diff --git a/contrib/admin/main.php b/contrib/admin/main.php
index 64298022..3d03915d 100644
--- a/contrib/admin/main.php
+++ b/contrib/admin/main.php
@@ -131,10 +131,8 @@ class AdminPage extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 
 	private function dbdump($page) {
-		include "config.php";
-
 		$matches = array();
-		preg_match("#(\w+)://(\w+):(\w+)@([\w\.\-]+)/([\w_]+)(\?.*)?#", $database_dsn, $matches);
+		preg_match("#(\w+)://(\w+):(\w+)@([\w\.\-]+)/([\w_]+)(\?.*)?#", DATABASE_DSN, $matches);
 		$software = $matches[1];
 		$username = $matches[2];
 		$password = $matches[3];
diff --git a/contrib/emoticons/main.php b/contrib/emoticons/main.php
index b7b9e82f..67d14e29 100644
--- a/contrib/emoticons/main.php
+++ b/contrib/emoticons/main.php
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ class Emoticons extends FormatterExtension {
 		return $text;
 	}
 }
-add_event_listener(new Emoticons());
 
 class EmoticonList extends SimpleExtension {
 	public function onPageRequest($event) {
diff --git a/contrib/et/main.php b/contrib/et/main.php
index 46065d95..dd6babe2 100644
--- a/contrib/et/main.php
+++ b/contrib/et/main.php
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ class ET extends SimpleExtension {
 		$info['sys_shimmie'] = VERSION;
 		$info['sys_schema']  = $config->get_string("db_version");
 		$info['sys_php']     = phpversion();
+		$info['sys_db']      = $database->db->getAttribute(PDO::ATTR_DRIVER_NAME);
 		$info['sys_os']      = php_uname();
 		$info['sys_disk']    = to_shorthand_int(disk_total_space("./") - disk_free_space("./")) . " / " .
 		                       to_shorthand_int(disk_total_space("./"));
@@ -56,8 +57,14 @@ class ET extends SimpleExtension {
 		$info['stat_image_tags'] = $database->get_one("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM image_tags");
 
 		$els = array();
-		foreach($_event_listeners as $el) {
-			$els[] = get_class($el);
+		foreach(get_declared_classes() as $class) {
+			$rclass = new ReflectionClass($class);
+			if($rclass->isAbstract()) {
+				// don't do anything
+			}
+			elseif(is_subclass_of($class, "Extension")) {
+				$els[] = $class;
+			}
 		}
 		$info['sys_extensions'] = join(', ', $els);
 
diff --git a/contrib/et/theme.php b/contrib/et/theme.php
index 4df216c1..1c5b00ae 100644
--- a/contrib/et/theme.php
+++ b/contrib/et/theme.php
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ Shimmie: {$info['sys_shimmie']}
 Schema: {$info['sys_schema']}
 PHP: {$info['sys_php']}
 OS: {$info['sys_os']}
+Database: {$info['sys_db']}
 Server: {$info['sys_server']}
 Disk use: {$info['sys_disk']}
 
diff --git a/contrib/tag_history/main.php b/contrib/tag_history/main.php
index 6bfa1928..40835fc3 100644
--- a/contrib/tag_history/main.php
+++ b/contrib/tag_history/main.php
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class Tag_History extends SimpleExtension {
 			$this->install();
 		}
 	}
-		
+
 	public function onAdminBuildingEvent($event) {
 		global $user;
 
@@ -251,6 +251,18 @@ class Tag_History extends SimpleExtension {
 		return ($row ? $row : array());
 	}
 	
+	/* This doesn't actually get _ALL_ IPs as it limits to 1000. */
+	public function get_all_user_ips()
+	{
+		global $database;
+		$row = $database->get_all("
+				SELECT DISTINCT user_ip
+				FROM tag_histories
+				ORDER BY tag_histories.user_ip DESC
+				LIMIT 1000");
+		return ($row ? $row : array());
+	}
+	
 	/*
 	 * This function attempts to revert all changes by a given IP within an (optional) timeframe.
 	 */
diff --git a/core/block.class.php b/core/block.class.php
index aa2b3465..0beab722 100644
--- a/core/block.class.php
+++ b/core/block.class.php
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class Block {
 	 */
 	var $position;
 
-	public function __construct($header, $body, $section="main", $position=50) {
+	public function __construct($header, $body, /*string*/ $section="main", /*int*/ $position=50) {
 		$this->header = $header;
 		$this->body = $body;
 		$this->section = $section;
diff --git a/core/compat.inc.php b/core/compat.inc.php
deleted file mode 100644
index 8975f587..00000000
--- a/core/compat.inc.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,95 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-/**
- * Functions which are only in some versions of PHP,
- * or only implemented on some platforms
- *
- * \privatesection
- */
-
-# (PHP 5 >= 5.2.1)
-# Based on http://www.phpit.net/
-# article/creating-zip-tar-archives-dynamically-php/2/
-if(!function_exists('sys_get_temp_dir')) {
-function sys_get_temp_dir() {
-	// Try to get from environment variable
-	if(!empty($_ENV['TMP'])) {
-		return realpath($_ENV['TMP']);
-	}
-	else if(!empty($_ENV['TMPDIR'])) {
-		return realpath($_ENV['TMPDIR']);
-	}
-	else if(!empty($_ENV['TEMP'])) {
-		return realpath($_ENV['TEMP']);
-	}
-
-	// Detect by creating a temporary file
-	else {
-		// Try to use system's temporary directory
-		// as random name shouldn't exist
-		$temp_file = tempnam(md5(uniqid(rand(), TRUE)), '');
-		if($temp_file) {
-			$temp_dir = realpath(dirname($temp_file));
-			unlink($temp_file);
-			return $temp_dir;
-		}
-		else {
-			return FALSE;
-		}
-	}
-}
-}
-
-# (PHP >= 5.1)
-# from http://www.php.net/inet_pton
-if(!function_exists('inet_pton')) {
-function inet_pton($ip) {
-    # ipv4
-    if(strpos($ip, '.') !== FALSE) {
-        $ip = pack('N',ip2long($ip));
-    }
-    # ipv6
-    else if(strpos($ip, ':') !== FALSE) {
-        $ip = explode(':', $ip);
-        $res = str_pad('', (4*(8-count($ip))), '0000', STR_PAD_LEFT);
-        foreach($ip as $seg) {
-            $res .= str_pad($seg, 4, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT);
-        }
-        $ip = pack('H'.strlen($res), $res);
-    }
-    return $ip;
-}
-}
-
-# (PHP >= 5.1)
-# from http://www.php.net/inet_ntop
-if(!function_exists('inet_ntop')) {
-function inet_ntop($ip) {
-    if (strlen($ip)==4) {
-        // ipv4
-        list(,$ip)=unpack('N',$ip);
-        $ip=long2ip($ip);
-    } elseif(strlen($ip)==16) {
-        // ipv6
-        $ip=bin2hex($ip);
-        $ip=substr(chunk_split($ip,4,':'),0,-1);
-        $ip=explode(':',$ip);
-        $res='';
-        foreach($ip as $seg) {
-            while($seg{0}=='0') $seg=substr($seg,1);
-            if ($seg!='') {
-                $res.=($res==''?'':':').$seg;
-            } else {
-                if (strpos($res,'::')===false) {
-                    if (substr($res,-1)==':') continue;
-                    $res.=':';
-                    continue;
-                }
-                $res.=($res==''?'':':').'0';
-            }
-        }
-        $ip=$res;
-    }
-    return $ip;
-}
-}
-?>
diff --git a/core/database.class.php b/core/database.class.php
index 7a065c3a..27805521 100644
--- a/core/database.class.php
+++ b/core/database.class.php
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 <?php
-require_once "compat.inc.php";
-
 /** @privatesection */
 // Querylet {{{
 class Querylet {
@@ -290,10 +288,12 @@ class Database {
 		if(preg_match("/user=([^;]*)/", DATABASE_DSN, $matches)) $db_user=$matches[1];
 		if(preg_match("/password=([^;]*)/", DATABASE_DSN, $matches)) $db_pass=$matches[1];
 
