diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index c117820..c916b07 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -33,5 +33,5 @@ Suggests:
 Encoding: UTF-8
 LazyLoad: yes
 Roxygen: list(old_usage = TRUE)
-RoxygenNote: 7.1.1
+RoxygenNote: 7.2.3
 VignetteBuilder: knitr
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 89a5483..a5c3aaf 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ export(logformat)
 export(logger)
 export(loglevel)
 export(simple_log_layout)
+export(stderr_appender)
 export(syslog_appender)
 export(tcp_appender)
 export(verbosity)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 15f5612..858bde0 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 # log4r 0.4.2
 
+* New `stderr_appender()` that writes to stderr (useful for RMarkdown docs).
+
+* `json_log_layout()` gains `include_timestamp` argument which can be set
+  to `FALSE` if whatever system collating your logs already adds a timestamp.
+  
+* `logger()` uses a more complex algorithm to determine the default `logger`.
+  It uses `stderr_appender()` if you're running in knitr (so the result appears
+  in the log, and not in your doc) and it uses `simple_layout()` if you're
+  in a situation that's likely to automatically timestamps (i.e. running on
+  CI platform or in Posit connect).
+
 * Fixes a crash where `logfmt_log_layout()` would not correctly handle memory
   reallocation of the underlying buffer.
 
diff --git a/R/appenders.R b/R/appenders.R
index 76e22a1..abc3ac6 100644
--- a/R/appenders.R
+++ b/R/appenders.R
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
 #' the nature of the destination, the format of the messages may be controlled
 #' using a \strong{\link[=layouts]{Layout}}.
 #'
-#' The most basic appenders log messages to the console or to a file; these are
-#' described below.
+#' The most basic appenders log messages to the console (stdout), stderr,
+#' or to a file; these are described below.
 #'
 #' For implementing your own appenders, see Details.
 #'
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ console_appender <- function(layout = default_log_layout()) {
   file_appender(file = "", layout = layout)
 }
 
+#' @export
+#' @rdname appenders
+stderr_appender <- function(layout = default_log_layout()) {
+  file_appender(file = stderr(), layout = layout)
+}
+
 #' @param file The file to write messages to.
 #' @param append When \code{TRUE}, the file is not truncated when opening for
 #'   the first time.
diff --git a/R/create.logger.R b/R/create.logger.R
index cc07763..7cf9a28 100644
--- a/R/create.logger.R
+++ b/R/create.logger.R
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ function(logfile = 'logfile.log', level = 'FATAL', logformat = NULL)
 #'   level will be discarded. See \code{\link{loglevel}}.
 #' @param appenders The logging appenders; both single appenders and a
 #'   \code{list()} of them are supported. See \code{\link{appenders}}.
+#'   The default value, `NULL`, creates an appender that should work well
+#'   in your current environment. For example, if you are inside an `.Rmd`
+#'   or `.qmd` it will log to `stderr()`, and if you're running on a CI
+#'   service or in Posit connect, it will suppress the timestamps (since
+#'   they will typically be added automatically).
 #'
 #' @return An object of class \code{"logger"}.
 #'
@@ -54,8 +59,12 @@ function(logfile = 'logfile.log', level = 'FATAL', logformat = NULL)
 #' for information on controlling the behaviour of the logger object.
 #'
 #' @export
-logger <- function(threshold = "INFO", appenders = console_appender()) {
+logger <- function(threshold = "INFO", appenders = NULL) {
   threshold <- as.loglevel(threshold)
+
+  if (is.null(appenders)) {
+    appenders <- default_appender()
+  }
   if (!is.list(appenders)) {
     appenders <- list(appenders)
   }
@@ -68,3 +77,28 @@ logger <- function(threshold = "INFO", appenders = console_appender()) {
     class = "logger"
   )
 }
+
+default_appender <- function() {
+  if (on_ci() || on_connect()) {
+    layout <- simple_log_layout()
+  } else {
+    layout <- default_log_layout()
+  }
+
+  if (is_knitr()) {
+    stderr_appender(layout)
+  } else {
+    console_appender(layout)
+  }
+}
+
+is_knitr <- function() {
+  isTRUE(getOption("knitr.in.progress", FALSE))
+}
+
+on_ci <- function() {
+  isTRUE(as.logical(Sys.getenv("CI")))
+}
+on_connect <- function() {
+  identical(Sys.getenv("RSTUDIO_PRODUCT"), "CONNECT")
+}
diff --git a/R/layouts.R b/R/layouts.R
index aeb2b25..4f1116c 100644
--- a/R/layouts.R
+++ b/R/layouts.R
@@ -83,12 +83,13 @@ logfmt_log_layout <- function() {
 #' @details \code{json_log_layout} requires the \code{jsonlite} package.
 #'
 #' @rdname layouts
-#' @aliases json_log_layout
+#' @param include_timestamp Include the current timestamp in the output?
 #' @export
-json_log_layout <- function() {
+json_log_layout <- function(include_timestamp = TRUE) {
   if (!requireNamespace("jsonlite", quietly = TRUE)) {
     stop("The 'jsonlite' package is required to use this JSON layout.")
   }
+  force(include_timestamp)
   time_format <- "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ"
 
