improve readme

README.md

@@ -1,9 +1,64 @@
 # Effect Examples
 
-This repository serves as a centralized location for both examples of how to use Effect in real-world projects as well as templates for quickly bootstrapping projects with Effect.
-
 ## Create Effect App
 
-The repository also contains a command-line application called `create-effect-app`, which can be used to bootstrap an example or a template in a single command.
+The easiest way to get started with Effect is by using `create-effect-app`. 
+
+This CLI tool enables you to quickly bootstrap a project with Effect, with everything pre-configured for you. 
+
+You can create a new project using one of our project templates or by using one of the [official Effect examples](./examples). 
 
 See [the documentation](./packages/create-effect-app/README.md) for more information.
+
+## Examples
+
+This repository contains examples which can be used to understand how to use Effect. You can also clone an example to your local machine via the `create-effect-app` CLI tool.
+
+The available examples include:
+
+|Name|Description|
+|----|----|
+|`http-server`| An HTTP server built with Effect complete with authentication and authorization. |
+
+## Templates
+
+This repository contains templates which can be used to quickly bootstrap a new project with Effect via the `create-effect-app` CLI tool. 
+
+These templates were developed to mirror the project configuration recommneded by the Effect core team and are thus somewhat opinionated.
+
+### Basic
+
+The `basic` template is meant to serve as the foundation for building a single package or library with Effect. 
+
+The template features:
+
+- Pre-configured build pipeline which supports both ESM and CJS
+- Pre-configured test pipeline via `vitest`
+- Pre-configured TypeScript configuration
+- ESLint & Dprint for linting and formatting, respectively (optional)
+- Nix to provide a consistent development shell (optional)
+- Changesets for version management and publication (optional)
+- The Effect team's recommended GitHub Actions (optional)
+
+For more information, see the template [README](./templates/basic/README.md).
+
+### Monorepo
+
+The `monorepo` template is meant to serve as the foundation for building a multiple packages or applications with Effect. 
+
+The template features everything included with the `basic` template in addition to:
+
+- Pre-configured TypeScript path aliases and project references to support package interdependencies
+
+For more information, see the template [README](./templates/monorepo/README.md).
+
+### CLI
+
+The `cli` template is meant to serve as the foundation for building a command-line application with [Effect CLI](https://github.com/Effect-TS/effect/blob/main/packages/cli/README.md).
+
+The template features everything included with the `basic` template, except with a different build pipeline:
+
+- Pre-configured build pipeline is via `tsup` to support bundling to a single file
+
+For more information, see the template [README](./templates/cli/README.md).
+