diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8fc7f8e..363b6b3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -159,13 +159,13 @@ The helm values are very sparse to keep it simple. If you need more values to be
 
 The PVC allocates 100Mi and the PV is using a host path volume.
 
-The helm chart assumes you have [cert manager](https://github.com/jetstack/cert-manager) deployed to have TLS certificates managed easily in your cluster. Feel free to remove the issuer and adjust the ingress if you're on AWS with EKS for example.
+The helm chart assumes you have [cert manager](https://github.com/jetstack/cert-manager) deployed to have TLS certificates managed easily in your cluster. Feel free to remove the issuer and adjust the ingress if you're on AWS with EKS for example. To install cert-manager, I recommend using the ["kubectl apply" way](https://cert-manager.io/docs/installation/kubectl/) to install cert-manager.
 
 To get started, `cp helm-chart/values.yaml helm-chart/my-values.yaml` and adjust `password`, `fqdn` and `letsencryptmail` in your new `my-values.yaml`, then just run
 
 ``` bash
 cd helm-chart
-helm upgrade --install chhoto-url -n chhoto-url --create-namespace -f my-values.yaml
+helm upgrade --install chhoto-url . -n chhoto-url --create-namespace -f my-values.yaml
 ```
 
 ## Instructions for CLI usage
diff --git a/helm-chart/templates/pv.yml b/helm-chart/templates/pv.yml
index 6bd7e99..2992e3f 100644
--- a/helm-chart/templates/pv.yml
+++ b/helm-chart/templates/pv.yml
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ spec:
   accessModes:
     - ReadWriteOnce
   hostPath:
-    path: /mnt/data/chhoto-data
+    path: {{ .Values.persistence.hostPath.path }}
diff --git a/helm-chart/templates/secret.yml b/helm-chart/templates/secret.yml
index 9d09d33..f5c684f 100644
--- a/helm-chart/templates/secret.yml
+++ b/helm-chart/templates/secret.yml
@@ -5,3 +5,6 @@ metadata:
 type: Opaque
 data:
   password: {{ .Values.password }}
+  {{- if .Values.api_key }}
+  api_key: {{ .Values.api_key }}
+  {{- end }}
diff --git a/helm-chart/templates/sts.yml b/helm-chart/templates/sts.yml
index db787cf..0c8ec29 100644
--- a/helm-chart/templates/sts.yml
+++ b/helm-chart/templates/sts.yml
@@ -23,8 +23,29 @@ spec:
                 secretKeyRef:
                   name: secret
                   key: password
+            {{- if .Values.api_key }}
+            - name: api_key
+              valueFrom:
+                secretKeyRef:
+                  name: secret
+                  key: api_key
+            {{- end }}
             - name: db_url
               value: /db/urls.sqlite
+            - name: site_url
+              value: "{{ .Values.protocol }}://{{ .Values.fqdn }}"
+            - name: redirect_method
+              value: {{ .Values.redirect_method }}
+            - name: slug_style
+              value: {{ .Values.slug_style }}
+            - name: slug_length
+              value: "{{ .Values.slug_length }}"
+            - name: public_mode
+              value: {{ .Values.public_mode }}
+            {{- if .Values.cache_control_header }}
+            - name: cache_control_header
+              value: {{ .Values.cache_control_header }}
+            {{- end }}
           volumeMounts:
             - name: data
               mountPath: /db
diff --git a/helm-chart/values.yaml b/helm-chart/values.yaml
index 97749e3..f6a9760 100644
--- a/helm-chart/values.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/values.yaml
@@ -9,6 +9,19 @@ image:
 
 # please use a better password in your values and base64 encode it
 password: cGFzc3dvcmQ=
+# if used, needs to be base64 encoded as well
+# api_key: U0VDVVJFX0FQSV9LRVk=
 
+persistence:
+  hostPath:
+    path: /mnt/data/chhoto-data
+
+redirect_method: PERMANENT
+slug_style: Pair
+slug_length: 8
+public_mode: Disable
+# cache_control_header: "no-cache, private"
+
+protocol: https
 fqdn: your.short.link.url.com
 letsencryptmail: your.mail@address.com