diff --git a/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/evennia.js b/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/evennia.js
index 27ab90a03..20b7c4d1b 100644
--- a/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/evennia.js
+++ b/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/evennia.js
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
     var Evennia = {
 
         debug: true,
+        initialized: false,
 
         // Initialize.
         // startup Evennia emitter and connection.
@@ -68,13 +69,19 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         //          Evennia.emit to return data to Client.
         //
         init: function(opts) {
+            if (this.initialized) {
+                // make it safe to call multiple times.
+                return;
+            }
+            this.initialized = true; 
+
             opts = opts || {};
             this.emitter = opts.emitter || new DefaultEmitter();
 
             if (opts.connection) {
                this.connection = opts.connection;
             }
-            else if (window.WebSocket) {
+            else if (window.WebSocket && wsactive) {
                 this.connection = new WebsocketConnection();
                 if (!this.connection) {
                     this.connection = new AjaxCometConnection();
@@ -82,7 +89,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
             } else {
                 this.connection = new AjaxCometConnection();
             }
-            // this.connection = opts.connection || window.WebSocket ? new WebsocketConnection() : new AjaxCometConnection();
+            log('Evennia initialized.')
         },
 
         // Client -> Evennia.
@@ -115,16 +122,17 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         //
         // Args:
         //   event (event): Event received from Evennia
-        //   data (obj):
+        //   args (array): Arguments to listener
+        //   kwargs (obj): keyword-args to listener
         //
-        emit: function (cmdname, data) {
-            log('emit called with args: + ' + cmdname + ',' + data);
-            if (data.cmdid) {
-                cmdmap[data.cmdid].apply(this, [data]);
-                delete cmdmap[cmddata.cmdid];
+        emit: function (cmdname, args, kwargs) {
+            log('emit called with args: ' + cmdname + ',' + args + ',' + kwargs);
+            if (kwargs.cmdid) {
+                cmdmap[kwargs.cmdid].apply(this, [args, kwargs]);
+                delete cmdmap[kwargs.cmdid];
             }
             else {
-                this.emitter.emit(cmdname, data);
+                this.emitter.emit(cmdname, args, kwargs);
             }
         },
 
@@ -135,7 +143,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
     // the Server. An alternative can be overridden in Evennia.init.
     //
     var DefaultEmitter = function () {
-        var cmdmap = {};
+        var listeners = {};
         // Emit data to all listeners tied to a given cmdname
         //
         // Args:
@@ -144,11 +152,11 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         //     called as function(kwargs).
         //   kwargs (obj): Argument to the listener.
         //
-        var emit = function (cmdname, kwargs) {
-            log('emit', cmdname, kwargs);
+        var emit = function (cmdname, args, kwargs) {
+            log('emit', cmdname, args, kwargs);
 
-            if (cmdmap[cmdname]) {
-                cmdmap[cmdname].apply(this, kwargs);
+            if (listeners[cmdname]) {
+                listeners[cmdname].apply(this, [args, kwargs]);
             };
         };
 
@@ -161,7 +169,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         //
         var on = function (cmdname, listener) {
             if (typeof(listener === 'function')) {
-                cmdmap[cmdname] = listener;
+                listeners[cmdname] = listener;
             };
         };
 
