diff --git a/CONVENTIONS.md b/CONVENTIONS.md
index c45311b..6d516db 100644
--- a/CONVENTIONS.md
+++ b/CONVENTIONS.md
@@ -13,9 +13,10 @@ README.
   is and unread talk), *your reports to the keeper*, and *about this game —
   a labor of love*, which opens the about panel: a dialog of tabs (The
   game, The tally, More games, Send word; a game may add its own, as Dip's
-  Playing here), `About.svelte`, with each game's words in its hall. Its
-  strip is `Tabs.svelte`, which also serves a long reading page such as the
-  guide or the rules, where `address` lets a #fragment open a tab.
+  Playing here), `TabbedDialog.svelte`, with each game's words in its hall.
+  The address names the dialog (`#about`, `#about/tally`), so a plain link
+  opens it; a game may put its guide and rules in dialogs the same way, as
+  Dip does. Its strip of tabs is `Tabs.svelte`.
 - **A table** is a room. Its code is four letters or digits from an alphabet
   with no look-alikes, and its link is `/join/CODE`. The masthead button
   reads *invite friends · room CODE* and copies the link. Whoever opened
diff --git a/template/src/lib/components/About.svelte b/template/src/lib/components/About.svelte
deleted file mode 100644
index d706126..0000000
--- a/template/src/lib/components/About.svelte
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,91 +0,0 @@
-<script lang="ts" module>
-	import type { Tab } from './Tabs.svelte';
-
-	/** One section of the about panel: a tab and what it shows. */
-	export type AboutTab = Tab;
-</script>
-
-<script lang="ts">
-	// The about panel: the game's story, its keeping and its company, a tab
-	// at a time rather than one long page. Opened from the hall's "about this
-	// game" link (and #about); closes with its button, a click outside it, or
-	// Escape. The tab last read is the one it reopens on.
-	import Tabs from './Tabs.svelte';
-
-	let { open = $bindable(false), tabs, title }: { open?: boolean; tabs: AboutTab[]; title: string } = $props();
-
-	let current = $state('');
-
-	function onKey(e: KeyboardEvent) {
-		if (open && e.key === 'Escape') open = false;
-	}
-</script>
-
-<svelte:window onkeydown={onKey} />
-
-{#if open}
-	<div class="about-scrim" role="presentation" onclick={(ev) => ev.target === ev.currentTarget && (open = false)}>
-		<div class="panel" role="dialog" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="about-title">
-			<header>
-				<h2 id="about-title">{title}</h2>
-				<button type="button" class="close" aria-label="Close" onclick={() => (open = false)}>×</button>
-			</header>
-			<div class="body">
-				<Tabs {tabs} label="About this game" bind:current />
-			</div>
-		</div>
-	</div>
-{/if}
-
-<style>
-	/* Its own backdrop: not every game has another dialog to share one with. */
-	.about-scrim {
-		position: fixed;
-		inset: 0;
-		z-index: 20;
-		background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.55);
-		display: grid;
-		place-items: center;
-		padding: 16px;
-	}
-	.panel {
-		width: min(100%, 44rem);
-		max-height: 100%;
-		display: flex;
-		flex-direction: column;
-		background: var(--slate);
-		border: 1px solid var(--rule-strong);
-		border-radius: 6px;
-		padding: 1rem 1.4rem 1.2rem;
-	}
-	header {
-		display: flex;
-		align-items: baseline;
-		justify-content: space-between;
-		gap: 1rem;
-	}
-	h2 {
-		font-size: 1.3rem;
-		margin: 0 0 0.6rem;
-	}
-	.close {
-		background: none;
-		border: none;
-		color: inherit;
-		font-size: 1.5rem;
-		line-height: 1;
-		cursor: pointer;
-		padding: 0.2rem 0.4rem;
-	}
-	.body {
-		overflow: auto;
-		min-height: 12rem;
-	}
-	/* The tab strip stays in view while a long tab scrolls beneath it. */
-	.body :global([role='tablist']) {
-		position: sticky;
-		top: 0;
-		z-index: 1;
-		background: var(--slate);
-	}
-</style>
diff --git a/template/src/lib/components/Hall.svelte b/template/src/lib/components/Hall.svelte
index f8dc5ca..5ccf828 100644
--- a/template/src/lib/components/Hall.svelte
+++ b/template/src/lib/components/Hall.svelte
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 	// about panel with the rules, the guide and a way to reach the keeper.
 	import { goto } from '$app/navigation';
 	import { loadFamily, type FamilyGame } from '$lib/family';
-	import About from './About.svelte';
+	import TabbedDialog from './TabbedDialog.svelte';
 	import TallyBoard from './Tally.svelte';
 	import Preferences from './Preferences.svelte';
 	import { prefs, setPref } from '$lib/prefs.svelte';
@@ -27,9 +27,6 @@
 	let seats = $state(allSeats());
 	let games = $state<Record<string, RoomView<State> | null>>({});
 	let aboutOpen = $state(false);
-	$effect(() => {
-		if (location.hash === '#about') aboutOpen = true;
-	});
 	/** The ledgers' tally, fetched when the about panel opens. */
 	let tally = $state<Tally | null>(null);
 	$effect(() => {
@@ -195,7 +192,7 @@
 		<h1>__NAME__</h1>
 		<p class="pitch">One line that says what the game is.</p>
 		<p class="tag">Two or three sentences for someone who has never heard of it: what you do on a turn, what makes it fun, and that it is free to play here against the bot or with friends.</p>
-		<p class="links"><a href="/guide">how to play</a> · <a href="/rules">the rules</a> · <a class="about-link" href="#about" onclick={() => (aboutOpen = true)}>about this game — a labor of love</a> · <button type="button" class="link" onclick={() => (prefsOpen = true)}>preferences</button></p>
+		<p class="links"><a href="/guide">how to play</a> · <a href="/rules">the rules</a> · <a class="about-link" href="#about">about this game — a labor of love</a> · <button type="button" class="link" onclick={() => (prefsOpen = true)}>preferences</button></p>
 		<Preferences bind:open={prefsOpen} />
 	</div>
 