-		$this->db = new PDO(DATABASE_DSN, $db_user, $db_pass, array(
+		$db_params = array(
 			PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT => true,
 			PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION
-		));
+		);
+		if(defined("HIPHOP")) $this->db = new PDO(DATABASE_DSN, $db_user, $db_pass);
+		else $this->db = new PDO(DATABASE_DSN, $db_user, $db_pass, $db_params);
 
 		$db_proto = $this->db->getAttribute(PDO::ATTR_DRIVER_NAME);
 		if($db_proto === "mysql") {
diff --git a/core/default_config.inc.php b/core/default_config.inc.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2f3003ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/default_config.inc.php
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+<?php
+// to change these system-level settings, do define("FOO", 123); in config.php
+function _d($name, $value) {if(!defined($name)) define($name, $value);}
+_d("DATABASE_DSN", null);    // string   PDO database connection details
+_d("CACHE_DSN", null);       // string   cache connection details
+_d("DEBUG", false);          // boolean  print various debugging details
+_d("DEBUG_SQL", false);      // boolean  dump SQL queries to data/sql.log
+_d("COVERAGE", false);       // boolean  activate xdebug coverage monitor
+_d("CONTEXT", null);         // string   file to log performance data into
+_d("CACHE_MEMCACHE", false); // boolean  store complete rendered pages in memcache
+_d("CACHE_DIR", false);      // boolean  store complete rendered pages on disk
+_d("CACHE_HTTP", false);     // boolean  output explicit HTTP caching headers
+_d("COOKIE_PREFIX", 'shm');  // string   if you run multiple galleries with non-shared logins, give them different prefixes
+_d("SPEED_HAX", false);      // boolean  do some questionable things in the name of performance
+_d("COMPILE_ELS", false);    // boolean  pre-build the list of event listeners
+_d("NICE_URLS", false);      // boolean  force niceurl mode
+_d("WH_SPLITS", 1);          // int      how many levels of subfolders to put in the warehouse
+_d("VERSION", 'trunk');      // string   shimmie version
+_d("SCORE_VERSION", 's2hack/'.VERSION); // string SCore version
+_d("TIMEZONE", null);        // string   timezone
+?>
diff --git a/core/event.class.php b/core/event.class.php
index 69a93175..cbff2fcf 100644
--- a/core/event.class.php
+++ b/core/event.class.php
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class PageRequestEvent extends Event {
 	 *
 	 * If it matches, store the remaining path elements in $args
 	 */
-	public function page_matches($name) {
+	public function page_matches(/*string*/ $name) {
 		$parts = explode("/", $name);
 		$this->part_count = count($parts);
 
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class PageRequestEvent extends Event {
 		return true;
 	}
 
-	public function get_arg($n) {
+	public function get_arg(/*int*/ $n) {
 		$offset = $this->part_count + $n;
 		if($offset >= 0 && $offset < $this->arg_count) {
 			return $this->args[$offset];
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ class TextFormattingEvent extends Event {
 	 */
 	var $stripped;
 
-	public function __construct($text) {
+	public function __construct(/*string*/ $text) {
 		$h_text = html_escape(trim($text));
 		$this->original  = $h_text;
 		$this->formatted = $h_text;
diff --git a/core/extension.class.php b/core/extension.class.php
index 98d6bc15..e5ce13d2 100644
--- a/core/extension.class.php
+++ b/core/extension.class.php
@@ -92,7 +92,10 @@ abstract class SimpleExtension implements Extension {
 	var $theme;
 	var $_child;
 
-	public function i_am($child) {
+	// in PHP5.3, late static bindings can take care of this; __CLASS__
+	// used here will refer to the subclass
+	// http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.late-static-bindings.php
+	public function i_am(Extension $child) {
 		$this->_child = $child;
 		if(is_null($this->theme)) $this->theme = get_theme_object($child, false);
 	}
@@ -115,13 +118,13 @@ abstract class SimpleExtension implements Extension {
  * Several extensions have this in common, make a common API
  */
 abstract class FormatterExtension extends SimpleExtension {
-	public function onTextFormatting($event) {
+	public function onTextFormatting(TextFormattingEvent $event) {
 		$event->formatted = $this->format($event->formatted);
 		$event->stripped  = $this->strip($event->stripped);
 	}
 
-	abstract public function format($text);
-	abstract public function strip($text);
+	abstract public function format(/*string*/ $text);
+	abstract public function strip(/*string*/ $text);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -129,7 +132,7 @@ abstract class FormatterExtension extends SimpleExtension {
  * so we have a base class to extend from
  */
 abstract class DataHandlerExtension extends SimpleExtension {
-	public function onDataUpload($event) {
+	public function onDataUpload(DataUploadEvent $event) {
 		if($this->supported_ext($event->type) && $this->check_contents($event->tmpname)) {
 			if(!move_upload_to_archive($event)) return;
 			send_event(new ThumbnailGenerationEvent($event->hash, $event->type));
@@ -188,7 +191,7 @@ abstract class DataHandlerExtension extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onThumbnailGeneration($event) {
+	public function onThumnbnailGeneration(ThumbnailGenerationEvent $event) {
 		if($this->supported_ext($event->type)) {
 			if (method_exists($this, 'create_thumb_force') && $event->force == true) {
 				 $this->create_thumb_force($event->hash);
@@ -199,14 +202,14 @@ abstract class DataHandlerExtension extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onDisplayingImage($event) {
+	public function onDisplayingImage(DisplayingImageEvent $event) {
 		global $page;
 		if($this->supported_ext($event->image->ext)) {
 			$this->theme->display_image($page, $event->image);
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onSetupBuilding($event) {
+	public function onSetupBuilding(SetupBuildingEvent $event) {
 		$sb = $this->setup();
 		if($sb) $event->panel->add_block($sb);
 	}
diff --git a/core/imageboard.pack.php b/core/imageboard.pack.php
index 97ff62a8..73eb31f3 100644
--- a/core/imageboard.pack.php
+++ b/core/imageboard.pack.php
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ $tag_n = 0; // temp hack
 $_flexihash = null;
 $_fh_last_opts = null;
 
+require_once "lib/flexihash.php";
+
 /**
  * An object representing an entry in the images table. As of 2.2, this no
  * longer necessarily represents an image per se, but could be a video,
@@ -66,7 +68,7 @@ class Image {
 	 *
 	 * @retval Image
 	 */
-	public static function by_id($id) {
+	public static function by_id(/*int*/ $id) {
 		assert(is_numeric($id));
 		global $database;
 		$image = null;
@@ -79,7 +81,7 @@ class Image {
 	 *
 	 * @retval Image
 	 */
-	public static function by_hash($hash) {
+	public static function by_hash(/*string*/ $hash) {
 		assert(is_string($hash));
 		global $database;
 		$image = null;
@@ -540,7 +542,6 @@ class Image {
 
 			if($opts != $_fh_last_opts) {
 				$_fh_last_opts = $opts;
-				require_once("lib/flexihash.php");
 				$_flexihash = new Flexihash();
 				foreach(explode(",", $opts) as $opt) {
 					$parts = explode("=", $opt);
@@ -1031,7 +1032,7 @@ class Tag {
  * Move a file from PHP's temporary area into shimmie's image storage
  * heirachy, or throw an exception trying
  */
-function move_upload_to_archive($event) {
+function move_upload_to_archive(DataUploadEvent $event) {
 	$target = warehouse_path("images", $event->hash);
 	if(!file_exists(dirname($target))) mkdir(dirname($target), 0755, true);
 	if(!@copy($event->tmpname, $target)) {
@@ -1046,7 +1047,7 @@ function move_upload_to_archive($event) {
  * Given a full size pair of dimentions, return a pair scaled down to fit
  * into the configured thumbnail square, with ratio intact
  */
-function get_thumbnail_size($orig_width, $orig_height) {
+function get_thumbnail_size(/*int*/ $orig_width, /*int*/ $orig_height) {
 	global $config;
 
 	if($orig_width == 0) $orig_width = 192;
diff --git a/core/user.class.php b/core/user.class.php
index 0220ef23..85d90df5 100644
--- a/core/user.class.php
+++ b/core/user.class.php
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class User {
 		$this->passhash = $row['pass'];
 	}
 
