diff --git a/doc/_templates/index.html b/doc/_templates/index.html
index 1c97a870c329..01ab18077e98 100644
--- a/doc/_templates/index.html
+++ b/doc/_templates/index.html
@@ -166,8 +166,8 @@ <h1>Toolkits</h1>
 
 <h1>Third party packages</h1>
 
-<p>A large number of third party <a href="{{ pathto('mpl_toolkits/index') }}">packages</a>
-    extend and build on Matplotlib functionality.  This includes several higher-level plotting interfaces;
+<p>A large number of <a href="{{ pathto('thirdpartypackages/index') }}">third party packages</a>
+    extend and build on Matplotlib functionality, including several higher-level plotting interfaces
     <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/~mwaskom/software/seaborn">seaborn</a>,
     <a href="http://holoviews.org">holoviews</a>,
     <a href="http://ggplot.yhathq.com">ggplot</a>, and
diff --git a/doc/thirdpartypackages/index.rst b/doc/thirdpartypackages/index.rst
index 3a29969ff065..2ed61767f316 100644
--- a/doc/thirdpartypackages/index.rst
+++ b/doc/thirdpartypackages/index.rst
@@ -5,57 +5,22 @@
 *********************
 
 Several external packages that extend or build on Matplotlib functionality
-exist. Below we list a number of these. Please submit an issue or pull request
+exist. Below we list a number of these. Note that they are each
+maintained and distributed separately from Matplotlib, and will need
+to be installed individually.
+
+Please submit an issue or pull request
 on Github if you have created a package that you would like to have included.
 We are also happy to host third party packages within the `Matplotlib Github
 Organization <https://github.com/matplotlib>`_.
 
-.. _toolkits-general:
-
-General Toolkits
-****************
-
-
-.. _toolkit_mpldatacursor:
-
-MplDataCursor
-=============
-
-`MplDataCursor <https://github.com/joferkington/mpldatacursor>`_ is a
-toolkit written by Joe Kington to provide interactive "data cursors"
-(clickable annotation boxes) for matplotlib.
-
-
-.. _toolkit_natgrid:
-
-Natgrid
-=======
-
-mpl_toolkits.natgrid is an interface to natgrid C library for gridding
-irregularly spaced data.  This requires a separate installation of the
-`natgrid toolkit <http://github.com/matplotlib/natgrid>`__.
-
-
-.. _toolkit_matplotlibvenn:
-
-Matplotlib-Venn
-===============
-
-`Matplotlib-Venn <https://github.com/konstantint/matplotlib-venn>`_ provides a set of functions for plotting 2- and 3-set area-weighted (or unweighted) Venn diagrams.
-
-mplstereonet
-===============
-
-`mplstereonet <https://github.com/joferkington/mplstereonet>`_ provides stereonets for plotting and analyzing orientation data in Matplotlib.
-
-
 .. _hl_plotting:
 
 High-Level Plotting
 *******************
 
-Several projects have started to provide a higher-level interface to
-matplotlib.  These are independent projects.
+Several projects provide higher-level interfaces for creating
+matplotlib plots.
 
 .. _toolkit_seaborn:
 
@@ -75,7 +40,7 @@ understanding complex datasets.
 ggplot
 ======
 
-`ggplot <https://github.com/yhat/ggplot>`_ is a port of the R ggplot2
+`ggplot <https://github.com/yhat/ggplot>`_ is a port of the R ggplot2 package
 to python based on matplotlib.
 
 .. image:: /_static/ggplot.png
@@ -86,7 +51,6 @@ to python based on matplotlib.
 holoviews
 =========
 
-
 `holoviews <http://holoviews.org>`_ makes it easier to visualize data
 interactively, especially in a `Jupyter notebook
 <http://jupyter.org>`_, by providing a set of declarative
@@ -98,6 +62,47 @@ parameter exploration.
 .. image:: /_static/holoviews.png
     :height: 354px
 
+
+.. _toolkits-mapping:
+
+Mapping Toolkits
+****************
+
+Two independent mapping toolkits are available.
+
+.. _toolkit_basemap:
+
+Basemap
+=======
+
+Plots data on map projections, with continental and political
+boundaries. See `basemap <http://matplotlib.org/basemap>`_
+docs.
+
+.. image:: /_static/basemap_contour1.png
+    :height: 400px
+
+
+
+Cartopy
+=======
+`Cartopy <http://scitools.org.uk/cartopy/docs/latest>`_ builds on top of
+matplotlib to provide object oriented map projection definitions and close
+integration with Shapely for powerful yet easy-to-use vector data processing
+tools. An example plot from the
+`Cartopy gallery <http://scitools.org.uk/cartopy/docs/latest/gallery.html>`_:
+
+.. image:: /_static/cartopy_hurricane_katrina_01_00.png
+    :height: 400px
+
+
+.. _toolkits-misc:
+.. _toolkits-general:
+
+Miscellaneous Toolkits
+**********************
+
+
 .. _toolkit_prettyplotlib:
 
 prettyplotlib
@@ -129,35 +134,34 @@ feature.
 .. image:: /_static/matplotlib_iterm2_demo.png
 
 
-.. _toolkits-mapping:
+.. _toolkit_mpldatacursor:
 
-Mapping Toolkits
-****************
+MplDataCursor
+=============
+
+`MplDataCursor <https://github.com/joferkington/mpldatacursor>`_ is a
+toolkit written by Joe Kington to provide interactive "data cursors"
+(clickable annotation boxes) for matplotlib.
 
 
-.. _toolkit_basemap:
+.. _toolkit_natgrid:
 
-Basemap
+Natgrid
 =======
 
-Plots data on map projections, with continental and political
-boundaries, see `basemap <http://matplotlib.org/basemap>`_
-docs.
+mpl_toolkits.natgrid is an interface to natgrid C library for gridding
+irregularly spaced data.  This requires a separate installation of the
+`natgrid toolkit <http://github.com/matplotlib/natgrid>`__.
 
-.. image:: /_static/basemap_contour1.png
-    :height: 400px
 
+.. _toolkit_matplotlibvenn:
 
+Matplotlib-Venn
+===============
 
-Cartopy
-=======
+`Matplotlib-Venn <https://github.com/konstantint/matplotlib-venn>`_ provides a set of functions for plotting 2- and 3-set area-weighted (or unweighted) Venn diagrams.
 
-An alternative mapping library written for matplotlib ``v1.2`` and beyond.
-`Cartopy <http://scitools.org.uk/cartopy/docs/latest>`_ builds on top of
-matplotlib to provide object oriented map projection definitions and close
-integration with Shapely for powerful yet easy-to-use vector data processing
-tools. An example plot from the
-`Cartopy gallery <http://scitools.org.uk/cartopy/docs/latest/gallery.html>`_:
+mplstereonet
+===============
 
-.. image:: /_static/cartopy_hurricane_katrina_01_00.png
-    :height: 400px
+`mplstereonet <https://github.com/joferkington/mplstereonet>`_ provides stereonets for plotting and analyzing orientation data in Matplotlib.