diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc2f4b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+DEPLOY_TRIGGER_SECRET=#A random secret string used to trigger the live site's redeploy after a successful push from blog-manager. Must match DEPLOY_TRIGGER_SECRET in blog-manager/.env.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fdc11b1..6c1469d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ yarn-error.log*
 .pnpm-debug.log*
 
 # env files (can opt-in for committing if needed)
-.env*
+.env
 
 # vercel
 .vercel