata file stores important information. 1) Storing metadata allows to maintain the classes of variables. By default, git2rdata optimizes the data for file storage. The optimization is most effective on data containing factors. The optimization makes the data less human readable. The user can turn this off when they prefer a human readable format over smaller files. Details on the implementation are available in vignette(\"plain_text\", package = \"git2rdata\"). 2) Storing metadata also allows smaller row based diffs between two consecutive commits. This is a useful feature when storing data as plain text files under version control. Details on this part of the implementation are available in vignette(\"version_control\", package = \"git2rdata\"). Although we envisioned git2rdata with a git workflow in mind, you can use it in combination with other version control systems like subversion or mercurial. 3) git2rdata is a useful tool in a reproducible and traceable workflow. vignette(\"workflow\", package = \"git2rdata\") gives a toy example. 4) vignette(\"efficiency\", package = \"git2rdata\") provides some insight into the efficiency of file storage, git repository size and speed for writing and reading.",
-  textVersion = "Onkelinx, Thierry (2022) git2rdata: Store and Retrieve Data.frames in a Git Repository. Version 0.4.0. https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata/, https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/",
-  keywords = "R package, reproducible research, version control",
+  textVersion = "Onkelinx, Thierry (2024) git2rdata: Store and Retrieve Data.frames in a Git Repository. Version 0.4.1. https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata/",
+  keywords = "git; version control; plain text data",
+  doi = "10.5281/zenodo.1485309",
 )
 # end checklist entry
diff --git a/inst/en_gb.dic b/inst/en_gb.dic
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88339bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inst/en_gb.dic
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+Bitbucket
+Gitlab
+ROpenSci
+codecov
+kiB
+rOpenSci
+rdata
+regex
diff --git a/man/display_metadata.Rd b/man/display_metadata.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..732ba4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/display_metadata.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/display_metadata.R
+\name{display_metadata}
+\alias{display_metadata}
+\title{Display metadata for a \code{git2rdata} object}
+\usage{
+display_metadata(x, minimal = FALSE)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{x}{a \code{git2rdata} object}
+
+\item{minimal}{logical, if \code{TRUE} only a message is displayed}
+}
+\description{
+Display metadata for a \code{git2rdata} object
+}
+\seealso{
+Other storage: 
+\code{\link{list_data}()},
+\code{\link{prune_meta}()},
+\code{\link{read_vc}()},
+\code{\link{relabel}()},
+\code{\link{rename_variable}()},
+\code{\link{rm_data}()},
+\code{\link{update_metadata}()},
+\code{\link{verify_vc}()},
+\code{\link{write_vc}()}
+}
+\concept{storage}
diff --git a/man/git2rdata-package.Rd b/man/git2rdata-package.Rd
index 93e7ab2..f92acc6 100644
--- a/man/git2rdata-package.Rd
+++ b/man/git2rdata-package.Rd
@@ -13,19 +13,20 @@ Useful links:
 \itemize{
   \item \url{https://ropensci.github.io/git2rdata/}
   \item \url{https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/}
+  \item \doi{10.5281/zenodo.1485309}
   \item Report bugs at \url{https://github.com/ropensci/git2rdata/issues}
 }
 
 }
 \author{
-\strong{Maintainer}: Thierry Onkelinx \email{thierry.onkelinx@inbo.be} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8804-4216}{ORCID})
+\strong{Maintainer}: Thierry Onkelinx \email{thierry.onkelinx@inbo.be} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8804-4216}{ORCID}) (Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO))
 
 Other contributors:
 \itemize{
-  \item Floris Vanderhaeghe \email{floris.vanderhaeghe@inbo.be} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6378-6229}{ORCID}) [contributor]
