diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 1b82198d..8ae84728 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 **/.git
 **/.gitignore
-/local-www
+/local-instances
 **/.gitkeep
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 454f2c75..93cac6d4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ php_errors.log
 #vichan custom
 favicon.ico
 /static/spoiler.png
-local-www
+/local-instances
 
 piwik/
 jwplayer/
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 8fe92537..a1245937 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,28 +1,28 @@
 services:
   #nginx webserver + php 8.x
   web:
-      build:
-        context: .
-        dockerfile: ./docker/nginx/Dockerfile
-      ports:
-        - "9091:80"
-      depends_on:
-        - leftypol-db
-      volumes:
-          - ./local-www:/var/www/html
-          - ./docker/nginx/leftypol.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
-          - ./docker/nginx/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
-          - ./docker/nginx/proxy.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/proxy.conf
-      links:
-          - php
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: ./docker/nginx/Dockerfile
+    ports:
+      - "9091:80"
+    depends_on:
+      - leftypol-db
+    volumes:
+      - ./local-instances/1/www:/var/www/html
+      - ./docker/nginx/leftypol.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
+      - ./docker/nginx/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
+      - ./docker/nginx/proxy.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/proxy.conf
+    links:
+      - php
 
   php:
-      build:
-        context: .
-        dockerfile: ./docker/php/Dockerfile
-      volumes:
-          - ./local-www:/var/www
-          - ./docker/php/www.conf:/usr/local/etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: ./docker/php/Dockerfile
+    volumes:
+      - ./local-instances/1/www:/var/www
+      - ./docker/php/www.conf:/usr/local/etc/php-fpm.d/www.conf
 
   #MySQL Service
   leftypol-db:
@@ -36,3 +36,5 @@ services:
       MYSQL_DATABASE: vichan
       MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: password
     command: "--default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password"
+    volumes:
+      - ./local-instances/1/mysql:/var/lib/mysql
diff --git a/docker/doc.md b/docker/doc.md
index 13ad93a6..e022f170 100644
--- a/docker/doc.md
+++ b/docker/doc.md
@@ -2,3 +2,15 @@ The `php-fpm` process runs containerized.
 The php application always uses `/var/www` as it's work directory and home folder, and if `/var/www` is bind mounted it
 is necessary to adjust the path passed via FastCGI to `php-fpm` by changing the root directory to `/var/www`.
 This can achieved in nginx by setting the `fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME` to `/var/www/$fastcgi_script_name;`
+
+The default docker compose settings are intended for development and testing purposes.
+The folder structure expected by compose is as follows
+
+```
+<vichan-project>
+└── local-instances
+    └── 1
+        ├── mysql
+        └── www
+```
+The vichan container is by itself much less rigid.