@@ -422,15 +422,24 @@ The section on :ref:`properties` discussed the creation of instance properties
 that are implemented in terms of C++ getters and setters.
 
 Static properties can also be created in a similar way to expose getters and
-setters of static class attributes. It is important to note that the implicit
-``self`` argument also exists in this case and is used to pass the Python
-``type`` subclass instance. This parameter will often not be needed by the C++
-side, and the following example illustrates how to instantiate a lambda getter
-function that ignores it:
+setters of static class attributes. Two things are important to note:
+
+1. Static properties are implemented by instrumenting the *metaclass* of the
+   class in question -- however, this requires the class to have a modifiable
+   metaclass in the first place. pybind11 provides a ``py::metaclass()``
+   annotation that must be specified in the ``class_`` constructor, or any
+   later method calls to ``def_{property_,∅}_{readwrite,readonly}_static`` will
+   fail (see the example below).
+
+2. For static properties defined in terms of setter and getter functions, note
+   that the implicit ``self`` argument also exists in this case and is used to
+   pass the Python ``type`` subclass instance. This parameter will often not be
+   needed by the C++ side, and the following example illustrates how to
+   instantiate a lambda getter function that ignores it:
 
 .. code-block:: cpp
 
-    py::class_<Foo>(m, "Foo")
+    py::class_<Foo>(m, "Foo", py::metaclass())
         .def_property_readonly_static("foo", [](py::object /* self */) { return Foo(); });
 
 Operator overloading
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ completely avoid copy operations with Python expressions like
 
 .. code-block:: cpp
 
-    py::class_<Matrix>(m, "Matrix")
+    py::class_<Matrix>(m, "Matrix", py::buffer_protocol())
        .def_buffer([](Matrix &m) -> py::buffer_info {
             return py::buffer_info(
                 m.data(),                               /* Pointer to buffer */
@@ -46,9 +46,12 @@ completely avoid copy operations with Python expressions like
             );
         });
 
-The snippet above binds a lambda function, which can create ``py::buffer_info``
-description records on demand describing a given matrix. The contents of
-``py::buffer_info`` mirror the Python buffer protocol specification.
+Supporting the buffer protocol in a new type involves specifying the special
+``py::buffer_protocol()`` tag in the ``py::class_`` constructor and calling the
+``def_buffer()`` method with a lambda function that creates a
+``py::buffer_info`` description record on demand describing a given matrix
+instance. The contents of ``py::buffer_info`` mirror the Python buffer protocol
+specification.
 
 .. code-block:: cpp
 
@@ -77,7 +80,7 @@ buffer objects (e.g. a NumPy matrix).
     typedef Matrix::Scalar Scalar;
     constexpr bool rowMajor = Matrix::Flags & Eigen::RowMajorBit;
 
-    py::class_<Matrix>(m, "Matrix")
+    py::class_<Matrix>(m, "Matrix", py::buffer_protocol())
         .def("__init__", [](Matrix &m, py::buffer b) {
             typedef Eigen::Stride<Eigen::Dynamic, Eigen::Dynamic> Strides;