diff --git a/capa/ida/plugin/form.py b/capa/ida/plugin/form.py
index d7e294fc..23c66fd6 100644
--- a/capa/ida/plugin/form.py
+++ b/capa/ida/plugin/form.py
@@ -32,24 +32,33 @@ settings = ida_settings.IDASettings("capa")
 
 
 class UserCancelledError(Exception):
+    """throw exception when user cancels action"""
     pass
 
 
 class CapaExplorerProgressIndicator(QtCore.QObject):
+    """implement progress signal, used during feature extraction"""
     progress = QtCore.pyqtSignal(str)
 
     def __init__(self):
-        """ """
+        """initialize signal object"""
         super(CapaExplorerProgressIndicator, self).__init__()
 
     def update(self, text):
-        """ """
+        """emit progress update
+
+        check if user cancelled action, raise exception for parent function to catch
+        """
         if ida_kernwin.user_cancelled():
             raise UserCancelledError("user cancelled")
         self.progress.emit("extracting features from %s" % text)
 
 
 class CapaExplorerFeatureExtractor(capa.features.extractors.ida.IdaFeatureExtractor):
+    """subclass the IdaFeatureExtractor
+
+    track progress during feature extraction, also allow user to cancel feature extraction
+    """
     def __init__(self, progress):
         super(CapaExplorerFeatureExtractor, self).__init__()
         self.progress = progress
@@ -77,6 +86,8 @@ class CapaExplorerForm(idaapi.PluginForm):
 
         self.form_title = name
         self.rule_path = ""
+        self.process_total = 0
+        self.process_count = 0
 
         self.parent = None
         self.ida_hooks = None
@@ -396,21 +407,26 @@ class CapaExplorerForm(idaapi.PluginForm):
             self.slot_analyze()
 
     def load_capa_results(self):
-        """run capa analysis and render results in UI"""
+        """run capa analysis and render results in UI
+
+        note: this function must always return, exception or not, in order for plugin to safely close the IDA
+        wait box
+        """
         # new analysis, new doc
         self.doc = None
         self.process_total = 0
         self.process_count = 0
 
+        # default from view
         self.set_view_status_label("No rules loaded")
         self.disable_controls()
 
         def update_wait_box(text):
-            """ """
+            """update the IDA wait box"""
             ida_kernwin.replace_wait_box("Processing; %s" % text)
 
         def slot_progress_feature_extraction(text):
-            """ """
+            """slot function to handle feature extraction progress updates"""
             update_wait_box("%s (%d/%d)" % (text, self.process_count, self.process_total))
             self.process_count += 1
 
@@ -423,7 +439,7 @@ class CapaExplorerForm(idaapi.PluginForm):
         try:
             self.process_total += len(tuple(extractor.get_functions()))
         except Exception as e:
-            logger.error("Failed to calculate analysis (Error: %s)." % e)
+            logger.error("Failed to calculate analysis (error: %s)." % e)
             return
 
         if ida_kernwin.user_cancelled():
@@ -448,7 +464,7 @@ class CapaExplorerForm(idaapi.PluginForm):
                     self.rule_path = rule_path
                     settings.user["rule_path"] = rule_path
         except Exception as e:
-            logger.error("Failed to load capa rules (Error: %s)." % e)
+            logger.error("Failed to load capa rules (error: %s)." % e)
             return
 
         if ida_kernwin.user_cancelled():
@@ -504,7 +520,7 @@ class CapaExplorerForm(idaapi.PluginForm):
             return
         except Exception as e:
             capa.ida.helpers.inform_user_ida_ui("Failed to load capa rules from %s" % self.rule_path)
-            logger.error("Failed to load rules from %s (Error: %s).", self.rule_path, e)
+            logger.error("Failed to load rules from %s (error: %s).", self.rule_path, e)
             logger.error("Make sure your file directory contains properly formatted capa rules. You can download the standard collection of capa rules from https://github.com/fireeye/capa-rules.")
             self.rule_path = ""
             settings.user.del_value("rule_path")
@@ -514,7 +530,7 @@ class CapaExplorerForm(idaapi.PluginForm):
             logger.info("User cancelled analysis.")
             return
 
-        ida_kernwin.replace_wait_box("Processing; extracting features")
+        update_wait_box("extracting features")
 
         try:
             meta = capa.ida.helpers.collect_metadata()
@@ -526,10 +542,10 @@ class CapaExplorerForm(idaapi.PluginForm):
             logger.info("User cancelled analysis.")
             return
         except Exception as e:
-            logger.error("Failed to extract capabilities from database (Error: %s)" % e)
+            logger.error("Failed to extract capabilities from database (error: %s)" % e)
             return
 
-        ida_kernwin.replace_wait_box("Processing; checking for file limitations")
+        update_wait_box("checking for file limitations")
 
         try:
             # support binary files specifically for x86/AMD64 shellcode
@@ -553,7 +569,7 @@ class CapaExplorerForm(idaapi.PluginForm):
             if capa.main.has_file_limitation(rules, capabilities, is_standalone=False):
                 capa.ida.helpers.inform_user_ida_ui("capa encountered file limitation warnings during analysis")
         except Exception as e:
-            logger.error("Failed to check for file limitations (Error: %s)" % e)
+            logger.error("Failed to check for file limitations (error: %s)" % e)
             return
 
         if ida_kernwin.user_cancelled():
@@ -567,7 +583,7 @@ class CapaExplorerForm(idaapi.PluginForm):
             self.model_data.render_capa_doc(self.doc)
             self.render_capa_doc_mitre_summary()
         except Exception as e:
-            logger.error("Failed to render results (Error: %s)" % e)
+            logger.error("Failed to render results (error: %s)" % e)
             return
 
         self.enable_controls()