-  \item Peter Desmet \email{peter.desmet@inbo.be} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8442-8025}{ORCID}) [contributor]
-  \item Els Lommelen \email{els.lommelen@inbo.be} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3481-5684}{ORCID}) [contributor]
-  \item Research Institute for Nature and Forest \email{info@inbo.be} [copyright holder, funder]
+  \item Floris Vanderhaeghe \email{floris.vanderhaeghe@inbo.be} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6378-6229}{ORCID}) (Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)) [contributor]
+  \item Peter Desmet \email{peter.desmet@inbo.be} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8442-8025}{ORCID}) (Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)) [contributor]
+  \item Els Lommelen \email{els.lommelen@inbo.be} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3481-5684}{ORCID}) (Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)) [contributor]
+  \item Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) \email{info@inbo.be} [copyright holder, funder]
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/man/is_git2rdata.Rd b/man/is_git2rdata.Rd
index d0c18c3..ff111a7 100644
--- a/man/is_git2rdata.Rd
+++ b/man/is_git2rdata.Rd
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ is_git2rdata("iris", root)
 Other internal: 
 \code{\link{is_git2rmeta}()},
 \code{\link{meta}()},
+\code{\link{print.git2rdata}()},
+\code{\link{summary.git2rdata}()},
 \code{\link{upgrade_data}()}
 }
 \concept{internal}
diff --git a/man/is_git2rmeta.Rd b/man/is_git2rmeta.Rd
index dfdd7ea..f4143e3 100644
--- a/man/is_git2rmeta.Rd
+++ b/man/is_git2rmeta.Rd
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ is_git2rdata("iris", root)
 Other internal: 
 \code{\link{is_git2rdata}()},
 \code{\link{meta}()},
+\code{\link{print.git2rdata}()},
+\code{\link{summary.git2rdata}()},
 \code{\link{upgrade_data}()}
 }
 \concept{internal}
diff --git a/man/list_data.Rd b/man/list_data.Rd
index a84b9d7..22dd8ed 100644
--- a/man/list_data.Rd
+++ b/man/list_data.Rd
@@ -92,11 +92,13 @@ status(repo)
 }
 \seealso{
 Other storage: 
+\code{\link{display_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{prune_meta}()},
 \code{\link{read_vc}()},
 \code{\link{relabel}()},
 \code{\link{rename_variable}()},
 \code{\link{rm_data}()},
+\code{\link{update_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{verify_vc}()},
 \code{\link{write_vc}()}
 }
diff --git a/man/meta.Rd b/man/meta.Rd
index db79721..58bf948 100644
--- a/man/meta.Rd
+++ b/man/meta.Rd
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ In case of a data.frame, \code{meta()} applies itself to each of the columns. Th
 plus an additional \code{..generic} element. \code{..generic} is a reserved name for
 the metadata and not allowed as column name in a \code{data.frame}.
 
-\code{\link{write_vc}} uses this function to prepare a dataframe for storage.
+\code{write_vc()} uses this function to prepare a dataframe for storage.
 Existing metadata is passed through the optional \code{old} argument. This
 argument intended for internal use.
 }
@@ -113,6 +113,8 @@ meta(as.Date("2019-02-01"), optimize = FALSE)
 Other internal: 
 \code{\link{is_git2rdata}()},
 \code{\link{is_git2rmeta}()},
+\code{\link{print.git2rdata}()},
+\code{\link{summary.git2rdata}()},
 \code{\link{upgrade_data}()}
 }
 \concept{internal}
diff --git a/man/print.git2rdata.Rd b/man/print.git2rdata.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4436c28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/print.git2rdata.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/print.R
+\name{print.git2rdata}
+\alias{print.git2rdata}
+\title{Print method for \code{git2rdata} objects.}
+\usage{
+\method{print}{git2rdata}(x, ...)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{x}{a \code{git2rdata} object}
+
+\item{...}{additional arguments passed to \code{print}}
+}
+\description{
+Prints the data and the description of the columns when available.
