Merge branch 'je/doc-add'

Documentation for "git add" has been updated.

* je/doc-add:
  doc: rephrase the purpose of the staging area
  doc: git-add: simplify discussion of ignored files
  doc: git-add: clarify intro & add an example

1 files changed, 16 insertions, 18 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/git-add.adoc b/Documentation/git-add.adoc
index b7a735824d..ad629c46c5 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-add.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-add.adoc
@@ -16,18 +16,18 @@ git add [--verbose | -v] [--dry-run | -n] [--force | -f] [--interactive | -i] [-
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
-This command updates the index using the current content found in
-the working tree, to prepare the content staged for the next commit.
-It typically adds the current content of existing paths as a whole,
-but with some options it can also be used to add content with
-only part of the changes made to the working tree files applied, or
-remove paths that do not exist in the working tree anymore.
-
-The "index" holds a snapshot of the content of the working tree, and it
-is this snapshot that is taken as the contents of the next commit.  Thus
-after making any changes to the working tree, and before running
-the commit command, you must use the `add` command to add any new or
-modified files to the index.
+Add contents of new or changed files to the index. The "index" (also
+known as the "staging area") is what you use to prepare the contents of
+the next commit.
+
+When you run `git commit` without any other arguments, it will only
+commit staged changes. For example, if you've edited `file.c` and want
+to commit your changes to that file, you can run:
+
+   git add file.c
+   git commit
+
+You can also add only part of your changes to a file with `git add -p`.
 
 This command can be performed multiple times before a commit.  It only
 adds the content of the specified file(s) at the time the add command is
@@ -37,12 +37,10 @@ you must run `git add` again to add the new content to the index.
 The `git status` command can be used to obtain a summary of which
 files have changes that are staged for the next commit.
 
-The `git add` command will not add ignored files by default.  If any
-ignored files were explicitly specified on the command line, `git add`
-will fail with a list of ignored files.  Ignored files reached by
-directory recursion or filename globbing performed by Git (quote your
-globs before the shell) will be silently ignored.  The `git add` command can
-be used to add ignored files with the `-f` (force) option.
+The `git add` command will not add ignored files by default. You can
+use the `--force` option to add ignored files. If you specify the exact
+filename of an ignored file, `git add` will fail with a list of ignored
+files. Otherwise it will silently ignore the file.
 
 Please see linkgit:git-commit[1] for alternative ways to add content to a
 commit.