diff --git a/modules/htmlout/lib/htmlout.js b/modules/htmlout/lib/htmlout.js
index 8d72d8438..d4b43c5cd 100644
--- a/modules/htmlout/lib/htmlout.js
+++ b/modules/htmlout/lib/htmlout.js
@@ -89,7 +89,10 @@ var fServerDebug = false;
 var logFile = null;
 
 /*
- * fPrivate determines the insertion of private.js
+ * fPrivate will be set to true to by setOptions() if the server was started with '--private', giving the Node
+ * server an option comparable to Jekyll's site.pcjs.private setting, and triggering the load of "private.js" as
+ * appropriate.  Currently, the only (checked-in) use of the private setting is to set the client's PRIVATE global
+ * and trigger the loading of alternate (ie, private) XML files in embed.js.
  */
 var fPrivate = false;
 
diff --git a/modules/shared/lib/private.js b/modules/shared/lib/private.js
index dbcbe9c9b..70d7bab28 100644
--- a/modules/shared/lib/private.js
+++ b/modules/shared/lib/private.js
@@ -38,5 +38,8 @@
  * PRIVATE enables certain private features that we don't want enabled on the public web server, so by default,
  * PRIVATE is false.  For Jekyll configurations, if site.pcjs.private is set, this file gets included, overriding
  * the default.
+ *
+ * Currently, the only (checked-in) use of the private setting is to set the client's PRIVATE global and trigger
+ * the loading of alternate (ie, private) XML files in embed.js.
  */
 PRIVATE = true;