+}
+\seealso{
+Other internal: 
+\code{\link{is_git2rdata}()},
+\code{\link{is_git2rmeta}()},
+\code{\link{meta}()},
+\code{\link{summary.git2rdata}()},
+\code{\link{upgrade_data}()}
+}
+\concept{internal}
diff --git a/man/prune_meta.Rd b/man/prune_meta.Rd
index 2026ec8..754f961 100644
--- a/man/prune_meta.Rd
+++ b/man/prune_meta.Rd
@@ -106,11 +106,13 @@ status(repo)
 }
 \seealso{
 Other storage: 
+\code{\link{display_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{list_data}()},
 \code{\link{read_vc}()},
 \code{\link{relabel}()},
 \code{\link{rename_variable}()},
 \code{\link{rm_data}()},
+\code{\link{update_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{verify_vc}()},
 \code{\link{write_vc}()}
 }
diff --git a/man/read_vc.Rd b/man/read_vc.Rd
index 03452bd..909bf7c 100644
--- a/man/read_vc.Rd
+++ b/man/read_vc.Rd
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ Defaults to the current working directory (\code{"."}).}
 }
 \value{
 The \code{data.frame} with the file names and hashes as attributes.
+It has the additional class \code{"git2rdata"} to support extra methods to
+display the descriptions.
 }
 \description{
 \code{read_vc()} handles git2rdata objects stored by \code{write_vc()}. It reads and
@@ -89,11 +91,13 @@ status(repo)
 }
 \seealso{
 Other storage: 
+\code{\link{display_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{list_data}()},
 \code{\link{prune_meta}()},
 \code{\link{relabel}()},
 \code{\link{rename_variable}()},
 \code{\link{rm_data}()},
+\code{\link{update_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{verify_vc}()},
 \code{\link{write_vc}()}
 }
diff --git a/man/relabel.Rd b/man/relabel.Rd
index f37e063..9d6486f 100644
--- a/man/relabel.Rd
+++ b/man/relabel.Rd
@@ -82,11 +82,13 @@ status(repo)
 }
 \seealso{
 Other storage: 
+\code{\link{display_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{list_data}()},
 \code{\link{prune_meta}()},
 \code{\link{read_vc}()},
 \code{\link{rename_variable}()},
 \code{\link{rm_data}()},
+\code{\link{update_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{verify_vc}()},
 \code{\link{write_vc}()}
 }
diff --git a/man/rename_variable.Rd b/man/rename_variable.Rd
index 0c78e42..3fd8f25 100644
--- a/man/rename_variable.Rd
+++ b/man/rename_variable.Rd
@@ -80,11 +80,13 @@ status(repo)
 }
 \seealso{
 Other storage: 
+\code{\link{display_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{list_data}()},
 \code{\link{prune_meta}()},
 \code{\link{read_vc}()},
 \code{\link{relabel}()},
 \code{\link{rm_data}()},
+\code{\link{update_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{verify_vc}()},
 \code{\link{write_vc}()}
 }
diff --git a/man/rm_data.Rd b/man/rm_data.Rd
index 863db48..21b4d77 100644
--- a/man/rm_data.Rd
+++ b/man/rm_data.Rd
@@ -122,11 +122,13 @@ status(repo)
 }
 \seealso{
 Other storage: 
+\code{\link{display_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{list_data}()},
 \code{\link{prune_meta}()},
 \code{\link{read_vc}()},
 \code{\link{relabel}()},
 \code{\link{rename_variable}()},
+\code{\link{update_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{verify_vc}()},
 \code{\link{write_vc}()}
 }
diff --git a/man/summary.git2rdata.Rd b/man/summary.git2rdata.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e135857
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/summary.git2rdata.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/print.R
+\name{summary.git2rdata}
+\alias{summary.git2rdata}
+\title{Summary method for \code{git2rdata} objects.}
+\usage{
+\method{summary}{git2rdata}(object, ...)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{object}{a \code{git2rdata} object}
+
+\item{...}{additional arguments passed to \code{summary}}
+}
+\description{
+Prints the summary of the data and the description of the columns when
+available.
