diff --git a/apps/federatedfilesharing/templates/settings-admin.php b/apps/federatedfilesharing/templates/settings-admin.php
index b60ff1083b098..7343a867d5344 100644
--- a/apps/federatedfilesharing/templates/settings-admin.php
+++ b/apps/federatedfilesharing/templates/settings-admin.php
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 	<a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" class="icon-info svg"
 		title="<?php p($l->t('Open documentation'));?>"
 		href="<?php p(link_to_docs('admin-sharing-federated')); ?>"></a>
-
 	<p>
 		<input type="checkbox" name="outgoing_server2server_share_enabled" id="outgoingServer2serverShareEnabled" class="checkbox"
 			   value="1" <?php if ($_['outgoingServer2serverShareEnabled']) print_unescaped('checked="checked"'); ?> />
diff --git a/apps/federation/css/settings-admin.css b/apps/federation/css/settings-admin.css
index 97a50785f825c..3fd5f5aea6dc5 100644
--- a/apps/federation/css/settings-admin.css
+++ b/apps/federation/css/settings-admin.css
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 #ocFederationSettings p {
-	padding-top: 10px;
+	padding-bottom: 10px;
 }
 
 #listOfTrustedServers li {
-	padding-top: 10px;
+	padding-bottom: 10px;
 }
 
 .removeTrustedServer {
diff --git a/apps/federation/templates/settings-admin.php b/apps/federation/templates/settings-admin.php
index dbcb4a54e6a2e..f0c2db81961f9 100644
--- a/apps/federation/templates/settings-admin.php
+++ b/apps/federation/templates/settings-admin.php
@@ -7,21 +7,14 @@
 style('federation', 'settings-admin')
 ?>
 <div id="ocFederationSettings" class="section">
-	<h2><?php p($l->t('Federation')); ?></h2>
-	<em><?php p($l->t('Federation allows you to connect with other trusted servers to exchange the user directory. For example this will be used to auto-complete external users for federated sharing.')); ?></em>
+	<h2><?php p($l->t('Trusted servers')); ?></h2>
+	<p class="settings-hint"><?php p($l->t('Federation allows you to connect with other trusted servers to exchange the user directory. For example this will be used to auto-complete external users for federated sharing.')); ?></p>
 
 	<p>
 		<input id="autoAddServers" type="checkbox" class="checkbox" <?php if($_['autoAddServers']) p('checked'); ?> />
 		<label for="autoAddServers"><?php p($l->t('Add server automatically once a federated share was created successfully')); ?></label>
 	</p>
 
-	<h3><?php p($l->t('Trusted servers')); ?></h3>
-	<p id="ocFederationAddServer">
-		<button id="ocFederationAddServerButton" class=""><?php p($l->t('+ Add trusted server')); ?></button>
-		<input id="serverUrl" class="hidden" type="text" value="" placeholder="<?php p($l->t('Trusted server')); ?>" name="server_url"/>
-		<button id="ocFederationSubmit" class="hidden"><?php p($l->t('Add')); ?></button>
-		<span class="msg"></span>
-	</p>
 	<ul id="listOfTrustedServers">
 		<?php foreach($_['trustedServers'] as $trustedServer) { ?>
 			<li id="<?php p($trustedServer['id']); ?>">
@@ -41,6 +34,11 @@
 			</li>
 		<?php } ?>
 	</ul>
+	<p id="ocFederationAddServer">
+		<button id="ocFederationAddServerButton" class=""><?php p($l->t('+ Add trusted server')); ?></button>
+		<input id="serverUrl" class="hidden" type="text" value="" placeholder="<?php p($l->t('Trusted server')); ?>" name="server_url"/>
+		<button id="ocFederationSubmit" class="hidden"><?php p($l->t('Add')); ?></button>
+		<span class="msg"></span>
+	</p>
 
 </div>
-
diff --git a/apps/sharebymail/css/settings-admin.css b/apps/sharebymail/css/settings-admin.css
index c7bfb122f3ebf..fc6093ad525d1 100644
--- a/apps/sharebymail/css/settings-admin.css
+++ b/apps/sharebymail/css/settings-admin.css
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 #ncShareByMailSettings p {
-	padding-top: 10px;
+	padding-bottom: 10px;
 }
diff --git a/apps/sharebymail/templates/settings-admin.php b/apps/sharebymail/templates/settings-admin.php
index 3af98741e523d..50fede8668523 100644
--- a/apps/sharebymail/templates/settings-admin.php
+++ b/apps/sharebymail/templates/settings-admin.php
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 ?>
 <div id="ncShareByMailSettings" class="section">
 	<h2><?php p($l->t('Share by mail')); ?></h2>
-	<em><?php p($l->t('Send a personalized link to a file or folder by mail.')); ?></em>
+	<p class="settings-hint"><?php p($l->t('Allows users to share a personalized link to a file or folder by putting in an email address.')); ?></p>
 
