diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 693f6d80..dd6fdf8e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ node_modules
 .DS_Store
 build
 dist
+docs/_build
+.ipynb_checkpoints
 # ignore config file at the top-level of the repo
 # but not sub-dirs
 /jupyterhub_config.py
diff --git a/docs/source/conf.py b/docs/source/conf.py
index 94aa9ad9..26a16881 100644
--- a/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import recommonmark.parser
 # -- General configuration ------------------------------------------------
 
 # If your documentation needs a minimal Sphinx version, state it here.
-#needs_sphinx = '1.0'
+needs_sphinx = '1.3'
 
 # Add any Sphinx extension module names here, as strings. They can be
 # extensions coming with Sphinx (named 'sphinx.ext.*') or your custom