added note about import numpy error when building numpy in a venv

1 files changed, 9 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/doc/source/docs/howto_build_docs.rst b/doc/source/docs/howto_build_docs.rst
index 5db67b9b8..2f19d3c98 100644
--- a/doc/source/docs/howto_build_docs.rst
+++ b/doc/source/docs/howto_build_docs.rst
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ with::
 
 Now you are ready to generate the docs, so write::
 
+    cd doc
     make html
 
 in the ``doc/`` directory. If all goes well, this will generate a
@@ -55,6 +56,14 @@ in the ``doc/`` directory. If all goes well, this will generate a
 a message about ``installed numpy != current repo git version``, you must
 either override the check by setting ``GITVER`` or re-install NumPy.
 
+Note that if you have built numpy into a virtual enviornment and getting
+an error that says ``numpy not found, cannot build documentation without successful "import numpy"``
+you need to override the makefile variable at the commandline so instead of writing ``make html``
+write::
+
+    make PYTHON=python html
+
+
 Note that building the documentation on Windows is currently not actively
 supported, though it should be possible. (See Sphinx_ documentation
 for more information.)