5 files changed, 41 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/docs/api-guide/fields.md b/docs/api-guide/fields.md
index e4ef1d4a..f06db56c 100644
--- a/docs/api-guide/fields.md
+++ b/docs/api-guide/fields.md
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ Two options are currently used in HTML form generation, `'input_type'` and `'bas
 
 A boolean representation.
 
+When using HTML encoded form input be aware that omitting a value will always be treated as setting a field to `False`, even if it has a `default=True` option specified. This is because HTML checkbox inputs represent the unchecked state by omitting the value, so REST framework treats omission as if it is an empty checkbox input.
+
 Corresponds to `django.db.models.fields.BooleanField`.
 
 **Signature:** `BooleanField()`
diff --git a/docs/api-guide/permissions.md b/docs/api-guide/permissions.md
index ddcefadb..743ca435 100644
--- a/docs/api-guide/permissions.md
+++ b/docs/api-guide/permissions.md
@@ -10,12 +10,24 @@ Together with [authentication] and [throttling], permissions determine whether a
 
 Permission checks are always run at the very start of the view, before any other code is allowed to proceed.  Permission checks will typically use the authentication information in the `request.user` and `request.auth` properties to determine if the incoming request should be permitted.
 
+Permissions are used to grant or deny access different classes of users to different parts of the API.
+
+The simplest style of permission would be to allow access to any authenticated user, and deny access to any unauthenticated user. This corresponds the `IsAuthenticated` class in REST framework.
+
+A slightly less strict style of permission would be to allow full access to authenticated users, but allow read-only access to unauthenticated users. This corresponds to the `IsAuthenticatedOrReadOnly` class in REST framework.
+
 ## How permissions are determined
 
 Permissions in REST framework are always defined as a list of permission classes.
 
 Before running the main body of the view each permission in the list is checked.
-If any permission check fails an `exceptions.PermissionDenied` exception will be raised, and the main body of the view will not run.
+If any permission check fails an `exceptions.PermissionDenied` or `exceptions.NotAuthenticated` exception will be raised, and the main body of the view will not run.
+
+When the permissions checks fail either a "403 Forbidden" or a "401 Unauthorized" response will be returned, according to the following rules:
+
+* The request was successfully authenticated, but permission was denied. *— An HTTP 403 Forbidden response will be returned.*
+* The request was not successfully authenticated, and the highest priority authentication class *does not* use `WWW-Authenticate` headers. *— An HTTP 403 Forbidden response will be returned.*
+* The request was not successfully authenticated, and the highest priority authentication class *does* use `WWW-Authenticate` headers. *— An HTTP 401 Unauthorized response, with an appropriate `WWW-Authenticate` header will be returned.*
 
 ## Object level permissions
 
diff --git a/docs/tutorial/quickstart.md b/docs/tutorial/quickstart.md
index c3f95994..a4474c34 100644
--- a/docs/tutorial/quickstart.md
+++ b/docs/tutorial/quickstart.md
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Create a new Django project named `tutorial`, then start a new app called `quick
     pip install djangorestframework
 
     # Set up a new project with a single application
-    django-admin.py startproject tutorial .
+    django-admin.py startproject tutorial .  # Note the trailing '.' character
     cd tutorial
     django-admin.py startapp quickstart
     cd ..
diff --git a/rest_framework/fields.py b/rest_framework/fields.py
index f3e17b18..5be2a21b 100644
--- a/rest_framework/fields.py
+++ b/rest_framework/fields.py
@@ -185,8 +185,13 @@ class Field(object):
         self.allow_null = allow_null
 
         if allow_null and self.default_empty_html is empty:
+            # HTML input cannot represent `None` values, so we need to
+            # forcibly coerce empty HTML values to `None` if `allow_null=True`.
             self.default_empty_html = None
 
+        if default is not empty:
+            self.default_empty_html = default
+
         if validators is not None:
             self.validators = validators[:]
 
diff --git a/tests/test_fields.py b/tests/test_fields.py
index c20bdd8c..7f7af5cc 100644
--- a/tests/test_fields.py
+++ b/tests/test_fields.py
@@ -215,6 +215,26 @@ class TestBooleanHTMLInput:
         assert serializer.validated_data == {'archived': False}
 
 
+class TestCharHTMLInput:
+    def setup(self):
+        class TestSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
+            message = serializers.CharField(default='happy')
+        self.Serializer = TestSerializer
+
+    def test_empty_html_checkbox(self):
+        """
+        HTML checkboxes do not send any value, but should be treated
+        as `False` by BooleanField.
+        """
+        # This class mocks up a dictionary like object, that behaves
+        # as if it was returned for multipart or urlencoded data.
+        class MockHTMLDict(dict):
+            getlist = None
+        serializer = self.Serializer(data=MockHTMLDict())
+        assert serializer.is_valid()
+        assert serializer.validated_data == {'message': 'happy'}
+
+
 class TestCreateOnlyDefault:
     def setup(self):
         default = serializers.CreateOnlyDefault('2001-01-01')