diff --git a/ctools.api.php b/ctools.api.php
index b6a3cd9..c287844 100644
--- a/ctools.api.php
+++ b/ctools.api.php
@@ -14,6 +14,20 @@
  */
 
 /**
+ * Inform CTools about plugin types.
+ *
+ * @return array
+ *  An array of plugin types, keyed by the type name.
+ */
+function hook_ctools_plugin_type() {
+  $plugins['my_type'] => array(
+    'load themes' => TRUE,
+  );
+
+  return $plugins;
+}
+
+/**
  * This hook is used to inform the CTools plugin system about the location of a
  * directory that should be searched for files containing plugins of a
  * particular type. CTools invokes this same hook for all plugins, using the
diff --git a/help/plugins-creating.html b/help/plugins-creating.html
index 77f0315..47b3b55 100644
--- a/help/plugins-creating.html
+++ b/help/plugins-creating.html
@@ -39,20 +39,22 @@ function panels_get_content_types() {
 }
 </pre>
 
-As a plugin creator, your module can also implement a hook to give more information about this plugin, and to enable a few features that are not normally enabled. If you need any of these features, simply implement hook_ctools_plugin_TYPE (where TYPE is the same $type sent to ctools_get_plugins). This isn't a true hook, it will only be called for the $module that was given. This hook returns an array:
+As a plugin creator, your module must implement a hook to inform ctools that this plugin exists, and to optionally enable a few features that are not normally enabled. If you need any of these features, simply implement hook_ctools_plugin_type. This hook returns an array keyed by plugin name:
 
 <pre>
 /**
- * Inform CTools that the layout plugin can be loaded from themes.
+ * Implements hook_ctools_plugin_type() to inform CTools about the layout plugin.
  */
-function panels_ctools_plugin_layouts() {
-  return array(
+function panels_ctools_plugin_type() {
+  $plugins['layouts'] => array(
     'load themes' => TRUE,
   );
+
+  return $plugins;
 }
 </pre>
 
-The following information can be specified:
+The following information can be specified for each plugin type:
 <dl>
 <dt>cache</dt>
 <dd><em>Defaults to:</em> <strong>FALSE</strong></dd>