 	<p>
 		<input id="sendPasswordMail" type="checkbox" class="checkbox" <?php if($_['sendPasswordMail']) p('checked'); ?> />
@@ -18,4 +18,3 @@
 	</p>
 
 </div>
-
diff --git a/apps/systemtags/templates/admin.php b/apps/systemtags/templates/admin.php
index de97b283d091e..e964f610ca12c 100644
--- a/apps/systemtags/templates/admin.php
+++ b/apps/systemtags/templates/admin.php
@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@
 
 <form id="systemtags" class="section" data-systemtag-id="">
 	<h2><?php p($l->t('Collaborative tags')); ?></h2>
+	<p class="settings-hint"><?php p($l->t('Create and edit collaborative tags. These tags affect all users.')); ?></p>
 
-	<input type="hidden" name="systemtag" id="systemtag" placeholder="<?php p($l->t('Select tag…')); ?>" style="width: 400px;" />
+	<input type="hidden" name="systemtag" id="systemtag" placeholder="<?php p($l->t('Select tag …')); ?>" style="width: 400px;" />
 
 	<br><br>
 
diff --git a/apps/theming/templates/settings-admin.php b/apps/theming/templates/settings-admin.php
index 920b4a007da5b..61fe57c3c75f5 100644
--- a/apps/theming/templates/settings-admin.php
+++ b/apps/theming/templates/settings-admin.php
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 ?>
 <div id="theming" class="section">
 	<h2 class="inlineblock"><?php p($l->t('Theming')); ?></h2>
+        <p class="settings-hint"><?php p($l->t('Theming makes it possible to easily customize the look and feel of your instance. This will be visible for all users.')); ?></p>
 		<div id="theming_settings_msg" class="msg success inlineblock" style="display: none;">Saved</div>
 	<?php if ($_['themable'] === false) { ?>
 	<p>
diff --git a/apps/updatenotification/templates/admin.php b/apps/updatenotification/templates/admin.php
index 28a4799241081..dcea7cf3e6b63 100644
--- a/apps/updatenotification/templates/admin.php
+++ b/apps/updatenotification/templates/admin.php
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 			<a href="<?php p($_['downloadLink']); ?>" class="button<?php if ($_['updaterEnabled']) { p(' hidden'); } ?>"><?php p($l->t('Download now')) ?></a>
 		<?php } ?>
 	<?php } else { ?>
-		<strong><?php p($l->t('Your version is up to date.')); ?></strong>
+		<?php p($l->t('Your version is up to date.')); ?>
 		<span class="icon-info svg" title="<?php p($l->t('Checked on %s', [$lastCheckedDate])) ?>"></span>
 	<?php } ?>
 
diff --git a/settings/css/settings.css b/settings/css/settings.css
index a046148dcc404..7e91877773e51 100644
--- a/settings/css/settings.css
+++ b/settings/css/settings.css
@@ -979,3 +979,9 @@ doesnotexist:-o-prefocus, .strengthify-wrapper {
 #warning {
 	color: red;
 }
+
+.settings-hint {
+	margin-top: -12px;
+	margin-bottom: 12px;
+	opacity: .7;
+}
diff --git a/settings/templates/admin/additional-mail.php b/settings/templates/admin/additional-mail.php
index 7f8706274f987..249252dc69441 100644
--- a/settings/templates/admin/additional-mail.php
+++ b/settings/templates/admin/additional-mail.php
@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@
 		<a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" class="icon-info"
 		   title="<?php p($l->t('Open documentation'));?>"
 		   href="<?php p(link_to_docs('admin-email')); ?>"></a>
-
-		<p><?php p($l->t('This is used for sending out notifications.')); ?> <span id="mail_settings_msg" class="msg"></span></p>
+		<p class="settings-hint"><?php p($l->t('It is important to set up this server to be able to send emails, like for password reset and notifications.')); ?></p>
+		<p><span id="mail_settings_msg" class="msg"></span></p>
 
