diff --git a/README.org b/README.org
index 2822412..e7dbdeb 100644
--- a/README.org
+++ b/README.org
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Rename =variables-template.py= to =variables.py= and edit:
 - =domain=: =https://yourdomain.tld= without trailing slash
 - =rclonesiteroot=: path =rclone= uses to access your webserver
 - =description=: content for the “about” section (can include HTML tags)
+- =startyear=: year from which to begin tracking (an integer)
 - =hue=: theme colour expressed as a hue from 0 to 360
 - =consoles=: add or remove consoles following the format provided (=.png= images must be added to the build directory with a filename corresponding with the value of ="img"= for each console)
 *** The rest
diff --git a/gamesort.py b/gamesort.py
index d7dfa29..9b65a95 100644
--- a/gamesort.py
+++ b/gamesort.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Load in the list of games from a set of .org files.
 
 thisyear = datetime.now().strftime("%Y")
 
-year = 2016
+year = variables.startyear - 1
 
 concernedfiles = []
 
diff --git a/history.py b/history.py
index ca6f775..73070e0 100644
--- a/history.py
+++ b/history.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ def history(local=False):
     feedwrite.write("<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\"?>\n<rss version=\"2.0\" xmlns:atom=\"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom\">\n  <channel>\n    <atom:link href=\"" + variables.domain + variables.serverpath + "feed.xml\" rel=\"self\" type=\"application/rss+xml\" />\n    <title>Static backlog</title>\n    <link>" + variables.domain + variables.serverpath + "backlog</link>\n    <description>Feed for gaming updates</description>\n    <language>en-gb</language>")
 
     theyear = int(gamesort.thisyear)
-    while theyear > 2016:
+    while theyear >= variables.startyear:
         yearlist = []
         enddate = datetime.strptime((str(theyear) + "-12-31"),"%Y-%m-%d")
         startdate = datetime.strptime((str(theyear) + "-01-01"),"%Y-%m-%d")
diff --git a/variables-template.py b/variables-template.py
index 9a723f3..cac1a89 100644
--- a/variables-template.py
+++ b/variables-template.py
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ rcloneaddress = ""
 
 description = ""
 
+startyear = 
+
 hue =
 
 consoles = [{"code":"ps5","name":"PlayStation 5","shortname":"PS5","img":"PS5"},