-	public static function by_session($name, $session) {
+	public static function by_session(/*string*/ $name, /*string*/ $session) {
 		global $config, $database;
 		if($database->engine->name === "mysql") {
 			$query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE name = :name AND md5(concat(pass, :ip)) = :sess";
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class User {
 		return is_null($row) ? null : new User($row);
 	}
 
-	public static function by_id($id) {
+	public static function by_id(/*int*/ $id) {
 		assert(is_numeric($id));
 		global $database;
 		if($id === 1) {
@@ -62,14 +62,14 @@ class User {
 		return is_null($row) ? null : new User($row);
 	}
 
-	public static function by_name($name) {
+	public static function by_name(/*string*/ $name) {
 		assert(is_string($name));
 		global $database;
 		$row = $database->get_row("SELECT * FROM users WHERE name = :name", array("name"=>$name));
 		return is_null($row) ? null : new User($row);
 	}
 
-	public static function by_name_and_hash($name, $hash) {
+	public static function by_name_and_hash(/*string*/ $name, /*string*/ $hash) {
 		assert(is_string($name));
 		assert(is_string($hash));
 		assert(strlen($hash) == 32);
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class User {
 		return is_null($row) ? null : new User($row);
 	}
 
-	public static function by_list($offset, $limit=50) {
+	public static function by_list(/*int*/ $offset, /*int*/ $limit=50) {
 		assert(is_numeric($offset));
 		assert(is_numeric($limit));
 		global $database;
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ class User {
 		return $this->admin;
 	}
 
-	public function set_admin($admin) {
+	public function set_admin(/*bool*/ $admin) {
 		assert(is_bool($admin));
 		global $database;
 		$yn = $admin ? 'Y' : 'N';
@@ -128,14 +128,14 @@ class User {
 		log_info("core-user", 'Made '.$this->name.' admin='.$yn);
 	}
 
-	public function set_password($password) {
+	public function set_password(/*string*/ $password) {
 		global $database;
 		$hash = md5(strtolower($this->name) . $password);
 		$database->Execute("UPDATE users SET pass=:hash WHERE id=:id", array("hash"=>$hash, "id"=>$this->id));
 		log_info("core-user", 'Set password for '.$this->name);
 	}
 
-	public function set_email($address) {
+	public function set_email(/*string*/ $address) {
 		global $database;
 		$database->Execute("UPDATE users SET email=:email WHERE id=:id", array("email"=>$address, "id"=>$this->id));
 		log_info("core-user", 'Set email for '.$this->name);
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ class User {
 	 */
 	public function get_auth_token() {
 		global $config;
-		$salt = file_get_contents("config.php");
+		$salt = DATABASE_DSN;
 		$addr = get_session_ip($config);
 		return md5(md5($this->passhash . $addr) . "salty-csrf-" . $salt);
 	}
diff --git a/core/util.inc.php b/core/util.inc.php
index e7563d6c..882c8560 100644
--- a/core/util.inc.php
+++ b/core/util.inc.php
@@ -222,10 +222,10 @@ function make_link($page=null, $query=null) {
 	if(NICE_URLS || $config->get_bool('nice_urls', false)) {
 		#$full = "http://" . $_SERVER["SERVER_NAME"] . $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"];
 		$full = $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"];
-		$base = str_replace("/index.php", "", $full);
+		$base = str_replace("/".basename($_SERVER["SCRIPT_FILENAME"]), "", $full);
 	}
 	else {
-		$base = "./index.php?q=";
+		$base = "./".basename($_SERVER["SCRIPT_FILENAME"])."?q=";
 	}
 
 	if(is_null($query)) {
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ function modify_url($url, $changes) {
  *
  * @retval string
  */
-function make_http($link) {
+function make_http(/*string*/ $link) {
 	if(strpos($link, "ttp://") > 0) return $link;
 	if(strlen($link) > 0 && $link[0] != '/') $link = get_base_href().'/'.$link;
 	$link = "http://".$_SERVER["HTTP_HOST"].$link;
@@ -396,11 +396,11 @@ function captcha_check() {
  * @private
  */
 function _version_check() {
-	if(version_compare(PHP_VERSION, "5.0.0") == -1) {
+	if(version_compare(PHP_VERSION, "5.2.6") == -1) {
 		print "
-Currently SCore Engine doesn't support versions of PHP lower than 5.0.0 --
-PHP4 and earlier are officially dead according to their creators,
-please tell your host to upgrade.
+Currently SCore Engine doesn't support versions of PHP lower than 5.2.6 --
+if your web host is running an older version, they are dangerously out of
+date and you should plan on moving elsewhere.
 ";
 		exit;
 	}
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ function get_memory_limit() {
  *
  * @retval string
  */
-function get_session_ip($config) {
+function get_session_ip(Config $config) {
     $mask = $config->get_string("session_hash_mask", "255.255.0.0");
     $addr = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
     $addr = inet_ntop(inet_pton($addr) & inet_pton($mask));
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ function get_session_ip($config) {
  * prefix prepended to it, eg username -> shm_username, to prevent
  * conflicts from multiple installs within one domain.
  */
-function get_prefixed_cookie($name) {
+function get_prefixed_cookie(/*string*/ $name) {
 	global $config;
 	$full_name = COOKIE_PREFIX."_".$name;
 	if(isset($_COOKIE[$full_name])) {
@@ -584,13 +584,13 @@ function get_base_href() {
  *
  * @retval string
  */
-function format_text($string) {
+function format_text(/*string*/ $string) {
 	$tfe = new TextFormattingEvent($string);
 	send_event($tfe);
 	return $tfe->formatted;
 }
 
-function warehouse_path($base, $hash, $create=true) {
+function warehouse_path(/*string*/ $base, /*string*/ $hash, /*bool*/ $create=true) {
 	$ab = substr($hash, 0, 2);
 	$cd = substr($hash, 2, 2);
 	if(WH_SPLITS == 2) {
@@ -935,6 +935,10 @@ function _stripslashes_r($arr) {
 }
 
 function _sanitise_environment() {
+	if(TIMEZONE) {
+		date_default_timezone_set(TIMEZONE);
+	}
+
 	if(DEBUG) {
 		error_reporting(E_ALL);
 	}
@@ -951,6 +955,120 @@ function _sanitise_environment() {
 	}
 }
 
