diff --git a/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/porters-handbook/book.sgml b/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/porters-handbook/book.sgml
index cc81a3a06d..97033a5da1 100644
--- a/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/porters-handbook/book.sgml
+++ b/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/porters-handbook/book.sgml
@@ -3127,6 +3127,14 @@ PATCHFILES=     patch1:test</programlisting>
 		  building.</entry>
 	      </row>
 
+	      <row>
+		<entry><makevar>USE_SDL</makevar></entry>
+
+		<entry>The port uses <literal>SDL</literal> for
+		  building and running. See <xref linkend="using-sdl"> on how to use
+		  <makevar>USE_SDL</makevar>.</entry>
+	      </row>
+
 	      <row>
 		<entry><makevar>NO_INSTALL_MANPAGES</makevar></entry>
 
@@ -3899,7 +3907,105 @@ LDCONFIG_DIRS=  %%PREFIX%%/lib/foo %%PREFIX%%/lib/bar</programlisting>
 
       <para>This section is yet to be written.</para>
     </sect1>
-    </chapter>
+
+    <sect1 id="using-sdl">
+      <title>Using SDL</title>
+
+      <para>The <makevar>USE_SDL</makevar> variable is used to autoconfigure
+	the dependencies for ports which use an SDL based library like
+	<filename role="package">devel/sdl12</filename> and
+	<filename role="package">x11-toolkits/sdl_gui</filename>.</para>
+
+      <para>The following SDL libraries are recognized at the moment:</para>
+
+      <itemizedlist>
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>sdl: <filename role="package">devel/sdl12</filename></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>gfx: <filename role="package">graphics/sdl_gfx</filename></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>gui: <filename role="package">x11-toolkits/sdl_gui</filename></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>image: <filename role="package">graphics/sdl_image</filename></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>ldbad: <filename role="package">devel/sdl_ldbad</filename></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>mixer: <filename role="package">audio/sdl_mixer</filename></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>mm: <filename role="package">devel/sdlmm</filename></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>net: <filename role="package">net/sdl_net</filename></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>sound: <filename role="package">audio/sdl_sound</filename></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>ttf: <filename role="package">graphics/sdl_ttf</filename></para>
+	</listitem>
+      </itemizedlist>
+
+      <para>Therefore, if a port has a dependency on
+	<filename role="package">net/sdl_net</filename> and
+	<filename role="package">audio/sdl_mixer</filename>,
+	the syntax will be:</para>
+
+      <programlisting>USE_SDL=	  net mixer</programlisting>
+
+      <para>The dependency <filename role="package">devel/sdl12</filename>,
+	which is required by <filename role="package">net/sdl_net</filename> and
+	<filename role="package">audio/sdl_mixer</filename>, is automatically
+	added as well.</para>
+
+      <para>If you use <makevar>USE_SDL</makevar>, it will automatically:</para>
+
+      <itemizedlist>
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>Add a dependency on <application>sdl11-config</application> to
+	    <makevar>BUILD_DEPENDS</makevar></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>Add the variable <makevar>SDL_CONFIG</makevar> to
+	    <makevar>CONFIGURE_ENV</makevar></para>
+	</listitem>
+
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>Add the dependencies of the selected libraries to the
+	    <makevar>LIB_DEPENDS</makevar></para>
+	</listitem>
+      </itemizedlist>
+
+      <para>To check whether an SDL library is available, you can do it
+	with the <makevar>WANT_SDL</makevar> variable:</para>
+
+      <programlisting>WANT_SDL=yes
+
+.include &lt;bsd.port.pre.mk&gt;
+
+.if ${HAVE_SDL:Mmixer}!=""
+USE_SDL+=   mixer
+.endif
+
+.include &lt;bsd.port.post.mk&gt;</programlisting>
+
+    </sect1>
+  </chapter>
 
 <!--