 		<p>
 			<label for="mail_smtpmode"><?php p($l->t('Send mode')); ?></label>
@@ -137,4 +137,3 @@
 	<input type="submit" name="sendtestemail" id="sendtestemail" value="<?php p($l->t('Send email')); ?>"/>
 	<span id="sendtestmail_msg" class="msg"></span>
 </div>
-
diff --git a/settings/templates/admin/encryption.php b/settings/templates/admin/encryption.php
index 4b6d9045689bc..1d956a8f7c186 100644
--- a/settings/templates/admin/encryption.php
+++ b/settings/templates/admin/encryption.php
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 	<a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" class="icon-info"
 	   title="<?php p($l->t('Open documentation'));?>"
 	   href="<?php p(link_to_docs('admin-encryption')); ?>"></a>
-
+	<p class="settings-hint"><?php p($l->t('Server-side encryption makes it possible to encrypt files which are uploaded to this server. This comes with limitations like a performance penalty, so enable this only if needed.')); ?></p>
 	<p id="enable">
 		<input type="checkbox"
 			   id="enableEncryption" class="checkbox"
diff --git a/settings/templates/admin/server.php b/settings/templates/admin/server.php
index d0fc6378e9a40..391d100dcf730 100644
--- a/settings/templates/admin/server.php
+++ b/settings/templates/admin/server.php
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
 <div id="security-warning" class="section">
 	<h2><?php p($l->t('Security & setup warnings'));?></h2>
+	<p class="settings-hint"><?php p($l->t('It\'s important for the security and performance of your instance that everything is configured correctly. To help you with that we are doing some automatic checks. Please see the Tips & Ticks section and the documentation for more information.'));?></p>
 	<ul>
 		<?php
 		// is php setup properly to query system environment variables like getenv('PATH')
@@ -181,6 +182,7 @@
 	   title="<?php p($l->t('Open documentation'));?>"
 	   href="<?php p(link_to_docs('admin-background-jobs')); ?>"></a>
 
+	<p class="settings-hint"><?php p($l->t('For optimal performance it\'s important to configure background jobs correctly. For bigger instances \'Cron\' is the recommended setting. Please see the documentation for more information.'));?></p>
 	<p>
 		<input type="radio" name="mode" value="ajax" class="radio"
 			   id="backgroundjobs_ajax" <?php if ($_['backgroundjobs_mode'] === "ajax") {
@@ -223,5 +225,5 @@
 <div class="section">
 	<!-- should be the last part, so Updater can follow if enabled (it has no heading therefore). -->
 	<h2><?php p($l->t('Version'));?></h2>
-	<p><a href="<?php print_unescaped($theme->getBaseUrl()); ?>" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"><?php p($theme->getTitle()); ?></a> <?php p(OC_Util::getHumanVersion()) ?></p>
+	<p><strong><a href="<?php print_unescaped($theme->getBaseUrl()); ?>" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"><?php p($theme->getTitle()); ?></a> <?php p(OC_Util::getHumanVersion()) ?></strong></p>
 </div>
diff --git a/settings/templates/admin/sharing.php b/settings/templates/admin/sharing.php
index 9de71c5899099..38071a4bee9e4 100644
--- a/settings/templates/admin/sharing.php
+++ b/settings/templates/admin/sharing.php
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 	<a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" class="icon-info"
 	   title="<?php p($l->t('Open documentation'));?>"
 	   href="<?php p(link_to_docs('admin-sharing')); ?>"></a>
+        <p class="settings-hint"><?php p($l->t('As admin you can fine-tune the sharing behavior. Please see the documentation for more information.'));?></p>
 	<p id="enable">
 		<input type="checkbox" name="shareapi_enabled" id="shareAPIEnabled" class="checkbox"
 			   value="1" <?php if ($_['shareAPIEnabled'] === 'yes') print_unescaped('checked="checked"'); ?> />
diff --git a/settings/templates/admin/tipstricks.php b/settings/templates/admin/tipstricks.php
index cee5cd8032d3c..c18c7f25f3984 100644
--- a/settings/templates/admin/tipstricks.php
+++ b/settings/templates/admin/tipstricks.php
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
 <div class="section" id="admin-tips">
 	<h2><?php p($l->t('Tips & tricks'));?></h2>
+	<p class="settings-hint"><?php p($l->t('There are a lot of features and config switches available to optimally customize and use this instance. Here are some pointers for more information.')); ?></p>
 	<ul>
 		<?php
 		// SQLite database performance issue