+function _get_themelet_files($_theme) {
+	$themelets = array();
+
+	if(file_exists('themes/'.$_theme.'/custompage.class.php')) $themelets[] = 'themes/'.$_theme.'/custompage.class.php';
+	$themelets[] = 'themes/'.$_theme.'/layout.class.php';
+	$themelets[] = 'themes/'.$_theme.'/themelet.class.php';
+
+	$themelet_files = glob("ext/*/theme.php");
+	foreach($themelet_files as $filename) {
+		$themelets[] = $filename;
+	}
+
+	$custom_themelets = glob('themes/'.$_theme.'/*.theme.php');
+	if($custom_themelets) {
+		$m = array();
+		foreach($custom_themelets as $filename) {
+			if(preg_match('/themes\/'.$_theme.'\/(.*)\.theme\.php/',$filename,$m)
+					&& in_array('ext/'.$m[1].'/theme.php', $themelets)) {
+				$themelets[] = $filename;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return $themelets;
+}
+
+function _load_extensions() {
+	global $_event_listeners;
+
+	ctx_log_start("Loading extensions");
+
+	if(COMPILE_ELS && file_exists("data/event_listeners.php")) {
+		require_once("data/event_listeners.php");
+	}
+	else {
+		$all_events = array();
+		foreach(get_declared_classes() as $class) {
+			if(is_subclass_of($class, "Event")) {
+				$all_events[] = $class;
+			}
+		}
+		foreach(get_declared_classes() as $class) {
+			$rclass = new ReflectionClass($class);
+			if($rclass->isAbstract()) {
+				// don't do anything
+			}
+			elseif(is_subclass_of($class, "SimpleExtension")) {
+				$c = new $class();
+				$c->i_am($c);
+				$my_events = array();
+				foreach(get_class_methods($c) as $method) {
+					if(substr($method, 0, 2) == "on") {
+						$my_events[] = substr($method, 2) . "Event";
+					}
+				}
+				add_event_listener($c, $c->get_priority(), $my_events);
+			}
+			elseif(is_subclass_of($class, "Extension")) {
+				$c = new $class();
+				add_event_listener($c, $c->get_priority(), $all_events);
+			}
+		}
+
+		if(COMPILE_ELS) {
+			$p = "<"."?php\n";
+
+			foreach(get_declared_classes() as $class) {
+				$rclass = new ReflectionClass($class);
+				if($rclass->isAbstract()) {}
+				elseif(is_subclass_of($class, "SimpleExtension")) {
+					$p .= "\$$class = new $class(); ";
+					$p .= "\${$class}->i_am(\$$class);\n";
+				}
+				elseif(is_subclass_of($class, "Extension")) {
+					$p .= "\$$class = new $class();\n";
+				}
+			}
+
+			$p .= "\$_event_listeners = array(\n";
+			foreach($_event_listeners as $event => $listeners) {
+				$p .= "\t'$event' => array(\n";
+				foreach($listeners as $id => $listener) {
+					$p .= "\t\t$id => \$".get_class($listener).",\n";
+				}
+				$p .= "\t),\n";
+			}
+			$p .= ");\n";
+
+			$p .= "?".">";
+			file_put_contents("data/event_listeners.php", $p);
+		}
+	}
+
+	ctx_log_endok();
+}
+
+function _fatal_error(Exception $e) {
+	$version = VERSION;
+	$message = $e->getMessage();
+	//$trace = var_dump($e->getTrace());
+	header("HTTP/1.0 500 Internal Error");
+	echo '
+<html>
+	<head>
+		<title>Internal error - SCore-'.$version.'</title>
+	</head>
+	<body>
+		<h1>Internal Error</h1>
+		<p>'.$message.'
+	</body>
+</html>
+';
+}
+
 /**
  * Turn ^^ into ^ and ^s into /
  *
diff --git a/ext/alias_editor/main.php b/ext/alias_editor/main.php
index 6ef31bee..2942809d 100755
--- a/ext/alias_editor/main.php
+++ b/ext/alias_editor/main.php
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ class AliasEditor extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private function get_alias_csv($database) {
+	private function get_alias_csv(Database $database) {
 		$csv = "";
 		$aliases = $database->get_pairs("SELECT oldtag, newtag FROM aliases");
 		foreach($aliases as $old => $new) {
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ class AliasEditor extends SimpleExtension {
 		return $csv;
 	}
 
-	private function add_alias_csv($database, $csv) {
+	private function add_alias_csv(Database $database, /*string*/ $csv) {
 		$csv = str_replace("\r", "\n", $csv);
 		foreach(explode("\n", $csv) as $line) {
 			$parts = explode(",", $line);
diff --git a/ext/bbcode/main.php b/ext/bbcode/main.php
index 732d3b35..239f06c2 100644
--- a/ext/bbcode/main.php
+++ b/ext/bbcode/main.php
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
  */
 
 class BBCode extends FormatterExtension {
-	public function format($text) {
+	public function format(/*string*/ $text) {
 		global $config;
 		if($config->get_bool("word_wrap", true)) {
 			$text = wordwrap($text, 80, " ", true);
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ class BBCode extends FormatterExtension {
 		return str_replace(' ', '', $matches[1]);
 	}
 
-	public function strip($text) {
+	public function strip(/*string*/ $text) {
 		global $config;
 		if($config->get_bool("word_wrap", true)) {
 			$text = wordwrap($text, 80, " ", true);
@@ -103,14 +103,14 @@ class BBCode extends FormatterExtension {
 	}
 
 
-	private function filter_spoiler($text) {
+	private function filter_spoiler(/*string*/ $text) {
 		return str_replace(
 			array("[spoiler]","[/spoiler]"),
 			array("<span style=\"background-color:#000; color:#000;\">","</span>"),
 			$text);
 	}
 
-	private function strip_spoiler($text) {
+	private function strip_spoiler(/*string*/ $text) {
 		$l1 = strlen("[spoiler]");
 		$l2 = strlen("[/spoiler]");
 		while(true) {
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ class BBCode extends FormatterExtension {
 		return $text;
 	}
 
-	private function extract_code($text) {
+	private function extract_code(/*string*/ $text) {
 		# at the end of this function, the only code! blocks should be
 		# the ones we've added -- others may contain malicious content,
 		# which would only appear after decoding
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ class BBCode extends FormatterExtension {
 		return $text;
 	}
 
-	private function insert_code($text) {
+	private function insert_code(/*string*/ $text) {
 		$l1 = strlen("[code!]");
 		$l2 = strlen("[/code!]");
 		while(true) {
@@ -173,5 +173,4 @@ class BBCode extends FormatterExtension {
 		return $text;
 	}
 }
-add_event_listener(new BBCode());
 ?>
diff --git a/ext/comment/main.php b/ext/comment/main.php
index d2d7f32b..0a1aaebf 100644
--- a/ext/comment/main.php
+++ b/ext/comment/main.php
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class Comment {
 }
 
 class CommentList extends SimpleExtension {
-	public function onInitExt($event) {
+	public function onInitExt(InitExtEvent $event) {
 		global $config, $database;
 		$config->set_default_bool('comment_anon', true);
 		$config->set_default_int('comment_window', 5);
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ class CommentList extends SimpleExtension {
 
 	// TODO: split akismet into a separate class, which can veto the event
 	public function onCommentPosting(CommentPostingEvent $event) {
-		$this->add_comment_wrapper($event->image_id, $event->user, $event->comment, $event);
+		$this->add_comment_wrapper($event->image_id, $event->user, $event->comment);
 	}
 
 	public function onCommentDeletion(CommentDeletionEvent $event) {
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ class CommentList extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 
 // page building {{{
-	private function build_page($current_page) {
+	private function build_page(/*int*/ $current_page) {
 		global $page;
 		global $config;
 		global $database;
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ class CommentList extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 // }}}
 // get comments {{{
-	private function get_recent_comments() {
+	private function get_recent_comments($count) {
 		global $config;
 		global $database;
 		$rows = $database->get_all("
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ class CommentList extends SimpleExtension {
 				LEFT JOIN users ON comments.owner_id=users.id
 				ORDER BY comments.id DESC
 				LIMIT :limit
-				", array("limit"=>$config->get_int('comment_count')));
+				", array("limit"=>$count));
 		$comments = array();
 		foreach($rows as $row) {
 			$comments[] = new Comment($row);
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ class CommentList extends SimpleExtension {
 		return $comments;
 	}
 
