diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2c9731db..ef1defa8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ represented by the pull requests that fixed them. Critical items to know are:
 
 
 ## [master](https://github.com/singularityhub/sregistry/tree/master) (master)
+ - Adding container descriptions, editable by owners (1.1.40)
  - add: auto set "verify" attribute of s3 and s3_external obj in minio.py for SSL use (1.1.39) 
  - fix issues with psycopg2-binary and saml auth (1.1.38)
    - Pin psycopg2-binary 2.8.6 to deal with UTC errors
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 1b507d18..2818446a 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.1.39
+1.1.40
diff --git a/shub/apps/main/models/containers.py b/shub/apps/main/models/containers.py
index 6641f0fe..c08de070 100644
--- a/shub/apps/main/models/containers.py
+++ b/shub/apps/main/models/containers.py
@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@ def get_uri(self, include_version=True):  # shub://username/reponame:branch@tag
             return self.get_short_uri()
         return self.get_storage()
 
+    @property
+    def description(self):
+        return self.metadata.get("description")
+
     def get_storage(self):
         """Return the full storage path, which includes the version string"""
         if "/" in self.name:
diff --git a/shub/apps/main/templates/collections/view_collection.html b/shub/apps/main/templates/collections/view_collection.html
index 2da38d2e..b82caf66 100644
--- a/shub/apps/main/templates/collections/view_collection.html
+++ b/shub/apps/main/templates/collections/view_collection.html
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ <h3 class="title">{{ collection.name }} <span class="small">collection</span></h
                            <tr>
                                <th></th>
                                <th>uri</th>
+                               <th>Description</th>
                                <th>Recipe <i class="fa fa-cloud-download" style="margin-left:5px"></i></th>
                                <th>Status</th>
                                <th>Tag</th>
@@ -132,7 +133,7 @@ <h3 class="title">{{ collection.name }} <span class="small">collection</span></h
                                    {{ collection.name }}/{{ container.name }}:{{ container.tag }}
                                    </a>
                                </td>
-                                
+                               <td>{% if container.description %}{{ container.description }}{% endif %}</td>                                
                                <td>{% if container.builder.deffile %}<a href="{{ container.builder.deffile }}" target="_blank">Singularity.{{ container.tag }}</a>{% else %}
                                <a href="{% url 'download_recipe' container.id %}">Singularity.{{ container.tag }}</a>{% endif %}</td>
                                <td>
diff --git a/shub/apps/main/templates/containers/container_details.html b/shub/apps/main/templates/containers/container_details.html
index 1e7f92a7..e73109c8 100644
--- a/shub/apps/main/templates/containers/container_details.html
+++ b/shub/apps/main/templates/containers/container_details.html
@@ -41,6 +41,13 @@
 
 {% include "messages/message.html" %}
 
+<ul class="row" style="margin-left:-28px">
+    <div class="messages" style="width:100%">
+        <p style="display:none; border-radius:5px;" class="alert alert-info" id='custom-message'></p>
+    </div>
+</ul>
+
+
 <div class="row" style="margin-top:20px; display:none" id="share_box">
 
     <div class="col-md-7" style="margin-bottom:30px; margin-left:20px;">
@@ -68,6 +75,16 @@
                 <a href="{% url 'collection_details' container.collection.id %}"><h2 class="title">
                     {{ container.get_short_uri }}</h2></a>
                 {% if container.version %}<p>Version {{ container.version }}</p>{% endif %}
+                <div class="row">
+                    <div class="col-md-4">
+                        <p>{% if edit_permission %}<input id="the_description" type="text" class="form-control" placeholder="Add your description here" aria-label="Description" aria-describedby="basic-addon2" {% if container.description %}value="{{ container.description }}"{% endif %}>{% else %}
+                         {% if container.description %}{{ container.description }}{% endif %}
+                         {% endif %}</p>
+                    </div>
+                    <div class="col-md-3">
+                    {% if edit_permission %}<button style="float:left" id="the_description_button" class="btn btn-primary">Save Description</button>{% endif %}
+                    </div>
+                 </div>
                 <h3>
                      <span class="icon-controls" style="position:relative;top:-70px">
                      </span>
@@ -277,7 +294,6 @@ <h3>n={{ label.containers.count }}</h3>
 </div>
 {% include "social/share_links.html" %}
 {% endblock %}
-
 {% block scripts %}
 {% if edit_permission %}
 <script src="{% static "js/cookie-token.js" %}"></script>
@@ -431,6 +447,30 @@ <h3>n={{ label.containers.count }}</h3>
     })
 