+}
+\seealso{
+Other internal: 
+\code{\link{is_git2rdata}()},
+\code{\link{is_git2rmeta}()},
+\code{\link{meta}()},
+\code{\link{print.git2rdata}()},
+\code{\link{upgrade_data}()}
+}
+\concept{internal}
diff --git a/man/update_metadata.Rd b/man/update_metadata.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..968e138
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/update_metadata.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/update_metadata.R
+\name{update_metadata}
+\alias{update_metadata}
+\title{Update the description of a \code{git2rdata} object}
+\usage{
+update_metadata(file, root = ".", field_description, name, title, description)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{file}{the name of the git2rdata object. Git2rdata objects cannot
+have dots in their name. The name may include a relative path. \code{file} is a
+path relative to the \code{root}.
+Note that \code{file} must point to a location within \code{root}.}
+
+\item{root}{The root of a project. Can be a file path or a \code{git-repository}.
+Defaults to the current working directory (\code{"."}).}
+
+\item{field_description}{a named character vector with the new descriptions
+for the fields.
+The names of the vector must match the variable names.}
+
+\item{name}{a character string with the new table name of the object.}
+
+\item{title}{a character string with the new title of the object.}
+
+\item{description}{a character string with the new description of the object.}
+}
+\description{
+Allows to update the description of the fields, the table name, the title,
+and the description of a \code{git2rdata} object.
+All arguments are optional.
+Setting an argument to \code{NA} or an empty string will remove the corresponding
+field from the metadata.
+}
+\seealso{
+Other storage: 
+\code{\link{display_metadata}()},
+\code{\link{list_data}()},
+\code{\link{prune_meta}()},
+\code{\link{read_vc}()},
+\code{\link{relabel}()},
+\code{\link{rename_variable}()},
+\code{\link{rm_data}()},
+\code{\link{verify_vc}()},
+\code{\link{write_vc}()}
+}
+\concept{storage}
diff --git a/man/upgrade_data.Rd b/man/upgrade_data.Rd
index 8f90cb7..b103ead 100644
--- a/man/upgrade_data.Rd
+++ b/man/upgrade_data.Rd
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ upgrade_data(path = ".", root = root)
 Other internal: 
 \code{\link{is_git2rdata}()},
 \code{\link{is_git2rmeta}()},
-\code{\link{meta}()}
+\code{\link{meta}()},
+\code{\link{print.git2rdata}()},
+\code{\link{summary.git2rdata}()}
 }
 \concept{internal}
diff --git a/man/verify_vc.Rd b/man/verify_vc.Rd
index 022af43..0867f7d 100644
--- a/man/verify_vc.Rd
+++ b/man/verify_vc.Rd
@@ -24,12 +24,14 @@ data.frame.
 }
 \seealso{
 Other storage: 
+\code{\link{display_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{list_data}()},
 \code{\link{prune_meta}()},
 \code{\link{read_vc}()},
 \code{\link{relabel}()},
 \code{\link{rename_variable}()},
 \code{\link{rm_data}()},
+\code{\link{update_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{write_vc}()}
 }
 \concept{storage}
diff --git a/man/write_vc.Rd b/man/write_vc.Rd
index 095a738..8a4e7d9 100644
--- a/man/write_vc.Rd
+++ b/man/write_vc.Rd
@@ -160,12 +160,14 @@ status(repo)
 }
 \seealso{
 Other storage: 
+\code{\link{display_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{list_data}()},
 \code{\link{prune_meta}()},
 \code{\link{read_vc}()},
 \code{\link{relabel}()},
 \code{\link{rename_variable}()},
 \code{\link{rm_data}()},
+\code{\link{update_metadata}()},
 \code{\link{verify_vc}()}
 }
 \concept{storage}
diff --git a/pkgdown/extra.css b/pkgdown/extra.css
index 00938dd..dfdfc0b 100644
--- a/pkgdown/extra.css
+++ b/pkgdown/extra.css
@@ -18,13 +18,20 @@ a:hover {
 
 .navbar,
 .label-default,
-.navbar-default .navbar-nav>.active>a, .navbar-default .navbar-nav>.active>a:hover, .navbar-default .navbar-nav>.active>a:focus {
-  background-color: #356196;