@@ -171,7 +179,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         //   cmdname (str): Name of event to handle
         //
         var off = function (cmdname) {
-            delete cmdmap[cmdname]
+            delete listeners[cmdname]
         };
         return {emit:emit, on:on, off:off}
     };
@@ -184,17 +192,21 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         // Handle Websocket open event
         websocket.onopen = function (event) {
             log('Websocket connection openened. ', event);
-            Evennia.emit('socket:open', event);
+            Evennia.emit('socket:open', [], event);
         };
         // Handle Websocket close event
         websocket.onclose = function (event) {
             log('WebSocket connection closed.');
-            Evennia.emit('socket:close', event);
+            Evennia.emit('socket:close', [], event);
         };
         // Handle websocket errors
         websocket.onerror = function (event) {
             log("Websocket error to ", wsurl, event);
-            Evennia.emit('socket:error', event.data);
+            Evennia.emit('socket:error', [], event);
+            if (websocket.readyState === websocket.CLOSED) { 
+                log("Websocket failed. Falling back to Ajax...");
+                Evennia.connection = AjaxCometConnection();
+            }
         };
         // Handle incoming websocket data [cmdname, kwargs]
         websocket.onmessage = function (event) {
@@ -203,13 +215,14 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
                 return;
             }
             // Parse the incoming data, send to emitter
-            // Incoming data is on the form [cmdname, kwargs]
+            // Incoming data is on the form [cmdname, args, kwargs]
             data = JSON.parse(data);
             log("incoming " + data);
-            Evennia.emit(data[0], data[1]);
+            Evennia.emit(data[0], data[1], data[2]);
         };
-        websocket.msg = function(data) {
-            websocket.send(JSON.stringify(data));
+        websocket.msg = function(cmdname, args, kwargs) {
+            // send 
+            websocket.send(JSON.stringify([cmdname, args, kwargs]));
         };
 
         return websocket;
@@ -221,11 +234,11 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         log("Trying ajax ...");
         var client_hash = '0';
         // Send Client -> Evennia. Called by Evennia.send.
-        var msg = function(data) {
+        var msg = function(cmdname, args, kwargs) {
             $.ajax({type: "POST", url: "/webclientdata",
                    async: true, cache: false, timeout: 30000,
                    dataType: "json",
-                   data: {mode:'input', msg: data, 'suid': client_hash},
+                   data: {mode:'input', msg: [cmdname, args, kwargs], 'suid': client_hash},
                    success: function(data) {},
                    error: function(req, stat, err) {
                        log("COMET: Server returned error. " + err);
@@ -243,7 +256,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
                     dataType: "json",
                     data: {mode: 'receive', 'suid': client_hash},
                     success: function(data) {
-                       Evennia.emit(data[0], data[1])
+                       Evennia.emit(data[0], data[1], data[2])
                     },
                     error: function() {
                         poll()  // timeout; immediately re-poll
@@ -284,16 +297,10 @@ function log(msg) {
 }
 
 // Called when page has finished loading (kicks the client into gear)
-$(document).ready(function(){
-
-    // a small timeout to stop 'loading' indicator in Chrome
-    setTimeout(function () {
-      log('Evennia initialized...')
-      Evennia.init()
-
-    }, 500);
-    // set an idle timer to avoid proxy servers to time out on us (every 3 minutes)
-    setInterval(function() {
-      log('Idle tick.');
-    }, 60000*3);
+$(document).ready(function() {
+    setTimeout( function () {
+        Evennia.init() 
+        }, 
+        500
+    );
 });
diff --git a/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/webclient_gui.js b/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/webclient_gui.js
index 4287456b7..d7b38fecb 100644
--- a/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/webclient_gui.js
+++ b/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/webclient_gui.js
@@ -13,16 +13,152 @@
  */
 