     {% endif %}
+    {% if edit_permission %}
+    function saveDescription() {
+        var description = $("#the_description").val();
+        console.log(description);
+        $.ajax({
+                url : "{% url 'save_container_description' cid=container.id %}", // the endpoint
+                type : "POST", // http method
+                data : { description: description },
+                success : function(msg) {
+                   console.log(msg)
+                   $("#custom-message").text(msg['result'])
+                   $("#custom-message").show();
+                },
+                error : function(xhr,errmsg,err) {
+                   $("#custom-message").text(errmsg['result'])
+                   $("#custom-message").show();
+                    console.log(xhr.status + ": " + xhr.responseText);
+                }
+         });
+    }
+
+    $("#the_description_button").click(function(){
+        saveDescription();
+    }){% endif %}
 
 })
 
@@ -443,6 +483,5 @@ <h3>n={{ label.containers.count }}</h3>
   iframe.frameBorder = "0";
   $(iframe).appendTo('#osembed'); 
 }
-
 </script>
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/shub/apps/main/urls/containers.py b/shub/apps/main/urls/containers.py
index e2682b56..22359c5c 100644
--- a/shub/apps/main/urls/containers.py
+++ b/shub/apps/main/urls/containers.py
@@ -63,4 +63,9 @@
         views.download_container,
         name="download_container",
     ),
+    url(
+        r"^containers/(?P<cid>\d+)/describe/?$",
+        views.save_container_description,
+        name="save_container_description",
+    ),
 ]
diff --git a/shub/apps/main/views/__init__.py b/shub/apps/main/views/__init__.py
index 650e0e04..29f74e55 100644
--- a/shub/apps/main/views/__init__.py
+++ b/shub/apps/main/views/__init__.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
     container_details,
     container_tags,
     delete_container,
+    save_container_description,
 )
 
 from .compare import collections_treemap, container_size_data, collection_size_data
diff --git a/shub/apps/main/views/containers.py b/shub/apps/main/views/containers.py
index d0aac976..795cbd6d 100644
--- a/shub/apps/main/views/containers.py
+++ b/shub/apps/main/views/containers.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 from django.shortcuts import render, redirect
 
 from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
-from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect, Http404
+from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect, Http404, JsonResponse
 from django.contrib import messages
 from datetime import datetime
 from ratelimit.decorators import ratelimit
@@ -82,6 +82,25 @@ def container_details(request, cid):
     return render(request, "containers/container_details.html", context)
 
 
+@ratelimit(key="ip", rate=rl_rate, block=rl_block)
+@login_required
+def save_container_description(request, cid):
+    """allow an owner of a collection to change the descriptions
+    via a contenteditable field
+    """
+    container = get_container(cid=cid)
+    if not container.has_edit_permission(request):
+        return JsonResponse({"result": "This action is not permitted."})
+
+    if request.method == "POST":
+        description = request.POST.get("description")
+        if description:
+            container.metadata["description"] = description
+            container.save()
+            return JsonResponse({"result": "Description updated"})
+    return JsonResponse({"result": "Nope, can't do that"})
+
+
 @ratelimit(key="ip", rate=rl_rate, block=rl_block)
 @login_required
 def delete_container(request, cid):