diff --git a/src/Main.cpp b/src/Main.cpp
--- a/src/Main.cpp
+++ b/src/Main.cpp
@@ -68,15 +68,19 @@
         {{QStringLiteral("m"), QStringLiteral("current")},           i18n("Capture the current monitor")},
         {{QStringLiteral("a"), QStringLiteral("activewindow")},      i18n("Capture the active window")},
         {{QStringLiteral("u"), QStringLiteral("windowundercursor")}, i18n("Capture the window currently under the cursor, including parents of pop-up menus")},
-        {{QStringLiteral("t"), QStringLiteral("transientonly")},     i18n("Capture the window currently under the cursor, excluding parents of pop-up menus")},
+        // A non-working option... commented out until it's fixed or decided upon to be removed
+        //{{QStringLiteral("t"), QStringLiteral("transientonly")},     i18n("Capture the window currently under the cursor, excluding parents of pop-up menus")},
         {{QStringLiteral("r"), QStringLiteral("region")},            i18n("Capture a rectangular region of the screen")},
-        {{QStringLiteral("g"), QStringLiteral("gui")},               i18n("Start in GUI mode (default)")},
-        {{QStringLiteral("b"), QStringLiteral("background")},        i18n("Take a screenshot and exit without showing the GUI")},
-        {{QStringLiteral("s"), QStringLiteral("dbus")},              i18n("Start in DBus-Activation mode")},
-        {{QStringLiteral("n"), QStringLiteral("nonotify")},          i18n("In background mode, do not pop up a notification when the screenshot is taken")},
-        {{QStringLiteral("o"), QStringLiteral("output")},            i18n("In background mode, save image to specified file"), QStringLiteral("fileName")},
-        {{QStringLiteral("d"), QStringLiteral("delay")},             i18n("In background mode, delay before taking the shot (in milliseconds)"), QStringLiteral("delayMsec")},
-        {{QStringLiteral("w"), QStringLiteral("onclick")},           i18n("Wait for a click before taking screenshot. Invalidates delay")}
+        // Parser option to start in GUI mode removed as redundant, as that's the default mode
+        {{QStringLiteral("n"), QStringLiteral("nonotify")},          i18n("Take a screenshot and save it with an automatic filename, with no notification or GUI.")},
+        {{QStringLiteral("o"), QStringLiteral("output")},            i18n("Take a screenshot and save it to the specified filename."), QStringLiteral("filename")},
+        // "delay" input changed to seconds instead of milliseconds (more user-friendly)
+        {{QStringLiteral("d"), QStringLiteral("delay")},             i18n("Delay before automatically taking the shot (in seconds)"), QStringLiteral("delaySeconds")},
+        // Commented-out "wait for mouse click" becuase it's not implemented.
+        // see line 37 of ImageGrabber.cpp - manually returns false to a check for mouse click supported
+        //{{QStringLiteral("w"), QStringLiteral("onclick")},           i18n("Wait for a mouse click before taking screenshot.")},
+        // DBus option moved to bottom of help output, since it's the most obscure
+        {{QStringLiteral("s"),QStringLiteral("dbus")},               i18n("Start in DBus-Activation mode")},
     });
 
     parser.process(app);
@@ -93,8 +97,9 @@
         grabMode = ImageGrabber::RectangularRegion;
     } else if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("windowundercursor"))) {
         grabMode = ImageGrabber::TransientWithParent;
-    } else if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("transientonly"))) {
-        grabMode = ImageGrabber::WindowUnderCursor;
+    // comment out another non-working option
+    //} else if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("transientonly"))) {
+    //    grabMode = ImageGrabber::WindowUnderCursor;
     }
 
     // are we running in background or dbus mode?
@@ -104,40 +109,34 @@
     qint64 delayMsec = 0;
     QString fileName = QString();
 
-    if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("background"))) {
-        startMode = SpectacleCore::BackgroundMode;
-    } else if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("dbus"))) {
-        startMode = SpectacleCore::DBusMode;
-    }
 
-    switch (startMode) {
-    case SpectacleCore::BackgroundMode:
-        if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("nonotify"))) {
-            notify = false;
-        }
+    // BackgroundMode varieties...
 
-        if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("output"))) {
-            fileName = parser.value(QStringLiteral("output"));
+    if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("dbus"))) {
+        startMode = SpectacleCore::DBusMode;
+        app.setQuitOnLastWindowClosed(false);
+    } else if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("nonotify"))) {
+        startMode = SpectacleCore::BackgroundMode;
+        notify = false;
+    } else if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("output"))) {
+        startMode = SpectacleCore::BackgroundMode;
+        fileName = parser.value(QStringLiteral("output"));
+        notify = false;
+    } else if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("delay"))) {
+        bool ok;
+        startMode = SpectacleCore::BackgroundMode;
+        // Human-friendly seconds back to computer-friendly milliseconds
+        delayMsec = (parser.value(QStringLiteral("delay")).toLongLong(&ok) * 1000);
+        // ok variable automatically set by string->int conversion (handy!)
+        if (!ok) {
+            QTextStream(stdout) << i18n("ERROR: Invalid value for ") << "<delaySeconds>\n" << endl;
+            app.exit();
         }
+    };
 
-        if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("delay"))) {
-            bool ok = false;
-            qint64 delayValue = parser.value(QStringLiteral("delay")).toLongLong(&ok);
-            if (ok) {
-                delayMsec = delayValue;
-            }
-        }
 
-        if (parser.isSet(QStringLiteral("onclick"))) {
-            delayMsec = -1;
-        }
-    case SpectacleCore::DBusMode:
-        app.setQuitOnLastWindowClosed(false);
-    case SpectacleCore::GuiMode:
-        break;
-    }
 
-    // release the kraken
+    // (re)release the kraken (with a version number update)
 
     SpectacleCore core(startMode, grabMode, fileName, delayMsec, notify);
     QObject::connect(&core, &SpectacleCore::allDone, qApp, &QApplication::quit);
diff --git a/src/SpectacleCore.cpp b/src/SpectacleCore.cpp
--- a/src/SpectacleCore.cpp
+++ b/src/SpectacleCore.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@
 #include <KConfigGroup>
 #include <KSharedConfig>
 
+#include <thread>         // std::this_thread::sleep_for
+#include <chrono>         // std::chrono::seconds
+
+
+
 #include "Config.h"
 #include "PlatformBackends/DummyImageGrabber.h"
 #ifdef XCB_FOUND
@@ -183,6 +188,9 @@
     switch (mStartMode) {
     case BackgroundMode:
     case DBusMode:
+
+
+
         {
             if (mNotify) {
                 connect(mExportManager, &ExportManager::imageSaved, this, &SpectacleCore::doNotify);
@@ -254,12 +262,22 @@
     notify->setActions({i18nc("Open the screenshot we just saved", "Open")});
     notify->setUrls({savedAt});
 
+    // TODO: Have others test with and without this delay-for-delay (maybe it's my machine?)
+    // Threads seem to need a moment to catch up before firing the notification.
+    // Notification dependable when execution paused during debugging, but
+    // inconsistent when running straight through. Very quirky.
+    // Also cannot change workspaces during delay or the notification fails. Quirky!
+    if (mStartMode == BackgroundMode && mNotify) {
+        std::this_thread::sleep_for (std::chrono::seconds(2));
+    }
+
     connect(notify, &KNotification::action1Activated, this, [this, savedAt] {
         new KRun(savedAt, nullptr);
         QTimer::singleShot(250, this, &SpectacleCore::allDone);
     });
     connect(notify, &QObject::destroyed, this, &SpectacleCore::allDone);
 
+
     notify->sendEvent();
 }