diff --git a/Module.py b/Module.py
index 4c3cdda..e761e9b 100644
--- a/Module.py
+++ b/Module.py
@@ -154,5 +154,23 @@ class Module(object):
 
         print("looks like someone forgot to implement do!")
 
+    def help_description(self):
+        """Return a quick list of commands or other summary, should be
+        less than two lines. If you want the module hidden from "!help",
+        return None here"""
+        return "No description available"
+
+    def help_summary(self):
+        """Return a command summary or longer description of this module.
+        If this returns None, the summary will be
+        "no help available for module foo"
+        """
+        return None
+
+    def help_detail(self, command):
+        """Return detailed help for the given command. Return None if there
+        is no suitable help available"""
+        return None
+
 # vi:tabstop=4:expandtab:autoindent
 # kate: indent-mode python;indent-width 4;replace-tabs on;
diff --git a/modules/Help.py b/modules/Help.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e113cb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/Help.py
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+"""
+Help - handle !help commands by interrogating modules for help text
+Copyright (C) 2011  Mike Bloy <mike@bloy.org>
+
+This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+(at your option) any later version.
+
+This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+"""
+
+import re
+import sqlite3
+
+from Module import Module
+
+__author__ = "Mike Bloy <mike@bloy.org>"
+__date__ = "2011-01-08"
+
+class Help(Module):
+
+    def __init__(self, irc, config, server):
+        """
+        Upon creation, determine the save file location
+        """
+
+        Module.__init__(self, irc, config, server)
+
+        self.helpre = re.compile('^!help(\s+(\S+)(\s+(.+))?)?\s*$')
+
+    def do(self, connection, event, nick, userhost, what, admin_unlocked):
+        """look for !help and subcommands, 
+        and dispatch for further processing"""
+
+        match = self.helpre.search(what)
+        if match:
+            (module, key) = match.group(2,4)
+            if (module == None):
+                return self.handle_help_descriptions()
+            elif (key == None):
+                return self.handle_help_module(module)
+            else:
+                return self.handle_help_detail(module, key)
+
+    def handle_help_descriptions(self):
+        """print the general help"""
+        message = "General Help:\n"
+        for module in self.irc.modlist:
+            description = module.help_description()
+            if description:
+                message += "  %s - %s\n" % (module.__class__.__name__,
+                                           description) 
+        return message
+
+    def handle_help_module(self, modname):
+        """handle the module level help processing"""
+        module = self.find_module(modname)
+        if module:
+            helptext = module.help_summary()
+            if helptext:
+                return "%s - %s" % (modname, helptext)
+            else:
+                return "no help available for module %s" % (modname)
+        else:
+            return "no module named '%s' is loaded" % (modname)
+
+    def handle_help_detail(self, modname, key):
+        """handle the help detail message"""
+        module = self.find_module(modname)
+        if module:
+            helptext = module.help_detail(key)
+            if helptext:
+                return "%s (%s) - %s" % (modname, key, helptext)
+            else:
+                return "no help available for module '%s', command '%s'" % (modname, key)
+        else:
+            return "no module named '%s' is loaded" % (modname)
+            
+        return "asked for help on module %s detail %s" % (modname, key)
+
+    def find_module(self, modname):
+        """find a module in the server's list of loaded modules"""
+        for module in self.irc.modlist:
+            if modname == module.__class__.__name__:
+                return module
+        return None
+
+    def help_description(self):
+        """Return a quick list of commands or other summary, should be
+        less than two lines. If you want the module hidden from "!help",
+        return None here"""
+        return "Display module and command help"
+
+    def help_summary(self):
+        """Return a command summary or longer description of this module.
+        If this returns None, the summary will be
+        "no help available for module foo"
+        """
+        return """!help [module [detail]] 
+type '!help Help module' or '!help Help detail' for more information"""
+
+    def help_detail(self, command):
+        """Return detailed help for the given command. Return None if there
+        is no suitable help available"""
+        if command == 'module':
+            return """get a summary of a module's commands or function"""
+        elif command == 'detail':
+            return """get information on a specific module-defined detail"""
+        else: 
+            return None
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    print "Hello World"
+
+# vi:tabstop=4:expandtab:autoindent
diff --git a/modules/IrcAdmin.py b/modules/IrcAdmin.py
index f8279c8..3685faa 100644
--- a/modules/IrcAdmin.py
+++ b/modules/IrcAdmin.py
@@ -166,5 +166,51 @@ class IrcAdmin(Module):
 
         return ', '.join(self.irc.list_modules())
 
