diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 79f81f3fa..62aa1c6ea 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@ trying out new ideas on the server side
 and thereby shape the future of Solid.
 
 ## Current status
-This software is in **alpha status**,
-which means it is **too early for use with Solid apps**.
+This server is in beta stage,
+which means you can start using it for developing and testing apps.
+Your feedback is most welcome
+as [issues on this repository](https://github.com/solid/community-server/issues/new).
 
 However, you can already boot up the server,
 play around with it,
@@ -34,13 +36,13 @@ and [good first issues](https://github.com/solid/community-server/issues?q=is%3A
 
 ## Running locally
 
-```
+```shell
 npm ci
 npm start
 ```
 
 This will start up a server running on port 3000 with a backend storing all data in memory.
-More configs with different backends can be found in the config folder.
+More configurations with different backends can be found in the `config` folder.
 
 ## Interacting with the server
 
@@ -52,15 +54,15 @@ Below, we provide several examples on how to interact with the server using `cur
 ### `PUT`: Creating resources for a given URL
 
 Create a plain text file:
-```bash
-$ curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
+```shell
+curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
   -d "abc" \
   http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
 ```
 
 Create a turtle file:
-```bash
-$ curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: text/turtle" \
+```shell
+curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: text/turtle" \
   -d "<ex:s> <ex:p> <ex:o>." \
   http://localhost:3000/myfile.ttl
 ```
@@ -68,15 +70,15 @@ $ curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: text/turtle" \
 ### `POST`: Creating resources at a generated URL
 
 Create a plain text file:
-```bash
-$ curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
+```shell
+curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
   -d "abc" \
   http://localhost:3000/
 ```
 
 Create a turtle file:
-```bash
-$ curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: text/turtle" \
+```shell
+curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: text/turtle" \
   -d "<ex:s> <ex:p> <ex:o>." \
   http://localhost:3000/
 ```
@@ -86,27 +88,27 @@ The response's `Location` header will contain the URL of the created resource.
 ### `GET`: Retrieving resources
 
 Retrieve a plain text file:
-```bash
-$ curl -H "Accept: text/plain" \
+```shell
+curl -H "Accept: text/plain" \
   http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
 ```
 
 Retrieve a turtle file:
-```bash
-$ curl -H "Accept: text/turtle" \
+```shell
+curl -H "Accept: text/turtle" \
   http://localhost:3000/myfile.ttl
 ```
 
 Retrieve a turtle file in a different serialization:
-```bash
-$ curl -H "Accept: application/ld+json" \
+```shell
+curl -H "Accept: application/ld+json" \
   http://localhost:3000/myfile.ttl
 ```
 
 ### `DELETE`: Deleting resources
 
-```bash
-$ curl -X DELETE http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
+```shell
+curl -X DELETE http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
 ```
 
 ### `PATCH`: Modifying resources
@@ -114,21 +116,21 @@ $ curl -X DELETE http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
 Currently, only patches over RDF resources are supported using [SPARQL Update](https://www.w3.org/TR/sparql11-update/)
 queries without `WHERE` clause.
 
-```bash
-$ curl -X PATCH -H "Content-Type: application/sparql-update" \
+```shell
+curl -X PATCH -H "Content-Type: application/sparql-update" \
   -d "INSERT DATA { <ex:s2> <ex:p2> <ex:o2> }" \
   http://localhost:3000/myfile.ttl
 ```
 
 ### `HEAD`: Retrieve resources headers
 
-```bash
-$ curl -I -H "Accept: text/plain" \
+```shell
+curl -I -H "Accept: text/plain" \
   http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
 ```
 
 ### `OPTIONS`: Retrieve resources communication options
 
-```bash
-$ curl -X OPTIONS -i http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
+```shell
+curl -X OPTIONS -i http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
 ```