diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..550c62e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+export CLOUDKARAFKA_BROKERS="host1:9094,host2:9094,host3:9094"
+export CLOUDKARAFKA_USERNAME="username"
+export CLOUDKARAFKA_PASSWORD="password"
+export CLOUDKARAFKA_TOPIC="default"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5702678
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+
+# Created by https://www.gitignore.io/api/node
+
+### Node ###
+# Logs
+logs
+*.log
+npm-debug.log*
+yarn-debug.log*
+yarn-error.log*
+
+# Runtime data
+pids
+*.pid
+*.seed
+*.pid.lock
+
+# Directory for instrumented libs generated by jscoverage/JSCover
+lib-cov
+
+# Coverage directory used by tools like istanbul
+coverage
+
+# nyc test coverage
+.nyc_output
+
+# Grunt intermediate storage (http://gruntjs.com/creating-plugins#storing-task-files)
+.grunt
+
+# Bower dependency directory (https://bower.io/)
+bower_components
+
+# node-waf configuration
+.lock-wscript
+
+# Compiled binary addons (http://nodejs.org/api/addons.html)
+build/Release
+
+# Dependency directories
+node_modules/
+jspm_packages/
+
+# Typescript v1 declaration files
+typings/
+
+# Optional npm cache directory
+.npm
+
+# Optional eslint cache
+.eslintcache
+
+# Optional REPL history
+.node_repl_history
+
+# Output of 'npm pack'
+*.tgz
+
+# Yarn Integrity file
+.yarn-integrity
+
+# dotenv environment variables file
+.env
+
+
+# End of https://www.gitignore.io/api/node
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2f31531..b0a17df 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -12,21 +12,24 @@ Configuration
   Username can be found in the Details view in for your CloudKarafka instance.
 * `export CLOUDKARAFKA_PASSWORD="password"`
   Password can be found in the Details view in for your CloudKarafka instance.
-* `export CLOUDKARAFKA_TOPIC_PREFIX="<username>-"`
-  Topic prefix should be the same as your username.
+* `export CLOUDKARAFKA_TOPIC="default"`
+  Topic name without the "prefix-" that is your username.
 
-These export commands must be run in both of the terminal windows below.
+These exports must be run in both of the terminal windows below, or create a `.env` file according to the example then follow the commands.
 
 ```
 git clone https://github.com/CloudKarafka/nodejs-kafka-example.git
 cd nodejs-kafka-example
 npm install
+cp .env.example .env
+# now add your own credentials from the dashboard to the `.env` file
+. ./.env
 node consumer.js
 ```
 
 Open another terminal window
 ```
-# setup ENV variables for the new terminal window (from above)
 cd nodejs-kafka-example
-node consumer.js
+. ./.env
+node producer.js
 ```
diff --git a/consumer.js b/consumer.js
index 6da9a54..7c90205 100644
--- a/consumer.js
+++ b/consumer.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 var Kafka = require("node-rdkafka");
 
 var kafkaConf = {
-  "group.id": "cloudkarafka-example",
+  "group.id": process.env.CLOUDKARAFKA_USERNAME + "-consumer",
   "metadata.broker.list": process.env.CLOUDKARAFKA_BROKERS.split(","),
   "socket.keepalive.enable": true,
   "security.protocol": "SASL_SSL",
@@ -12,21 +12,21 @@ var kafkaConf = {
 };
 
 const prefix = process.env.CLOUDKARAFKA_USERNAME;
-const topics = [`${prefix}.test`];
+const topics = [`${prefix}-${process.env.CLOUDKARAFKA_TOPIC}`];
 const consumer = new Kafka.KafkaConsumer(kafkaConf, {
   "auto.offset.reset": "beginning"
 });
 const numMessages = 5;
 let counter = 0;
-consumer.on("error", function(err) {
+consumer.on("error", function (err) {
   console.error(err);
 });
-consumer.on("ready", function(arg) {
+consumer.on("ready", function (arg) {
   console.log(`Consumer ${arg.name} ready`);
   consumer.subscribe(topics);
   consumer.consume();
 });
-consumer.on("data", function(m) {
+consumer.on("data", function (m) {
   counter++;
   if (counter % numMessages === 0) {
     console.log("calling commit");
@@ -34,18 +34,18 @@ consumer.on("data", function(m) {
   }
   console.log(m.value.toString());
 });
-consumer.on("disconnected", function(arg) {
+consumer.on("disconnected", function (arg) {
   process.exit();
 });
-consumer.on('event.error', function(err) {
+consumer.on('event.error', function (err) {
   console.error(err);
   process.exit(1);
 });
-consumer.on('event.log', function(log) {
+consumer.on('event.log', function (log) {
   console.log(log);
 });
 consumer.connect();
 
-setTimeout(function() {
+setTimeout(function () {
   consumer.disconnect();
 }, 300000);
diff --git a/producer.js b/producer.js
index bb550fd..f66c9eb 100644
--- a/producer.js
+++ b/producer.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 const Kafka = require("node-rdkafka");
 
 const kafkaConf = {
-  "group.id": "cloudkarafka-example",
+  "group.id": process.env.CLOUDKARAFKA_USERNAME + "-consumer",
   "metadata.broker.list": process.env.CLOUDKARAFKA_BROKERS.split(","),
   "socket.keepalive.enable": true,
   "security.protocol": "SASL_SSL",
@@ -11,14 +11,14 @@ const kafkaConf = {
   "debug": "generic,broker,security"
 };
 
-const prefix = process.env.CLOUDKARAFKA_TOPIC_PREFIX;
-const topic = `${prefix}.test`;
+const prefix = process.env.CLOUDKARAFKA_USERNAME;
+const topic = `${prefix}-${process.env.CLOUDKARAFKA_TOPIC}`;
 const producer = new Kafka.Producer(kafkaConf);
 const maxMessages = 20;
 
 const genMessage = i => new Buffer(`Kafka example, message number ${i}`);
 
-producer.on("ready", function(arg) {
+producer.on("ready", function (arg) {
   console.log(`producer ${arg.name} ready.`);
   for (var i = 0; i < maxMessages; i++) {
     producer.produce(topic, -1, genMessage(i), i);
@@ -26,15 +26,15 @@ producer.on("ready", function(arg) {
   setTimeout(() => producer.disconnect(), 0);
 });
 
-producer.on("disconnected", function(arg) {
+producer.on("disconnected", function (arg) {
   process.exit();
 });
 
-producer.on('event.error', function(err) {
+producer.on('event.error', function (err) {
   console.error(err);
   process.exit(1);
 });
-producer.on('event.log', function(log) {
+producer.on('event.log', function (log) {
   console.log(log);
 });
 producer.connect();