+    def help_description(self):
+        """Return a quick list of commands or other summary, should be
+        less than two lines. If you want the module hidden from "!help",
+        return None here"""
+        return "Perform admin-related functions."
+
+    def help_summary(self):
+        """Return a command summary or longer description of this module.
+        If this returns None, the summary will be
+        "no help available for module foo"
+        """
+        return """Bot admin commands (do '!help IrcAdmin [cmd] for details): 
+!join, !part, !quit, !autojoin, !save, !nick, !load, !reload, !unload, !modules"""
+
+    def help_detail(self, command):
+        """Return detailed help for the given command. Return None if there
+        is no suitable help available"""
+        key = command.strip()
+        if key[0] == '!':
+            key = key[1:]
+        words = key.split()
+        if len(words) == 0:
+            return None
+        elif words[0] == 'join':
+            return "!join [channel] - cause the bot to /join [channel]"
+        elif words[0] == 'part':
+            return "!part [channel] - cause the bot to /part from [channel]"
+        elif words[0] == 'quit':
+            return "!quit - cause the bot to save itself and quit"
+        elif words[0] == 'autojoin':
+            return "!autojoin [channel] - cause the bot to join [channel] on startup"
+        elif words[0] == 'save':
+            return "!save - cause the bot to save config data to the config file"
+        elif words[0] == 'nick':
+            return "!nick - cause the bot to change its nick"
+        elif words[0] == 'load':
+            return "!load - make the bot load a module dynamically"
+        elif words[0] == 'reload':
+            return "!reload - reload an already-loaded module"
+        elif words[0] == 'unload':
+            return "!unload - unload a loaded module, removing its functionality"
+        elif words[0] == 'modules':
+            return "!modules - list the currently loaded modules"
+        else:
+          return None
+
 # vi:tabstop=4:expandtab:autoindent
 # kate: indent-mode python;indent-width 4;replace-tabs on;
diff --git a/modules/Karma.py b/modules/Karma.py
index 98269a7..07a85c7 100644
--- a/modules/Karma.py
+++ b/modules/Karma.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 import re
 import sqlite3
+import string
 
 from Module import Module
 
@@ -228,6 +229,43 @@ class Karma(Module):
 
         return reply
 
+    def help_description(self):
+        """Return a quick list of commands or other summary, should be
+        less than two lines. If you want the module hidden from "!help",
+        return None here"""
+        return "record karma and report on recorded karma"
+
+    def help_summary(self):
+        """Return a command summary or longer description of this module.
+        If this returns None, the summary will be
+        "no help available for module foo"
+        """
+        return """Watches channels for words (or parenthesized phrases) followed by one of ++, --, +-, or -+, and records an increment, decrement, or combination of karma for the word or phrase, as well as the identity of the karma giver. Supports the following commands:
+  !rank [item] - get the current karma value for item
+  !karma stat [nick] - report on the karma-giving statistics of nick
+  !karma report (highest|lowest) - report on the highest or lowest karma recipients
+  !karma report (positive|negative) - report on the biggest optimists or pessimists"""
+
+    def help_detail(self, command):
+        """Return detailed help for the given command. Return None if there
+        is no suitable help available"""
+        key = command.strip()
+        if key[0] == '!':
+            key = key[1:]
+        words = key.split()
+        if len(words) == 0:
+            return None
+        elif words[0] == 'rank':
+            return "!rank [item] - get the current karma value and rank of [item]"
+        elif words[0] == 'karma':
+            return """!karma stat [nick] - report on the positive, negative, and total karma given by [nick]
+!karma report highest - report on the top 5 karma recipients
+!karma report lowest - report on the bottom 5 karma recipients
+!karma report positive - report on the 5 most positive karma givers
+!karma report negative - report on the 5 most negative karma givers"""
+        else:
+          return None
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     print "Hello World"