-	private function get_user_recent_comments($user_id, $count) {
+	private function get_user_recent_comments(/*int*/ $user_id, /*int*/ $count) {
 		global $config;
 		global $database;
 		$rows = $database->get_all("
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ class CommentList extends SimpleExtension {
 		return $comments;
 	}
 
-	private function get_comments($image_id) {
+	private function get_comments(/*int*/ $image_id) {
 		global $config;
 		global $database;
 		$i_image_id = int_escape($image_id);
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ class CommentList extends SimpleExtension {
 		return md5($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] . date("%Y%m%d"));
 	}
 
-	private function is_spam_akismet($text) {
+	private function is_spam_akismet(/*string*/ $text) {
 		global $config, $user;
 		if(strlen($config->get_string('comment_wordpress_key')) > 0) {
 			$comment = array(
@@ -443,12 +443,12 @@ class CommentList extends SimpleExtension {
 		return ($config->get_bool('comment_anon') || !$user->is_anonymous());
 	}
 
-	private function is_dupe($image_id, $comment) {
+	private function is_dupe(/*int*/ $image_id, /*string*/ $comment) {
 		global $database;
 		return ($database->get_row("SELECT * FROM comments WHERE image_id=:image_id AND comment=:comment", array("image_id"=>$image_id, "comment"=>$comment)));
 	}
 
-	private function add_comment_wrapper($image_id, $user, $comment, $event) {
+	private function add_comment_wrapper(/*int*/ $image_id, User $user, /*string*/ $comment) {
 		global $database;
 		global $config;
 
diff --git a/ext/ext_manager/main.php b/ext/ext_manager/main.php
index 1e24b794..1b90ef0a 100644
--- a/ext/ext_manager/main.php
+++ b/ext/ext_manager/main.php
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ class ExtensionInfo {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private function is_enabled($fname) {
+	private function is_enabled(/*string*/ $fname) {
 		if(file_exists("ext/$fname") && file_exists("contrib/$fname")) return true; // both
 		if(file_exists("contrib/$fname")) return false; // only disabled (optional)
 		return null; // only active (core)
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ class ExtManager extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 
 
-	private function get_extensions($all) {
+	private function get_extensions(/*bool*/ $all) {
 		$extensions = array();
 		if($all) {
 			$exts = glob("ext/*/main.php");
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ class ExtManager extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private function set_enabled($fname, $enabled) {
+	private function set_enabled(/*string*/ $fname, /*bool*/ $enabled) {
 		if($enabled) {
 			// enable if currently disabled
 			if(!file_exists("ext/$fname")) {
diff --git a/ext/handle_pixel/main.php b/ext/handle_pixel/main.php
index 2e4cd734..2904ed0f 100644
--- a/ext/handle_pixel/main.php
+++ b/ext/handle_pixel/main.php
@@ -176,5 +176,4 @@ class PixelFileHandler extends DataHandlerExtension {
 	}
 // }}}
 }
-add_event_listener(new PixelFileHandler());
 ?>
diff --git a/ext/image/main.php b/ext/image/main.php
index 210e81d8..0fde1e24 100644
--- a/ext/image/main.php
+++ b/ext/image/main.php
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ class ParseLinkTemplateEvent extends Event {
  * A class to handle adding / getting / removing image files from the disk.
  */
 class ImageIO extends SimpleExtension {
-	public function onInitExt($event) {
+	public function onInitExt(InitExtEvent $event) {
 		global $config;
 		$config->set_default_int('thumb_width', 192);
 		$config->set_default_int('thumb_height', 192);
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ class ImageIO extends SimpleExtension {
 		$config->set_default_int('image_expires', (60*60*24*365) );	// defaults to one year
 	}
 
-	public function onPageRequest($event) {
+	public function onPageRequest(PageRequestEvent $event) {
 		$num = $event->get_arg(0);
 		$matches = array();
 		if(!is_null($num) && preg_match("/(\d+)/", $num, $matches)) {
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ class ImageIO extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onImageAdminBlockBuilding($event) {
+	public function onImageAdminBlockBuilding(ImageAdminBlockBuildingEvent $event) {
 		global $user;
 		global $config;
 		
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ class ImageIO extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onImageAddition($event) {
+	public function onImageAddition(ImageAdditionEvent $event) {
 		try {
 			$this->add_image($event->image);
 		}
@@ -208,11 +208,11 @@ class ImageIO extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onImageDeletion($event) {
+	public function onImageDeletion(ImageDeletionEvent $event) {
 		$event->image->delete();
 	}
 
-	public function onImageReplace($event) {
+	public function onImageReplace(ImageReplaceEvent $event) {
 		try {
 			$this->replace_image($event->id, $event->image);
 		}
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ class ImageIO extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 	
-	public function onUserPageBuilding($event) {
+	public function onUserPageBuilding(UserPageBuildingEvent $event) {
 		global $user;
 		global $config;
 	
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ class ImageIO extends SimpleExtension {
 		$event->add_stats("<a href='$images_link'>Images uploaded</a>: $i_image_count, $h_image_rate per day");
 	}
 
-	public function onSetupBuilding($event) {
+	public function onSetupBuilding(SetupBuildingEvent $event) {
 		$sb = new SetupBlock("Image Options");
 		$sb->position = 30;
 		// advanced only
diff --git a/ext/index/main.php b/ext/index/main.php
index 5e2dc5cd..14a0ac5c 100644
--- a/ext/index/main.php
+++ b/ext/index/main.php
@@ -129,14 +129,14 @@ class PostListBuildingEvent extends Event {
 }
 
 class Index extends SimpleExtension {
-	public function onInitExt($event) {
+	public function onInitExt(InitExtEvent $event) {
 		global $config;
 		$config->set_default_int("index_width", 3);
 		$config->set_default_int("index_height", 4);
 		$config->set_default_bool("index_tips", true);
 	}
 
-	public function onPageRequest($event) {
+	public function onPageRequest(PageRequestEvent $event) {
 		global $config, $database, $page, $user;
 		if($event->page_matches("post/list")) {
 			if(isset($_GET['search'])) {
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ class Index extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onSetupBuilding($event) {
+	public function onSetupBuilding(SetupBuildingEvent $event) {
 		$sb = new SetupBlock("Index Options");
 		$sb->position = 20;
 
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ class Index extends SimpleExtension {
 		$event->panel->add_block($sb);
 	}
 
-	public function onSearchTermParse($event) {
+	public function onSearchTermParse(SearchTermParseEvent $event) {
 		$matches = array();
 		// check for tags first as tag based searches are more common.
 		if(preg_match("/tags(<|>|<=|>=|=)(\d+)/", $event->term, $matches)) {
diff --git a/ext/index/theme.php b/ext/index/theme.php
index 2263d3db..c7d2cb95 100644
--- a/ext/index/theme.php
+++ b/ext/index/theme.php
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ class IndexTheme extends Themelet {
 	}
 
 	public function display_intro(Page $page) {
-		$text = <<<EOD
-<div style="text-align: left;">
+		$text = "
+<div style='text-align: left;'>
 <p>The first thing you'll probably want to do is create a new account; note
 that the first account you create will by default be marked as the board's
 administrator, and any further accounts will be regular users.
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ and of course start organising your images :-)
 