+.navbar-default .navbar-nav>.active>a, .navbar-default .navbar-nav>.active>a:hover, .navbar-default .navbar-nav>.active>a:focus,
+#toc>.nav a.nav-link.active {
+  background-color: #356196 !important;
 }
 
-.navbar-default .navbar-link,
-.navbar-default .navbar-nav>li>a {
-  color: #ffffff;
+#toc>.nav a.nav-link {
+  background-color: #729BB7 !important;
+}
+
+.navbar,
+.navbar-brand,
+.nav-link,
+.nav-text.text-muted {
+  color: #ffffff !important;
 }
 
 .nav-pills li.active>a, .nav-pills li>a:hover {
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_d_description.R b/tests/testthat/test_d_description.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6a3140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_d_description.R
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+test_that("description", {
+  expect_error(
+    update_metadata(
+      file = "test", root = data.frame()
+    ),
+    "a 'root' of class data.frame is not supported"
+  )
+
+  root <- tempfile(pattern = "git2rdata-description")
+  dir.create(root)
+
+  expect_is(
+    write_vc(
+      x = test_data, file = "test.txt", root = root, sorting = "test_Date"
+    ),
+    "character"
+  )
+
+  expect_null(
+    update_metadata(
+      file = "test", root = root, field_description = c(
+        test_character = "Some information", test_factor = "Some information",
+        test_integer = "Some information"
+      )
+    )
+  )
+
+  expect_is({
+      output <- read_vc("test", root = root)
+    }, "git2rdata"
+  )
+  expect_true(assertthat::has_attr(output$test_character, "description"))
+  expect_true(assertthat::has_attr(output$test_factor, "description"))
+  expect_true(assertthat::has_attr(output$test_integer, "description"))
+  expect_false(assertthat::has_attr(output$test_ordered, "description"))
+  expect_false(assertthat::has_attr(output, "table name"))
+  expect_false(assertthat::has_attr(output, "title"))
+  expect_false(assertthat::has_attr(output, "description"))
+  expect_output(print(output), "display_metadata")
+  expect_output(summary(output), "display_metadata")
+  expect_output(display_metadata(output, minimal = TRUE), "display_metadata")
+  expect_output(display_metadata(output, minimal = FALSE), "Table name: NA")
+  expect_output(display_metadata(output), "Table name: NA")
+
+  root <- git2r::init(root)
+  git2r::config(root, user.name = "Alice", user.email = "alice@example.org")
+  writeLines("ignore.*\nforce.*", file.path(git2r::workdir(root), ".gitignore"))
+  git2r::add(root, ".gitignore")
+  commit(root, "initial commit")
+
+  expect_null(
+    update_metadata(
+      file = "test", root = root, name = "my_table", title = "My Table",
+      description = "This is description for the unit tests",
+      field_description = c(test_character = NA, test_factor = "")
+    )
+  )
+  expect_is({
+      output <- read_vc("test", root = root)
+    }, "git2rdata"
+  )
+  expect_false(assertthat::has_attr(output$test_character, "description"))
+  expect_false(assertthat::has_attr(output$test_factor, "description"))
+  expect_true(assertthat::has_attr(output$test_integer, "description"))
+  expect_true(assertthat::has_attr(output, "table name"))
+  expect_true(assertthat::has_attr(output, "title"))
+  expect_true(assertthat::has_attr(output, "description"))
+  expect_output(print(output), "display_metadata")
+  expect_output(summary(output), "display_metadata")
+  expect_output(display_metadata(output), "Table name: my_table")
+})
diff --git a/vignettes/efficiency.Rmd b/vignettes/efficiency.Rmd
index 50a4cef..4c757fb 100644
--- a/vignettes/efficiency.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/efficiency.Rmd
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ This vignette compares storage and retrieval of data by `git2rdata` with other s
 We consider `write.table()` and `read.table()` for data stored in a plain text format.