@@ -325,7 +322,18 @@
 			<p>A rule read wrong, a bug, a game you would like to tell of: write to <a href="mailto:eric@ericwagoner.com">eric@ericwagoner.com</a>, <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/kestrelsnest.social" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">@kestrelsnest.social</a> on Bluesky, or <a href="https://toots.kestrelsnest.social/@eric" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">@eric@toots.kestrelsnest.social</a> on Mastodon. The keeper of this hall roosts at <a href="https://kestrelsnest.social" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">kestrelsnest.social</a>.</p>
 		</div>
 	{/snippet}
-	<About bind:open={aboutOpen} title="About __NAME__" tabs={[{ id: 'game', label: 'The game', body: aboutGame }, { id: 'tally', label: 'The tally', body: aboutTally }, { id: 'family', label: 'More games', body: aboutFamily }, { id: 'word', label: 'Send word', body: aboutWord }]} />
+	<TabbedDialog
+		address="about"
+		bind:open={aboutOpen}
+		title="About __NAME__"
+		label="About this game"
+		tabs={[
+			{ id: 'game', label: 'The game', body: aboutGame },
+			{ id: 'tally', label: 'The tally', body: aboutTally },
+			{ id: 'family', label: 'More games', body: aboutFamily },
+			{ id: 'word', label: 'Send word', body: aboutWord }
+		]}
+	/>
 </section>
 
 <style>
@@ -570,7 +578,7 @@
 		min-width: 0;
 	}
 
-	/* about: the panel's own words; About.svelte is the dialog around them */
+	/* about: the panel's own words; TabbedDialog.svelte is the dialog around them */
 	.about-body {
 		max-width: 44em;
 		color: var(--bone-dim);
@@ -581,17 +589,6 @@
 		margin-top: 0.6rem;
 	}
 
-	.about-body a {
-		color: var(--frost);
-	}
-
-	.about-body h3 {
-		font-size: 1rem;
-		font-style: italic;
-		margin: 0.9rem 0 0.2rem;
-		color: var(--bone);
-	}
-
 	.about-body .made {
 		font-size: 0.85rem;
 		color: var(--bone-faint);