 <p>This message will go away once your first image is uploaded~
 </div>
-EOD;
+";
 		$page->set_title("Welcome to Shimmie ".VERSION);
 		$page->set_heading("Welcome to Shimmie");
 		$page->add_block(new Block("Installation Succeeded!", $text, "main", 0));
diff --git a/ext/mail/main.php b/ext/mail/main.php
index 1a02c3a8..9bf09169 100644
--- a/ext/mail/main.php
+++ b/ext/mail/main.php
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 */
 
 class Mail extends SimpleExtension {	
-	public function onSetupBuilding($event) {
+	public function onSetupBuilding(SetupBuildingEvent $event) {
 		$sb = new SetupBlock("Mailing Options");
 		$sb->add_text_option("mail_sub", "<br>Subject prefix: ");
 		$sb->add_text_option("mail_img", "<br>Banner Image URL: ");
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class Mail extends SimpleExtension {
 		$event->panel->add_block($sb);
 	}
 	
-	public function onInitExt($event) {
+	public function onInitExt(InitExtEvent $event) {
 		global $config;
 		$config->set_default_string("mail_sub", $config->get_string("site_title")." - ");
 		$config->set_default_string("mail_img", make_http("ext/mail/banner.png"));
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class Mail extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 }
 class MailTest extends SimpleExtension {
-	public function onPageRequest($event) {
+	public function onPageRequest(PageRequestEvent $event) {
 		if($event->page_matches("mail/test")) {
 			global $page;
 			$page->set_mode("data");
@@ -42,4 +42,4 @@ class MailTest extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 }
-?>
\ No newline at end of file
+?>
diff --git a/ext/setup/main.php b/ext/setup/main.php
index c2f47f73..f93ac7fa 100644
--- a/ext/setup/main.php
+++ b/ext/setup/main.php
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 class ConfigSaveEvent extends Event {
 	var $config;
 
-	public function ConfigSaveEvent($config) {
+	public function ConfigSaveEvent(Config $config) {
 		$this->config = $config;
 	}
 }
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class ConfigSaveEvent extends Event {
 class SetupBuildingEvent extends Event {
 	var $panel;
 
-	public function SetupBuildingEvent($panel) {
+	public function SetupBuildingEvent(SetupPanel $panel) {
 		$this->panel = $panel;
 	}
 
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ class SetupBuildingEvent extends Event {
 class SetupPanel {
 	var $blocks = array();
 
-	public function add_block($block) {
+	public function add_block(SetupBlock $block) {
 		$this->blocks[] = $block;
 	}
 }
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ class SetupBlock extends Block {
 // }}}
 
 class Setup extends SimpleExtension {
-	public function onInitExt($event) {
+	public function onInitExt(InitExtEvent $event) {
 		global $config;
 		$config->set_default_string("title", "Shimmie");
 		$config->set_default_string("front_page", "post/list");
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ class Setup extends SimpleExtension {
 		$config->set_default_bool("autocache_min_js", false);
 	}
 
-	public function onPageRequest($event) {
+	public function onPageRequest(PageRequestEvent $event) {
 		global $config, $page, $user;
 
 		if($event->page_matches("nicetest")) {
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ class Setup extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onSetupBuilding($event) {
+	public function onSetupBuilding(SetupBuildingEvent $event) {
 		$themes = array();
 		foreach(glob("themes/*") as $theme_dirname) {
 			$name = str_replace("themes/", "", $theme_dirname);
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ class Setup extends SimpleExtension {
 		$event->panel->add_block($sb);
 	}
 
-	public function onConfigSave($event) {
+	public function onConfigSave(ConfigSaveEvent $event) {
 		global $config;
 		foreach($_POST as $_name => $junk) {
 			if(substr($_name, 0, 6) == "_type_") {
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ class Setup extends SimpleExtension {
 		log_warning("setup", "Configuration updated");
 	}
 
-	public function onUserBlockBuilding($event) {
+	public function onUserBlockBuilding(UserBlockBuildingEvent $event) {
 		global $user;
 		if($user->is_admin()) {
 			$event->add_link("Board Config", make_link("setup"));
diff --git a/ext/tag_edit/main.php b/ext/tag_edit/main.php
index e909d179..a06425c1 100644
--- a/ext/tag_edit/main.php
+++ b/ext/tag_edit/main.php
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ class LockSetEvent extends Event {
 }
 
 class TagEdit extends SimpleExtension {
-	public function onPageRequest($event) {
+	public function onPageRequest(PageRequestEvent $event) {
 		global $user, $page;
 		if($event->page_matches("tag_edit")) {
 			if($event->get_arg(0) == "replace") {
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@ class TagEdit extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onImageInfoSet($event) {
-		global $user;
+	public function onImageInfoSet(ImageInfoSetEvent $event) {
+		global $user, $page;
 		if($this->can_tag($event->image)) {
 			send_event(new TagSetEvent($event->image, $_POST['tag_edit__tags']));
 			if($this->can_source($event->image)) {
@@ -88,41 +88,41 @@ class TagEdit extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onTagSet($event) {
+	public function onTagSet(TagSetEvent $event) {
 		global $user;
 		if($user->is_admin() || !$event->image->is_locked()) {
 			$event->image->set_tags($event->tags);
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onSourceSet($event) {
+	public function onSourceSet(SourceSetEvent $event) {
 		global $user;
 		if($user->is_admin() || !$event->image->is_locked()) {
 			$event->image->set_source($event->source);
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onLockSet($event) {
+	public function onLockSet(LockSetEvent $event) {
 		global $user;
 		if($user->is_admin()) {
 			$event->image->set_locked($event->locked);
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onImageDeletion($event) {
+	public function onImageDeletion(ImageDeletionEvent $event) {
 		$event->image->delete_tags_from_image();
 	}
 
-	public function onAdminBuilding($event) {
+	public function onAdminBuilding(AdminBuildingEvent $event) {
 		$this->theme->display_mass_editor();
 	}
 
 	// When an alias is added, oldtag becomes inaccessable
-	public function onAddAlias($event) {
+	public function onAddAlias(AddAliasEvent $event) {
 		$this->mass_tag_edit($event->oldtag, $event->newtag);
 	}
 
-	public function onImageInfoBoxBuilding($event) {
+	public function onImageInfoBoxBuilding(ImageInfoBoxBuildingEvent $event) {
 		global $user;
 		if($this->can_tag($event->image)) {
 			$event->add_part($this->theme->get_tag_editor_html($event->image), 40);
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ class TagEdit extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onSetupBuilding($event) {
+	public function onSetupBuilding(SetupBuildingEvent $event) {
 		$sb = new SetupBlock("Tag Editing");
 		$sb->add_bool_option("tag_edit_anon", "Allow anonymous tag editing: ");
 		$sb->add_bool_option("source_edit_anon", "<br>Allow anonymous source editing: ");
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ class TagEdit extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 
 
-	private function can_tag($image) {
+	private function can_tag(Image $image) {
 		global $config, $user;
 		return (
 			($config->get_bool("tag_edit_anon") || !$user->is_anonymous()) &&
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ class TagEdit extends SimpleExtension {
 		);
 	}
 
-	private function can_source($image) {
+	private function can_source(Image $image) {
 		global $config, $user;
 		return (
 			($config->get_bool("source_edit_anon") || !$user->is_anonymous()) &&
diff --git a/ext/tag_list/main.php b/ext/tag_list/main.php
index 6edab5e8..c30aacb6 100644
--- a/ext/tag_list/main.php
+++ b/ext/tag_list/main.php
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 class TagList extends SimpleExtension {
-	public function onInitExt($event) {
+	public function onInitExt(InitExtEvent $event) {
 		global $config;
 		$config->set_default_int("tag_list_length", 15);
 		$config->set_default_int("popular_tag_list_length", 15);
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class TagList extends SimpleExtension {
 		$config->set_default_bool("tag_list_pages", false);
 	}
 