 `saveRDS()` and `readRDS()` use a compressed binary format.
 
-To get some meaningful results, we will use the `nassCDS` dataset from the [DAAG](https://www.rdocumentation.org/packages/DAAG/versions/1.22/topics/nassCDS) package.
+To get some meaningful results, we will use the `nassCDS` dataset from the [DAAG](https://www.rdocumentation.org/packages/DAAG/versions/1.22/topics/nassCDS) package. <!-- spell-check: ignore -->
 We'll avoid the dependency on the package by directly downloading the data.
 
 ```{r download_data, eval = system.file("efficiency", "airbag.rds", package = "git2rdata") == ""}
diff --git a/vignettes/metadata.Rmd b/vignettes/metadata.Rmd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e3239b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vignettes/metadata.Rmd
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+---
+title: "Adding metadata"
+author: "Thierry Onkelinx"
+output:
+  rmarkdown::html_vignette:
+        fig_caption: yes
+vignette: >
+  %\VignetteIndexEntry{Adding metadata}
+  %\VignetteEngine{knitr::rmarkdown}
+  %\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8}
+---
+
+## Introduction
+
+`git2rdata` supports extra metadata since version 0.4.1.
+Metadata is stored in a separate file with the same name as the data file, but with the extension `.yml`.
+The metadata file is a YAML file with a specific structure.
+The metadata file contains a generic section and a section for each field in the data file.
+The generic section contains information about the data file as a whole.
+The fields sections contain information about the fields in the data file.
+The metadata file is stored in the same directory as the data file.
+
+The generic section contains the following mandatory properties, automatically created by `git2rdata`:
+
+- `git2rdata`: the version of `git2rdata` used to create the metadata.
+- `datahash`: the hash of the data file.
+- `hash`: the hash of the metadata file.
+- `optimize`: a logical indicating whether the data file is optimized for `git2rdata`.
+- `sorting`: a character vector with the names of the fields in the data file.
+- `split_by`: a character vector with the names of the fields used to split the data file.
+- `NA string`: the string used to represent missing values in the data file.
+
+The generic section can contain the following optional properties:
+
+- `table name`: the name of the dataset.
+- `title`: the title of the dataset.
+- `description`: a description of the dataset.
+
+The fields sections contain the following mandatory properties, automatically created by `git2rdata`:
+
+- `type`: the type of the field.
+- `class`: the class of the field.
+- `levels`: the levels of the field (for factors).
+- `index`: the index of the field (for factors).
+- `NA string`: the string used to represent missing values in the field.
+
+The fields sections can contain the following optional properties:
+
+- `description`: a description of the field.
+
+## Adding metadata
+
+`write_vc()` only stores the mandatory properties in the metadata file.
+
+```{r store-metadata}
+library(git2rdata)
+root <- tempfile("git2rdata-metadata")
+dir.create(root)
+write_vc(iris, file = "iris", root = root, sorting = "Sepal.Length")
+```
+
+## Reading metadata
+
+`read_vc()` reads the metadata file and adds it as attributes to the `data.frame`.
+`print()` and `summary()` alert the user to the `display_metadata()` function.
+This function displays the metadata of a `git2rdata` object.
+Missing optional metadata results in an `NA` value in the output of `display_metadata()`.
+
+```{r read-metadata}
+my_iris <- read_vc("iris", root = root)
+str(my_iris)
+print(head(my_iris))
+summary(my_iris)
+display_metadata(my_iris)
+```
+
+## Updating the optional metadata
+
+To add metadata to a `git2rdata` object, use the `update_metadata()` function.
+This function allows you to add or update the optional metadata of a `git2rdata` object.
+Setting an argument to `NA` or an empty string will remove the corresponding property from the metadata.
+The function only updates the metadata file, not the data file.
+To see the changes, read the object again before using `display_metadata()`.
+Note that all the metadata is available in the `data.frame` as attributes.
