diff --git a/patches/namd-2.8.config b/patches/namd-2.8.config
index f8c5843e45a650c53ddcf7af6746ae04e6157032..e36c9fb19ac0d1fb8e16b1d7ef0b2eb1e3c9258b 100644
--- a/patches/namd-2.8.config
+++ b/patches/namd-2.8.config
@@ -6,10 +6,22 @@ function plumed_preliminary_test(){
 }
 
 function plumed_patch_info(){
-  echo "\bug NAMD does not currently take into account virial contributions"
-  echo "from PLUMED. Please use constant volume simulations only"
-  echo ""
-  echo "For more information on NAMD you should visit http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/namd/"
+cat << EOF
+
+To enable PLUMED in a NAMD simulation one should add the following lines in the NAMD configuration file
+(often named as xxx.namd or xxx.conf) and run the plumed-patched version of NAMD with it:
+
+plumed on
+plumed plumed.dat
+
+The first line tells NAMD to run with PLUMED and the second line specifies the PLUMED input file.
+
+\bug NAMD does not currently take into account virial contributions
+from PLUMED. Please use constant volume simulations only.
+
+For more information on NAMD you should visit http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/namd/
+
+EOF
 }
 
 plumed_ignore_mpi=yes
diff --git a/patches/namd-2.9.config b/patches/namd-2.9.config
index c28378451021f6ba931e3dbce7caafa0154eafbb..5086c057738f02678c64459ab9207c99b988a962 100644
--- a/patches/namd-2.9.config
+++ b/patches/namd-2.9.config
@@ -6,10 +6,22 @@ function plumed_preliminary_test(){
 }
 
 function plumed_patch_info(){
-  echo "\bug NAMD does not currently take into account virial contributions"
-  echo "from PLUMED. Please use constant volume simulations only"
-  echo ""
-  echo "For more information on NAMD you should visit http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/namd/"
+cat << EOF
+
+To enable PLUMED in a NAMD simulation one should add the following lines in the NAMD configuration file
+(often named as xxx.namd or xxx.conf) and run the plumed-patched version of NAMD with it:
+
+plumed on
+plumed plumed.dat
+
+The first line tells NAMD to run with PLUMED and the second line specifies the PLUMED input file.
+
+\bug NAMD does not currently take into account virial contributions
+from PLUMED. Please use constant volume simulations only.
+
+For more information on NAMD you should visit http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/namd/
+
+EOF
 }
 
 plumed_ignore_mpi=yes