diff --git a/R/revealjs_presentation.R b/R/revealjs_presentation.R
index d28fcd8..fa31dca 100644
--- a/R/revealjs_presentation.R
+++ b/R/revealjs_presentation.R
@@ -11,16 +11,20 @@
 #' <https://github.com/rstudio/revealjs>
 #' 
 #' # About plugins
-#' 
+#'
+#' The plugins `notes`, `search`, `menu` and `zoom` are activated by default;
+#' only `chalkboard` is opt-in. Setting `reveal_plugins` replaces the default
+#' set -- pass `NULL` to render without any plugins.
+#'
 #' ## Built-in plugins with reveal.js
-#' 
-#' ### Zoom 
-#' 
-#' When activated, ALT + Click can be used to zoom on a slide.
-#' 
-#' ### Notes 
-#'  
-#' Show a [speaker view](https://revealjs.com/speaker-view/) in a separated
+#'
+#' ### Zoom
+#'
+#' Activated by default: ALT + Click can be used to zoom on a slide.
+#'
+#' ### Notes
+#'
+#' Activated by default: shows a [speaker view](https://revealjs.com/speaker-view/) in a separated
 #' window. This speaker view contains a timer, current slide, next slide, and
 #' speaker notes. It also duplicate the window to have presentation mode
 #' synchronized with main presentation.
@@ -103,15 +107,16 @@
 #' their sub-slides.
 #' 
 #' ### Search
-#' 
-#' When opt-in, it is possible to show a search box when pressing `CTRL + SHIFT +
-#' F`. It will seach in the whole presentation, and highlight matched words. The
+#'
+#' Activated by default: pressing `CTRL + SHIFT + F` shows a search box.
+#' It will search in the whole presentation, and highlight matched words. The
 #' matches will also be highlighted in overview mode (pressing ESC to see all
 #' slides in one scrollable view)
 #' 
-#' ## Menu 
-#' 
-#' A slideout menu plugin for Reveal.js to quickly jump to any slide by title.
+#' ## Menu
+#'
+#' Activated by default: a slideout menu plugin for Reveal.js to quickly jump
+#' to any slide by title.
 #' 
 #' Version `r version <- readLines(revealjs_lib_path("plugin", "menu", "VERSION"))` is
 #' currently used and documentation for configurations can be found at
@@ -127,9 +132,9 @@
 #' * `themes: false`
 #' * `transitions: false`
 
-#' ## Chalkboard 
-#' 
-#' A plugin adding a chalkboard and slide annotation
+#' ## Chalkboard
+#'
+#' An opt-in plugin adding a chalkboard and slide annotation
 #' 
 #' Version `r version <- readLines(revealjs_lib_path("plugin", "chalkboard", "VERSION"))` is
 #' currently used and documentation for configurations can be found at
@@ -164,7 +169,11 @@
 #'   produced, with level 1 headers building horizontally and level 2 headers
 #'   building vertically. It is not recommended that you use deeper nesting of
 #'   section levels with reveal.js.
-#' @param theme Visual theme (`r knitr::combine_words(setdiff(revealjs_themes(), "default"), before = '"', and = " or ")`)
+#' @param theme Visual theme. Defaults to the dedicated IDS corporate design
+#'   theme ("ids"), which is the raison d'être of this package; the stock
+#'   reveal.js themes are available as rarely used alternatives:
+#'   `r knitr::combine_words(setdiff(revealjs_themes(), c("default", "ids")), before = '"', and = " or ")`
+#'   ("dark" is an alias for "black").
 #' @param transition Slide transition (
 #' `r (trans <- knitr::combine_words(setdiff(revealjs_transitions(), "default"), before = '"', and = " or "))`
 #' )
diff --git a/README.Rmd b/README.Rmd
index d5611cd..aa034de 100644
--- a/README.Rmd
+++ b/README.Rmd
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@
 
 There are several options that control the appearance of revealjs presentations:
 
--   `theme` specifies the theme to use for the presentation (available themes are `r knitr::combine_words(setdiff(revealjs.ids:::revealjs_themes(), "default"), before = '"', and = " or ")`
+-   `theme` specifies the visual theme for the presentation. It defaults to the dedicated IDS corporate design theme (`"ids"`), which is the raison d'être of this package; the stock reveal.js themes are listed here only for completeness, as alternatives that will rarely be used in the IDS context: `r knitr::combine_words(setdiff(revealjs.ids:::revealjs_themes(), c("default", "ids")), before = '"', and = " or ")` (`"dark"` is an alias for `"black"`).
 