 // 
-// GUI Helpers
+// GUI Elements
 //
 
 
+//
+// Manage history for input line
+//
+var inputlog = function() {
+    var history_max = 21;
+    var history = new Array();
+    var history_pos = 0;
+
+    history[0] = ''; // the very latest input is empty for new entry.
+
+    function history_back() {
+        // step backwards in history stack 
+        history_pos = Math.min(++history_pos, history.length - 1);
+        return history[history.length - 1 - history_pos]; 
+    }
+    function history_fwd() {
+        // step forwards in history stack
+        history_pos = Math.max(--history_pos, 0);
+        return history[history.length -1 - history_pos];
+    }
+    function history_add(input) {
+        // add a new entry to history, don't repeat latest
+        if (input != history[history.length-1]) {
+            if (history.length >= history_max) {
+                history.shift(); // kill oldest entry
+            }
+            history[history.length-1] = input;
+            history[history.length] = '';
+        }
+    }
+    return {back: history_back, 
+            fwd: history_fwd,
+            add: history_add}
+};
+
+$.fn.appendCaret = function() {
+    /* jQuery extension that will forward the caret to the end of the input, and
+       won't harm other elements (although calling this on multiple inputs might
+       not have the expected consequences).
+
+       Thanks to
+       http://stackoverflow.com/questions/499126/jquery-set-cursor-position-in-text-area
+       for the good starting point.  */
+    return this.each(function() {
+        var range,
+            // Index at where to place the caret.
+            end,
+            self = this;
+
+        if (self.setSelectionRange) {
+            // other browsers
+            end = self.value.length;
+            self.focus();
+            // NOTE: Need to delay the caret movement until after the callstack.
+            setTimeout(function() {
+                self.setSelectionRange(end, end);
+            }, 0);
+        }
+        else if (self.createTextRange) {
+            // IE
+            end = self.value.length - 1;
+            range = self.createTextRange();
+            range.collapse(true);
+            range.moveEnd('character', end);
+            range.moveStart('character', end);
+            // NOTE: I haven't tested to see if IE has the same problem as
+            // W3C browsers seem to have in this context (needing to fire
+            // select after callstack).
+            range.select();
+        }
+    });
+};
+
+
+// GUI Event Handlers 
+
+$(document).keydown( function(event) {
+    // catch all keyboard input, handle special chars
+    var code = event.which;
+    inputfield = $("#inputfield");
+    inputfield.focus();
+
+    if (code === 13) { // Enter key sends text
+        outtext = inputfield.val()
+        inputlog.add(outtext)
+        Evennia.msg("text", [outtext], {});
+        event.prevetDefault()
+    }
+    else if (code === 38) { // Arrow up
+        inputfield.val(inputlog.back()).appendCaret();
+    }
+    else if (code === 40) { // Arrow down
+        inputfield.val(inputlog.fwd()).appendCaret();
+    }
+
+});
+
+// client size setter
+
+function set_window_size() {
+    var winh = $(document).height();
+    var formh = $('#inputform').outerHeight(true);
+    $("#messagewindow").css({'height': winh - formh - 1});
+}
+
+// Event - called when window resizes
+$(window).resize(set_window_size);
+
 
 // 
 // Listeners 
 //
 
+function doText(args, kwargs) {
+    // append message to previous ones
+    $("#messagewindow").append(
+            "<div class='msg out>" + args[0] + "</div>");
+    // scroll message window to bottom
+    $("#messagewindow").animate({scrollTop: $('#messageindow')[0].scrollHeight});
+}
+
+function doPrompt(args, kwargs) {
+    // show prompt
+    $('prompt').replaceWith(
+           "<div id='prompt' class='msg out'>" + args[0] + "</div>");
+}
+
+
+$(document).ready(function() {
+    // a small timeout to stop 'loading' indicator in Chrome
+    Evennia.init() 
+    // register listeners
+    Evennia.emitter.on("text", doText);
+    Evennia.emitter.on("prompt", doPrompt);
+    set_window_size();    
+    
+    // set an idle timer to avoid proxy servers to time out on us (every 3 minutes)
+    setInterval(function() {
+        log('Idle tick.');
+        Evennia.msg("text", ["idle"], {});
+    }, 
+    60000*3
+    );
+});
 
-// 
-// Senders 
-//
diff --git a/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/base.html b/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/base.html
index 744afd4e2..d23edf7e9 100644
--- a/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/base.html
+++ b/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/base.html
@@ -14,60 +14,66 @@ JQuery available.
     <meta name="author" content="Evennia" />
     <meta name="generator" content="Evennia" />
 
-    <link rel='stylesheet' type="text/css" media="screen" href="{% static "webclient/css/webclient.css" %}">
+    <link rel='stylesheet' type="text/css" media="screen" href={% static "webclient/css/webclient.css" %}>
 
-    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.11.1.min.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
-    <!--for offline testing, download the jquery library from jquery.com-->
-    <!--script src="/media/javascript/jquery-1.11.1.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script-->
+    <!-- Import JQuery and warn if there is a problem -->
+    {% block jquery_import %}
+        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-2.1.1.min.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
+    {% endblock %}
 