+
+```{r update-metadata}
+update_metadata(
+  file = "iris", root = root, name = "iris", title = "Iris dataset",
+  description =
+"The Iris dataset is a multivariate dataset introduced by the British
+statistician and biologist Ronald Fisher in his 1936 paper The use of multiple
+measurements in taxonomic problems.",
+  field_description = c(
+    Sepal.Length = "The length of the sepal in cm",
+    Sepal.Width = "The width of the sepal in cm",
+    Petal.Length = "The length of the petal in cm",
+    Petal.Width = "The width of the petal in cm",
+    Species = "The species of the iris"
+  )
+)
+my_iris <- read_vc("iris", root = root)
+display_metadata(my_iris)
+str(my_iris)
+```
+
diff --git a/vignettes/plain_text.Rmd b/vignettes/plain_text.Rmd
index 379efea..c7bc349 100644
--- a/vignettes/plain_text.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/plain_text.Rmd
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ These functions determine factor levels based on the observed levels in the plai
 Hence factor levels without observations will disappear. 
 The order of the factor levels is also determined by the available levels in the plain text file, which can be different from the original order.
 
-The `write_vc()` and `read_vc()` functions from `git2rdata` keep track of the class of each variable and, in case of a factor, also of the factor levels and their order. Hence this function pair preserves the information content of the dataframe. The `vc` suffix stands for **v**ersion **c**ontrol as these functions use their full capacity in combination with a version control system.
+The `write_vc()` and `read_vc()` functions from `git2rdata` keep track of the class of each variable and, in case of a factor, also of the factor levels and their order.
+Hence this function pair preserves the information content of the dataframe. The `vc` suffix stands for
+**v**ersion **c**ontrol<!-- spell-check: ignore -->
+as these functions use their full capacity in combination with a version control system.
 
 ## Efficiency Relative to Storage and Time
 
@@ -61,7 +64,9 @@ Store and return timestamps as UTC.
 - Store a `Date` as an integer to the data. 
 Store the class and the origin in the metadata.
 
-Storing the factors, POSIXct and Date as their index, makes them less user readable. The user can turn off this optimization when user readability is more important than file size.
+Storing the factors,
+POSIXct <!-- spell-check: ignore -->
+and Date as their index, makes them less user readable. The user can turn off this optimization when user readability is more important than file size.
 
 ### Optimized for Version Control
 
@@ -135,11 +140,13 @@ print_file("first_test.yml", path)
 Adding `optimize = FALSE` to `write_vc()` will keep the raw data in a human readable format.
 The metadata file is slightly different.
 The most obvious is the `optimize: no` tag and the different hash.
-Another difference is the metadata for POSIXct and Date classes.
+Another difference is the metadata for
+POSIXct <!-- spell-check: ignore -->
+and Date classes.
 They will no longer have an origin tag but a format tag.
 
 Another important difference is that we store the data file as comma separated values instead of tab separated values.
-We noticed that the csv file format is more easily recognised by a larger audience as a data file.
+We noticed that the `csv` file format is more easily recognised by a larger audience as a data file.
 
 
 ```{r write_verbose}
diff --git a/vignettes/version_control.Rmd b/vignettes/version_control.Rmd
index 1515546..0dbf7f7 100644
--- a/vignettes/version_control.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/version_control.Rmd
@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@ This implies that two observations switching place does not alter the informatio
 Nor does switching two variables.
 
 Version control systems like [git](https://git-scm.com/), [subversion](https://subversion.apache.org/) or [mercurial](https://www.mercurial-scm.org/) focus on accurately keeping track of _any_ change in the files. 
-Two observations switching place in a plain text file _is_ a change, although the information content^[_sensu_ `git2rdata`] doesn't change.
+Two observations switching place in a plain text file _is_ a change, although the information content^[
+_sensu_ <!-- spell-check: ignore -->
+`git2rdata`] doesn't change.
 `git2rdata` helps the user to prepare the plain text files in such a way that any change in the version history is an actual change in the information content.
 
 ## Sorting Observations