diff --git a/docs/topics/logging.txt b/docs/topics/logging.txt
index 80348e360b5..47a3c698d64 100644
--- a/docs/topics/logging.txt
+++ b/docs/topics/logging.txt
@@ -238,8 +238,73 @@ The full documentation for :ref:`dictConfig format <logging-config-dictschema>`
 is the best source of information about logging configuration dictionaries.
 However, to give you a taste of what is possible, here are several examples.
 
-First, here's a configuration which writes all logging from the
-:ref:`django-logger` logger to a local file:
+To begin, here's a small configuration that will allow you to output all log
+messages to the console:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+    :caption: settings.py
+
+    import os
+
+    LOGGING = {
+        'version': 1,
+        'disable_existing_loggers': False,
+        'handlers': {
+            'console': {
+                'class': 'logging.StreamHandler',
+            },
+        },
+        'root': {
+            'handlers': ['console'],
+            'level': 'WARNING',
+        },
+    }
+
+This configures the parent ``root`` logger to send messages with the
+``WARNING`` level and higher to the console handler. By adjusting the level to
+``INFO`` or ``DEBUG`` you can display more messages. This may be useful during
+development.
+
+Next we can add more fine-grained logging. Here's an example of how to make the
+logging system print more messages from just the :ref:`django-logger` named
+logger:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+    :caption: settings.py
+
+    import os
+
+    LOGGING = {
+        'version': 1,
+        'disable_existing_loggers': False,
+        'handlers': {
+            'console': {
+                'class': 'logging.StreamHandler',
+            },
+        },
+        'root': {
+            'handlers': ['console'],
+            'level': 'WARNING',
+        },
+        'loggers': {
+            'django': {
+                'handlers': ['console'],
+                'level': os.getenv('DJANGO_LOG_LEVEL', 'INFO'),
+                'propagate': False,
+            },
+        },
+    }
+
+By default, this config sends messages from the ``django`` logger of level
+``INFO`` or higher to the console. This is the same level as Django's default
+logging config, except that the default config only displays log records when
+``DEBUG=True``. Django does not log many such ``INFO`` level messages. With
+this config, however, you can also set the environment variable
+``DJANGO_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG`` to see all of Django's debug logging which is very
+verbose as it includes all database queries.
+
+You don't have to log to the console. Here's a configuration which writes all
+logging from the :ref:`django-logger` named logger to a local file:
 
 .. code-block:: python
     :caption: settings.py
@@ -266,37 +331,6 @@ First, here's a configuration which writes all logging from the
 If you use this example, be sure to change the ``'filename'`` path to a
 location that's writable by the user that's running the Django application.
 
-Second, here's an example of how to make the logging system print Django's
-logging to the console. It may be useful during local development.
-
-By default, this config only sends messages of level ``INFO`` or higher to the
-console (same as Django's default logging config, except that the default only
-displays log records when ``DEBUG=True``). Django does not log many such
-messages. With this config, however, you can also set the environment variable
-``DJANGO_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG`` to see all of Django's debug logging which is very
-verbose as it includes all database queries:
-
-.. code-block:: python
-    :caption: settings.py
-
-    import os
-
-    LOGGING = {
-        'version': 1,
-        'disable_existing_loggers': False,
-        'handlers': {
-            'console': {
-                'class': 'logging.StreamHandler',
-            },
-        },
-        'loggers': {
-            'django': {
-                'handlers': ['console'],
-                'level': os.getenv('DJANGO_LOG_LEVEL', 'INFO'),
-            },
-        },
-    }
-
 Finally, here's an example of a fairly complex logging setup:
 
 .. code-block:: python