diff --git a/news/docstrings.rst b/news/docstrings.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8a0152
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/docstrings.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+**Added:**
+
+* add docstrings to functions without docstrings
+
+**Changed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Deprecated:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Removed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Fixed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Security:**
+
+* <news item>
diff --git a/src/diffpy/fourigui/fourigui.py b/src/diffpy/fourigui/fourigui.py
index f0323f1..f331b7e 100755
--- a/src/diffpy/fourigui/fourigui.py
+++ b/src/diffpy/fourigui/fourigui.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ def __init__(self):
         self.initUI()
 
     def initUI(self):
+        """Initialize the GUI for fourigui"""
 
         self.loaded = False  # denotes whether a dataset is loaded
         self.transformed = False  # denotes whether dataset is Fourier transformed
@@ -501,6 +502,9 @@ def applycutoff(self):
             self.intensity_upd_global()
 
     def redocutuff(self):
+        """
+        Redo the cutoff operation depending on the current space (real or reciprocal).
+        """
         if self.space.get():  # in real space
             self.cube_realcut = self.cube
             if not self.transformed:
@@ -513,6 +517,9 @@ def redocutuff(self):
         self.intensity_upd_global()
 
     def newcutoff(self):
+        """
+        Apply a new cutoff based on the current space and cutoff settings.
+        """
         if self.cutoff.get():
             if self.space.get() and self.transformed:
                 self.cube = self.cube_real
@@ -523,6 +530,9 @@ def newcutoff(self):
         self.applycutoff()
 
     def plot_next_plane(self):
+        """
+        Plot the next plane in the dataset, looping back to the first if at the end.
+        """
         n = self.plane_num.get()
         if n == len(self.cube[self.axis.get()]) - 1:
             n = 0
@@ -533,7 +543,7 @@ def plot_next_plane(self):
 
     def animation(self):
         """
-        slices through the 3D array along the selcted axis
+        slices through the 3D array along the selected axis
         """
         try:
             if not self.anientry.get():
@@ -548,6 +558,9 @@ def animation(self):
         self.plot_next_plane()
 
     def multiple_funcs(*funcs):
+        """
+        Executes multiple functions passed as arguments in sequence.
+        """
         for func in funcs:
             func