     <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">
-        if(!window.jQuery){document.write("<div class='err'>jQuery library not found or the online version could not be reached.</div>");}
+        if(!window.jQuery) {
+            document.write("<div class='err'>jQuery library not found or the online version could not be reached.</div>");
+        }
     </script>
 
-    <!-- Set up javascript url -->
+    <!-- Set up Websocket url and load the evennia.js library-->
     <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
+        {% if websocket_enabled %}
+            var wsactive = true;
+        {% else %}
+            var wsactive = false;
+        {% endif %} 
+
         {% if websocket_url %}
             var wsurl = "{{websocket_url}}:{{websocket_port}}";
         {% else %}
             var wsurl = "ws://" + this.location.hostname + ":{{websocket_port}}";
         {% endif %}
-        document.write("\<script src=\"{% static "webclient/js/evennia.js" %}\" type=\"text/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\"\>\</script\>")
     </script>
+    <script src={% static "webclient/js/evennia.js" %} language="javascript" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"/></script>
+
+    <!-- Load gui library -->
+    {% block guilib_import %}
+        <script src={% static "webclient/js/webclient_gui.js" %} language="javascript" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
+    {% endblock %}
 
   </head>
   <body>
     
     <div id="connecting">
-        {% block Connecting %}
+        {% block connecting %}
         {% endblock %}
     </div>
 
-    <div id="noscript">
-        <h3>Javascript Error: The Evennia MUD client requires that you have Javascript activated.</h3>
-          <p>Turn off eventual script blockers and/or switch to a web
-          browser supporting javascript.</p>
-          <p>For admins: The error could also be due to not being able
-          to access the online jQuery javascript library. If you are
-          testing the client without an internet connection, you have
-          to previously download the jQuery library from
-          http://code.jquery.com (it's just one file) and then edit
-          webclient.html to point to the local copy.</p>
+    <div id="noscript" class="err">
+        <h3>Javascript Error: The Evennia MUD client requires that you
+            have Javascript activated.</h3> 
+            <p>Turn off eventual script blockers and/or switch to a
+            web browser supporting javascript. <p>
+            This error could also be due to not being able to access
+            the online jQuery javascript library.</p>
+        <!-- This is will only fire if javascript is actually active --> 
+        <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
+            $('#noscript').remove();
+        </script>
     </div>
 
-    <!-- This is will only fire if js is actually active --> 
-    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
-        $('#noscript').remove();
-    </script>
-
+    <!-- main client -->
     <div id=clientwrapper>
         {% block client %}
         {% endblock %}
     </div>
 
-    <!-- import this after the client -->
-    {% block guilib_import %}
-    <script src="webclient/js/webclient_gui.js" language="javascript" type="test/javascript"> </script>
-    {% endblock %}
-
   </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/webclient.html b/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/webclient.html
index fba9ce9d3..449466303 100644
--- a/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/webclient.html
+++ b/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/webclient.html
@@ -1,30 +1,21 @@
 {% extends "webclient/base.html" %}
 
-{% block guilib_import %}
-{% endblock %}
+<!-- Django-template blocks available for overloading:
+    - connecting     - custom connect messages
+    - jquery_import  - for changing to a local jquery version
+    - guilib_import  - for using your own gui lib
+--> 
 
-{% block connecting %}
-{% endblock %}
 
 {% block client %}
 
-<h1>Webclient!</h1>
+<div id="client">
+    <div id="messagewindow"> mainarea  </div>
+    <div id="inputform"> 
+        <textarea name="inputfield" type="text"> </textarea>
+    </div>
+</div>
 
-<form>
-    <input id="maininput" type="text" name="input">
-    <input type="button" value="Send" onClick="sendInput()">
-</form>
-
-<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
-
-var sendInput = function() {
-    var inmsg = $("#maininput").val();
-    log("sendInput: " + inmsg);
-    Evennia.msg("echo", [inmsg], {});
-};
-
-</script>
 
 {% endblock %}
 
-