 -   `highlight` specifies the syntax highlighting style. Supported styles include `r knitr::combine_words(rmarkdown:::highlighters(), before = '"', and = " or ")`. Pass null to prevent syntax highlighting.
 
@@ -249,12 +249,11 @@
 ``` yaml
 output:
   revealjs.ids::revealjs_presentation:
-    theme: sky
     highlight: pygments
     center: true
 ```
 
-[Revealjs documentation about themes](https://revealjs.com/themes/)
+Documentation of the rarely used stock themes: [reveal.js themes](https://revealjs.com/themes/)
 
 ## Slide Transitions
 
@@ -477,7 +476,9 @@
 | [chalkboard](https://github.com/rajgoel/reveal.js-plugins/tree/master/chalkboard)  | Include handwritten notes within a presentation. Press `c` to write on slides, Press `b` to open a whiteboard or chalkboard to write. |
 | [menu](https://github.com/denehyg/reveal.js-menu)                                  | Include a navigation menu within a presentation. Press `m` to open the menu.                                                          |
 
-Note that the use of plugins requires that the `self_contained` option be set to false. For example, this presentation includes both the "notes" and "search" plugins:
+The plugins `notes`, `search`, `menu`, and `zoom` are activated by default; only `chalkboard` is opt-in. Setting `reveal_plugins` yourself replaces the default set, so to add `chalkboard` while keeping the defaults, list them all explicitly. Set `reveal_plugins: null` to render without any plugins.
+
+Note that the use of plugins requires that the `self_contained` option be set to false. For example, this presentation uses only the "notes" and "search" plugins (dropping "menu" and "zoom" from the default set):
 
 ``` yaml
 ---
@@ -584,7 +585,6 @@
 
 ``` yaml
 revealjs.ids::revealjs_presentation:
-  theme: sky
   transition: fade
   highlight: pygments
 ```
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1d5025f..1fb3f4d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -296,9 +296,13 @@
 There are several options that control the appearance of revealjs
 presentations:
 
-- `theme` specifies the theme to use for the presentation (available
-  themes are “ids”, “simple”, “dark”, “black”, “sky”, “beige”, “serif”,
-  “solarized”, “blood”, “moon”, “night”, “league”, or “white”
+- `theme` specifies the visual theme for the presentation. It defaults
+  to the dedicated IDS corporate design theme (“ids”), which is the
+  raison d’être of this package; the stock reveal.js themes are listed
+  here only for completeness, as alternatives that will rarely be used
+  in the IDS context: “simple”, “dark”, “black”, “sky”, “beige”,
+  “serif”, “solarized”, “blood”, “moon”, “night”, “league”, or “white”
+  (“dark” is an alias for “black”).
 
 - `highlight` specifies the syntax highlighting style. Supported styles
   include “default”, “tango”, “pygments”, “kate”, “monochrome”,
@@ -313,12 +317,12 @@
 ``` yaml
 output:
   revealjs.ids::revealjs_presentation:
-    theme: sky
     highlight: pygments
     center: true
 ```
 
-[Revealjs documentation about themes](https://revealjs.com/themes/)
+Documentation of the rarely used stock themes: [reveal.js
+themes](https://revealjs.com/themes/)
 
 ## Slide Transitions
 
@@ -600,9 +604,15 @@
 | [chalkboard](https://github.com/rajgoel/reveal.js-plugins/tree/master/chalkboard)  | Include handwritten notes within a presentation. Press `c` to write on slides, Press `b` to open a whiteboard or chalkboard to write. |
 | [menu](https://github.com/denehyg/reveal.js-menu)                                  | Include a navigation menu within a presentation. Press `m` to open the menu.                                                          |
 
+The plugins `notes`, `search`, `menu`, and `zoom` are activated by
+default; only `chalkboard` is opt-in. Setting `reveal_plugins` yourself
+replaces the default set, so to add `chalkboard` while keeping the
+defaults, list them all explicitly. Set `reveal_plugins: null` to render
+without any plugins.
+
 Note that the use of plugins requires that the `self_contained` option
-be set to false. For example, this presentation includes both the
-“notes” and “search” plugins:
+be set to false. For example, this presentation uses only the “notes”
+and “search” plugins (dropping “menu” and “zoom” from the default set):
 