-	public function onPageRequest($event) {
+	public function onPageRequest(PageRequestEvent $event) {
 		global $page, $database;
 
 		if($event->page_matches("tags")) {
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class TagList extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onPostListBuilding($event) {
+	public function onPostListBuilding(PostListBuildingEvent $event) {
 		global $config, $page;
 		if($config->get_int('tag_list_length') > 0) {
 			if(!empty($event->search_terms)) {
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class TagList extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onDisplayingImage($event) {
+	public function onDisplayingImage(DisplayingImageEvent $event) {
 		global $config, $page;
 		if($config->get_int('tag_list_length') > 0) {
 			if($config->get_string('tag_list_image_type') == 'related') {
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class TagList extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onSetupBuilding($event) {
+	public function onSetupBuilding(SetupBuildingEvent $event) {
 		$sb = new SetupBlock("Tag Map Options");
 		$sb->add_int_option("tags_min", "Only show tags used at least "); $sb->add_label(" times");
 		$sb->add_bool_option("tag_list_pages", "<br>Paged tag lists: ");
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ class TagList extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 // }}}
 // misc {{{
-	private function tag_link($tag) {
+	private function tag_link(/*string*/ $tag) {
 		$u_tag = url_escape($tag);
 		return make_link("post/list/$u_tag/1");
 	}
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ class TagList extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 // }}}
 // blocks {{{
-	private function add_related_block($page, $image) {
+	private function add_related_block(Page $page, Image $image) {
 		global $database;
 		global $config;
 
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ class TagList extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private function add_tags_block($page, $image) {
+	private function add_tags_block(Page $page, Image $image) {
 		global $database;
 		global $config;
 
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ class TagList extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private function add_popular_block($page) {
+	private function add_popular_block(Page $page) {
 		global $database;
 		global $config;
 
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ class TagList extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private function add_refine_block($page, $search) {
+	private function add_refine_block(Page $page, /*string*/ $search) {
 		global $database;
 		global $config;
 
diff --git a/ext/upload/main.php b/ext/upload/main.php
index 8090a08e..979ab413 100644
--- a/ext/upload/main.php
+++ b/ext/upload/main.php
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class Upload extends SimpleExtension {
 	// early, so it can stop the DataUploadEvent before any data handlers see it
 	public function get_priority() {return 40;}
 
-	public function onInitExt($event) {
+	public function onInitExt(InitExtEvent $event) {
 		global $config;
 		$config->set_default_int('upload_count', 3);
 		$config->set_default_int('upload_size', '1MB');
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ class Upload extends SimpleExtension {
 
 	}
 
-	public function onPostListBuilding($event) {
+	public function onPostListBuilding(PostListBuildingEvent $event) {
 		global $user, $page;
 		if($this->can_upload($user)) {
 			if($this->is_full) {
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ class Upload extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onSetupBuilding($event) {
+	public function onSetupBuilding(SetupBuildingEvent $event) {
 		$tes = array();
 		$tes["Disabled"] = "none";
 		if(function_exists("curl_init")) {
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ class Upload extends SimpleExtension {
 		$event->panel->add_block($sb);
 	}
 
-	public function onDataUpload($event) {
+	public function onDataUpload(DataUploadEvent $event) {
 		global $config;
 		if($this->is_full) {
 			throw new UploadException("Upload failed; disk nearly full");
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ class Upload extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 // }}}
 // do things {{{
-	private function can_upload($user) {
+	private function can_upload(User $user) {
 		global $config;
 		return ($config->get_bool("upload_anon") || !$user->is_anonymous());
 	}
diff --git a/ext/user/main.php b/ext/user/main.php
index 7348b490..b5c9dc64 100644
--- a/ext/user/main.php
+++ b/ext/user/main.php
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class UserCreationEvent extends Event {
 class UserCreationException extends SCoreException {}
 
 class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
-	public function onInitExt(Event $event) {
+	public function onInitExt(InitExtEvent $event) {
 		global $config;
 		$config->set_default_bool("login_signup_enabled", true);
 		$config->set_default_int("login_memory", 365);
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		$config->set_default_bool("login_tac_bbcode", true);
 	}
 
-	public function onPageRequest(Event $event) {
+	public function onPageRequest(PageRequestEvent $event) {
 		global $config, $database, $page, $user;
 
 		// user info is shown on all pages
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 			}
 		}
 
-		if(($event instanceof PageRequestEvent) && $event->page_matches("user")) {
+		if($event->page_matches("user")) {
 			$display_user = ($event->count_args() == 0) ? $user : User::by_name($event->get_arg(0));
 			if($event->count_args() == 0 && $user->is_anonymous()) {
 				$this->theme->display_error($page, "Not Logged In",
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onUserPageBuilding(Event $event) {
+	public function onUserPageBuilding(UserPageBuildingEvent $event) {
 		global $page, $user, $config;
 
 		$h_join_date = autodate($event->display_user->join_date);
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public function onSetupBuilding(Event $event) {
+	public function onSetupBuilding(SetupBuildingEvent $event) {
 		global $config;
 
 		$hosts = array(
@@ -228,17 +228,17 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		$event->panel->add_block($sb);
 	}
 
-	public function onUserBlockBuilding(Event $event) {
+	public function onUserBlockBuilding(UserBlockBuildingEvent $event) {
 		$event->add_link("My Profile", make_link("user"));
 		$event->add_link("Log Out", make_link("user_admin/logout"), 99);
 	}
 
-	public function onUserCreation(Event $event) {
+	public function onUserCreation(UserCreationEvent $event) {
 		$this->check_user_creation($event);
 		$this->create_user($event);
 	}
 
-	public function onSearchTermParse(Event $event) {
+	public function onSearchTermParse(SearchTermParseEvent $event) {
 		global $user;
 
 		$matches = array();
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 // }}}
 // Things done *with* the user {{{
-	private function login($page)  {
+	private function login(Page $page)  {
 		global $user;
 
 		$name = $_POST['user'];
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private function check_user_creation($event) {
+	private function check_user_creation($event) { // FIXME type
 		$name = $event->username;
 		$pass = $event->password;
 		$email = $event->email;
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private function create_user($event) {
+	private function create_user($event) { // FIXME type
 		global $database;
 
 		$hash = md5(strtolower($event->username) . $event->password);
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		log_info("user", "Created User #$uid ({$event->username})");
 	}
 
-	private function set_login_cookie($name, $pass) {
+	private function set_login_cookie(/*string*/ $name, /*string*/ $pass) {
 		global $config;
 
 		$addr = get_session_ip($config);
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 //}}}
 // Things done *to* the user {{{
-	private function change_password_wrapper($page) {
+	private function change_password_wrapper(Page $page) {
 		global $user;
 		global $config;
 		global $database;
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private function change_email_wrapper($page) {
+	private function change_email_wrapper(Page $page) {
 		global $user;
 		global $config;
 		global $database;
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private function set_more_wrapper($page) {
+	private function set_more_wrapper(Page $page) {
 		global $user;
 		global $config;
 		global $database;
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 	}
 // }}}
 // ips {{{
-	private function count_upload_ips($duser) {
+	private function count_upload_ips(User $duser) {
 		global $database;
 		$rows = $database->get_pairs("
 				SELECT
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 				ORDER BY most_recent DESC", array("id"=>$duser->id));
 		return $rows;
 	}
-	private function count_comment_ips($duser) {
+	private function count_comment_ips(User $duser) {
 		global $database;
 		$rows = $database->get_pairs("
 				SELECT
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		return $rows;
 	}
 	
-	private function delete_user($page) {
+	private function delete_user(Page $page) {
 		global $user;
 		global $config;
 		global $database;
@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 		}
 	}
 	