   function(level, ...) {
@@ -97,7 +98,9 @@ json_log_layout <- function() {
       fields <- list(message = paste0(fields, collapse = ""))
     }
     fields$level <- as.character(level)
-    fields$time <- fmt_current_time(time_format, TRUE)
+    if (include_timestamp) {
+      fields$time <- fmt_current_time(time_format, TRUE)
+    }
     jsonlite::toJSON(fields, auto_unbox = TRUE)
   }
 }
diff --git a/man/appenders.Rd b/man/appenders.Rd
index 3ca4558..6ca854e 100644
--- a/man/appenders.Rd
+++ b/man/appenders.Rd
@@ -3,11 +3,14 @@
 \name{appenders}
 \alias{appenders}
 \alias{console_appender}
+\alias{stderr_appender}
 \alias{file_appender}
 \title{Appenders}
 \usage{
 console_appender(layout = default_log_layout())
 
+stderr_appender(layout = default_log_layout())
+
 file_appender(file, append = TRUE, layout = default_log_layout())
 }
 \arguments{
@@ -26,8 +29,8 @@ In \href{https://logging.apache.org/log4j/}{log4j} etymology,
 the nature of the destination, the format of the messages may be controlled
 using a \strong{\link[=layouts]{Layout}}.
 
-The most basic appenders log messages to the console or to a file; these are
-described below.
+The most basic appenders log messages to the console (stdout), stderr,
+or to a file; these are described below.
 
 For implementing your own appenders, see Details.
 }
diff --git a/man/layouts.Rd b/man/layouts.Rd
index 12ebede..89ef417 100644
--- a/man/layouts.Rd
+++ b/man/layouts.Rd
@@ -17,12 +17,14 @@ bare_log_layout()
 
 logfmt_log_layout()
 
-json_log_layout()
+json_log_layout(include_timestamp = TRUE)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{time_format}{A valid format string for timestamps. See
 \code{\link[base]{strptime}}. For some layouts this can be \code{NA} to
 elide the timestamp.}
+
+\item{include_timestamp}{Include the current timestamp in the output?}
 }
 \description{
 In \href{https://logging.apache.org/log4j/}{log4j} etymology,
diff --git a/man/logger.Rd b/man/logger.Rd
index 771c44a..8719cc8 100644
--- a/man/logger.Rd
+++ b/man/logger.Rd
@@ -4,14 +4,19 @@
 \alias{logger}
 \title{Create Logger Objects}
 \usage{
-logger(threshold = "INFO", appenders = console_appender())
+logger(threshold = "INFO", appenders = NULL)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{threshold}{The logging threshold level. Messages with a lower priority
 level will be discarded. See \code{\link{loglevel}}.}
 
 \item{appenders}{The logging appenders; both single appenders and a
-\code{list()} of them are supported. See \code{\link{appenders}}.}
+\code{list()} of them are supported. See \code{\link{appenders}}.
+The default value, `NULL`, creates an appender that should work well
+in your current environment. For example, if you are inside an `.Rmd`
+or `.qmd` it will log to `stderr()`, and if you're running on a CI
+service or in Posit connect, it will suppress the timestamps (since
+they will typically be added automatically).}
 }
 \value{
 An object of class \code{"logger"}.
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-layouts.R b/tests/testthat/test-layouts.R
index dd6b11f..340ca9d 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-layouts.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-layouts.R
@@ -59,5 +59,5 @@ test_that("JSON layouts work correctly", {
 })
 
 test_that("Wonky times formats are caught early", {
-  expect_error(default_log_layout(strrep("%Y", 30)), regex = "Invalid")
+  expect_error(default_log_layout(strrep("%Y", 30)), regexp = "Invalid")
 })