 ``` yaml
 ---
@@ -731,7 +741,6 @@
 
 ``` yaml
 revealjs.ids::revealjs_presentation:
-  theme: sky
   transition: fade
   highlight: pygments
 ```
diff --git a/man/revealjs_presentation.Rd b/man/revealjs_presentation.Rd
index 0e93d1a..84033ba 100644
--- a/man/revealjs_presentation.Rd
+++ b/man/revealjs_presentation.Rd
@@ -69,7 +69,11 @@
 or just the body of a LaTeX document (\code{FALSE}). Note the LaTeX
 document is an intermediate file unless \code{keep_tex = TRUE}.}
 
-\item{theme}{Visual theme ("ids", "simple", "dark", "black", "sky", "beige", "serif", "solarized", "blood", "moon", "night", "league", or "white")}
+\item{theme}{Visual theme. Defaults to the dedicated IDS corporate design
+theme ("ids"), which is the raison d'être of this package; the stock
+reveal.js themes are available as rarely used alternatives:
+"simple", "dark", "black", "sky", "beige", "serif", "solarized", "blood", "moon", "night", "league", or "white"
+("dark" is an alias for "black").}
 
 \item{transition}{Slide transition (
 "convex", "fade", "slide", "concave", "zoom", or "none"
@@ -155,15 +159,18 @@
 \url{https://github.com/rstudio/revealjs}
 }
 \section{About plugins}{
+The plugins \code{notes}, \code{search}, \code{menu} and \code{zoom} are activated by default;
+only \code{chalkboard} is opt-in. Setting \code{reveal_plugins} replaces the default
+set -- pass \code{NULL} to render without any plugins.
 \subsection{Built-in plugins with reveal.js}{
 \subsection{Zoom}{
 
-When activated, ALT + Click can be used to zoom on a slide.
+Activated by default: ALT + Click can be used to zoom on a slide.
 }
 
 \subsection{Notes}{
 
-Show a \href{https://revealjs.com/speaker-view/}{speaker view} in a separated
+Activated by default: shows a \href{https://revealjs.com/speaker-view/}{speaker view} in a separated
 window. This speaker view contains a timer, current slide, next slide, and
 speaker notes. It also duplicate the window to have presentation mode
 synchronized with main presentation.
@@ -249,7 +256,8 @@
 their sub-slides.
 \subsection{Search}{
 
-When opt-in, it is possible to show a search box when pressing \code{CTRL + SHIFT + F}. It will seach in the whole presentation, and highlight matched words. The
+Activated by default: pressing \code{CTRL + SHIFT + F} shows a search box.
+It will search in the whole presentation, and highlight matched words. The
 matches will also be highlighted in overview mode (pressing ESC to see all
 slides in one scrollable view)
 }
@@ -258,7 +266,8 @@
 
 \subsection{Menu}{
 
-A slideout menu plugin for Reveal.js to quickly jump to any slide by title.
+Activated by default: a slideout menu plugin for Reveal.js to quickly jump
+to any slide by title.
 
 Version  is
 currently used and documentation for configurations can be found at
@@ -279,7 +288,7 @@
 
 \subsection{Chalkboard}{
 
-A plugin adding a chalkboard and slide annotation
+An opt-in plugin adding a chalkboard and slide annotation
 
 Version  is
 currently used and documentation for configurations can be found at