-	private function delete_user_with_images($page) {
+	private function delete_user_with_images(Page $page) {
 		global $user;
 		global $config;
 		global $database;
@@ -537,5 +537,4 @@ class UserPage extends SimpleExtension {
 	
 // }}}
 }
-add_event_listener(new UserPage());
 ?>
diff --git a/ext/view/main.php b/ext/view/main.php
index 58399b1c..3fa700f6 100644
--- a/ext/view/main.php
+++ b/ext/view/main.php
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class ImageAdminBlockBuildingEvent extends Event {
 		$this->user = $user;
 	}
 
-	public function add_part($html, $position=50) {
+	public function add_part(/*string*/ $html, /*int*/ $position=50) {
 		while(isset($this->parts[$position])) $position++;
 		$this->parts[$position] = $html;
 	}
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 46132b2e..8bd09936 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -55,32 +55,11 @@ if(empty($database_dsn) && !file_exists("config.php")) {
 	exit;
 }
 require_once "config.php";
-
-// to change these system-level settings, do define("FOO", 123); in config.php
-function _d($name, $value) {if(!defined($name)) define($name, $value);}
-_d("DATABASE_DSN", null);    // string   PDO database connection details
-_d("CACHE_DSN", null);       // string   cache connection details
-_d("DEBUG", false);          // boolean  print various debugging details
-_d("DEBUG_SQL", false);      // boolean  dump SQL queries to data/sql.log
-_d("COVERAGE", false);       // boolean  activate xdebug coverage monitor
-_d("CONTEXT", null);         // string   file to log performance data into
-_d("CACHE_MEMCACHE", false); // boolean  store complete rendered pages in memcache
-_d("CACHE_DIR", false);      // boolean  store complete rendered pages on disk
-_d("CACHE_HTTP", false);     // boolean  output explicit HTTP caching headers
-_d("COOKIE_PREFIX", 'shm');  // string   if you run multiple galleries with non-shared logins, give them different prefixes
-_d("SPEED_HAX", false);      // boolean  do some questionable things in the name of performance
-_d("COMPILE_ELS", false);    // boolean  pre-build the list of event listeners
-_d("NICE_URLS", false);      // boolean  force niceurl mode
-_d("WH_SPLITS", 1);          // int      how many levels of subfolders to put in the warehouse
-_d("VERSION", 'trunk');      // string   shimmie version
-_d("SCORE_VERSION", 's2hack/'.VERSION); // string SCore version
-_d("TIMEZONE", 'UTC');       // string   timezone
-
-// set up and purify the environment
-date_default_timezone_set(TIMEZONE);
-
+require_once "core/default_config.inc.php";
 require_once "core/util.inc.php";
 require_once "lib/context.php";
+
+// set up and purify the environment
 if(CONTEXT) {
 	ctx_set_log(CONTEXT);
 }
@@ -103,7 +82,6 @@ try {
 	}
 	ctx_log_endok();
 
-
 	ctx_log_start("Connecting to DB");
 	// connect to the database
 	$database = new Database();
@@ -111,105 +89,22 @@ try {
 	$config = new DatabaseConfig($database);
 	ctx_log_endok();
 
-
-	ctx_log_start("Loading themelets");
 	// load the theme parts
+	ctx_log_start("Loading themelets");
 	$_theme = $config->get_string("theme", "default");
-	if(!file_exists('themes/'.$_theme)) $_theme = "default";
-	if(file_exists('themes/'.$_theme.'/custompage.class.php')) require_once 'themes/'.$_theme.'/custompage.class.php';
-	require_once 'themes/'.$_theme.'/layout.class.php';
-	require_once 'themes/'.$_theme.'/themelet.class.php';
-
-	$themelets = glob("ext/*/theme.php");
-	foreach($themelets as $filename) {
-		require_once $filename;
-	}
-
-	$custom_themelets = glob('themes/'.$_theme.'/*.theme.php');
-	if($custom_themelets) {
-		$m = array();
-		foreach($custom_themelets as $filename) {
-			if(preg_match('/themes\/'.$_theme.'\/(.*)\.theme\.php/',$filename,$m)
-					&& in_array('ext/'.$m[1].'/theme.php', $themelets)) {
-				require_once $filename;
-			}
-		}
+	if(!file_exists("themes/$_theme")) $_theme = "default";
+	foreach(_get_themelet_files($_theme) as $themelet) {
+		require_once $themelet;
 	}
 	ctx_log_endok();
 
-
-	ctx_log_start("Loading extensions");
-	// initialise the extensions
-	global $_event_listeners;
-	if(COMPILE_ELS && file_exists("data/event_listeners.php")) {
-		require_once("data/event_listeners.php");
-	}
-	else {
-		$all_events = array();
-		foreach(get_declared_classes() as $class) {
-			if(is_subclass_of($class, "Event")) {
-				$all_events[] = $class;
-			}
-		}
-		foreach(get_declared_classes() as $class) {
-			$rclass = new ReflectionClass($class);
-			if($rclass->isAbstract()) {
-				// don't do anything
-			}
-			elseif(is_subclass_of($class, "SimpleExtension")) {
-				$c = new $class();
-				$c->i_am($c);
-				$my_events = array();
-				foreach(get_class_methods($c) as $method) {
-					if(substr($method, 0, 2) == "on") {
-						$my_events[] = substr($method, 2) . "Event";
-					}
-				}
-				add_event_listener($c, $c->get_priority(), $my_events);
-			}
-			elseif(is_subclass_of($class, "Extension")) {
-				$c = new $class();
-				add_event_listener($c, $c->get_priority(), $all_events);
-			}
-		}
-
-		if(COMPILE_ELS) {
-			$p = "<"."?php\n";
-
-			foreach(get_declared_classes() as $class) {
-				$rclass = new ReflectionClass($class);
-				if($rclass->isAbstract()) {}
-				elseif(is_subclass_of($class, "SimpleExtension")) {
-					$p .= "\$$class = new $class(); ";
-					$p .= "\${$class}->i_am(\$$class);\n";
-				}
-				elseif(is_subclass_of($class, "Extension")) {
-					$p .= "\$$class = new $class();\n";
-				}
-			}
-
-			$p .= "\$_event_listeners = array(\n";
-			foreach($_event_listeners as $event => $listeners) {
-				$p .= "\t'$event' => array(\n";
-				foreach($listeners as $id => $listener) {
-					$p .= "\t\t$id => \$".get_class($listener).",\n";
-				}
-				$p .= "\t),\n";
-			}
-			$p .= ");\n";
-
-			$p .= "?".">";
-			file_put_contents("data/event_listeners.php", $p);
-		}
-	}
-	ctx_log_endok();
+	_load_extensions();
 	ctx_log_endok("Initialisation");
 
-
 	ctx_log_start("Page generation");
 	// start the page generation waterfall
 	$page = class_exists("CustomPage") ? new CustomPage() : new Page();
-	$user = _get_user($config, $database);
+	$user = _get_user();
 	send_event(new InitExtEvent());
 	send_event(_get_page_request());
 	$page->display();
@@ -220,22 +115,8 @@ try {
 	ctx_log_endok();
 }
 catch(Exception $e) {
-	$version = VERSION;
-	$message = $e->getMessage();
-	//$trace = var_dump($e->getTrace());
-	header("HTTP/1.0 500 Internal Error");
-	echo '
-<html>
-	<head>
-		<title>Internal error - SCore-'.$version.'</title>
-	</head>
-	<body>
-		<h1>Internal Error</h1>
-		<p>'.$message.'
-	</body>
-</html>
-';
 	if($database && $database->db) $database->db->rollback();
+	_fatal_error($e);
 	ctx_log_ender();
 }
 ?>