diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
deleted file mode 100755
index cb46fb67..00000000
--- a/README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-RefStack
-========
-
-Vendor-facing API for registration of interop-compliance endpoints and credentials for on-demand testing.
-
-Running at http://refstack.org
-See (living) documentation at https://etherpad.openstack.org/RefStackBlueprint
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..87f262dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+RefStack
+========
+
+Vendor-facing API for registration of interop-compliance endpoints and credentials for on-demand testing.
+
+Running at http://refstack.org
+See (living) documentation at https://etherpad.openstack.org/RefStackBlueprint
+
+
+Okay, I'm Sold, How Do I Run This Myself?
+-----------------------------------------
+
+This is our documentation for how we get this set up::
+
+  # Git you clonin'
+  git clone http://github.com/openstack-ops/refstack
+
+  cd refstack
+
+  # Setup or update the database
+  # NOTE: you are going to have to modify the db connection string in
+  #       `alembic.ini` to get this working
+  # PROTIP: if you just want to test this out, use `-n alembic_sqlite` to
+  #         make a local sqlite db
+  #         $ alembic -n alembic_sqlite update head
+  alembic update head
+
+  # Plug this bad boy into your server infrastructure.
+  # We use nginx and gunicorn, you may use something else if you are smarter
+  # than we are.
+  # For the most basic setup that you can try right now, just kick off
+  # gunicorn:
+  gunicorn refstack.web:app
+
+  # Now browse to http://localhost:8000
diff --git a/alembic.ini b/alembic.ini
index 848a3873..d26c4925 100755
--- a/alembic.ini
+++ b/alembic.ini
@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@ script_location = alembic
 sqlalchemy.url = driver://user:pass@localhost/dbname
 
 
+[alembic_sqlite]
+# path to migration scripts
+script_location = alembic
+
+sqlalchemy.url = sqlite:///refstack.db
+
+
 # Logging configuration
 [loggers]
 keys = root,sqlalchemy,alembic
diff --git a/alembic/env.py b/alembic/env.py
index afed5bdd..6449b1da 100755
--- a/alembic/env.py
+++ b/alembic/env.py
@@ -24,14 +24,10 @@ sys.path.append("./")
 from alembic import context
 from sqlalchemy import engine_from_config, pool
 from logging.config import fileConfig
-from refstack import app
 
 # this is the Alembic Config object, which provides
 # access to the values within the .ini file in use.
 config = context.config
-cur_db_uri = config.get_section_option('alembic', 'sqlalchemy.url')
-my_db_uri = 'sqlite:////tmp/refstack.db' # app.config.get('SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI', cur_db_uri)
-config.set_section_option('alembic', 'sqlalchemy.url', my_db_uri)
 
 # Interpret the config file for Python logging.
 # This line sets up loggers basically.
@@ -45,6 +41,10 @@ fileConfig(config.config_file_name)
 from refstack.models import *
 target_metadata = Base.metadata
 
+# other values from the config, defined by the needs of env.py,
+# can be acquired:
+# my_important_option = config.get_main_option("my_important_option")
+# ... etc.
 
 def run_migrations_offline():
     """Run migrations in 'offline' mode.
@@ -92,4 +92,3 @@ if context.is_offline_mode():
     run_migrations_offline()
 else:
     run_migrations_online()
-
diff --git a/refstack/app.py b/refstack/app.py
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index eda49674..fbdcfb3d
--- a/refstack/app.py
+++ b/refstack/app.py
@@ -1,50 +1,181 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
-#
-# Copyright (c) 2013 Piston Cloud Computing, Inc.
-# All Rights Reserved.
-#
-#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
-#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
-#    a copy of the License at
-#
-#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
-#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
-#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
-#    under the License.
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-"""Common Flask app config."""
+# This file based on MIT licensed code at: https://github.com/imwilsonxu/fbone
 
 import os
 
-import flask
+from flask import Flask, request, render_template
+#from flask.ext.babel import Babel
+
+from .config import DefaultConfig
+#from .user import User, user
+#from .settings import settings
+#from .frontend import frontend
+#from .api import api
+#from .admin import admin
+#from .extensions import db, mail, cache, login_manager, oid
+from .extensions import db, mail, login_manager, oid
+from .utils import INSTANCE_FOLDER_PATH
 
 
-#db_path = os.path.abspath(
-#    os.path.join(os.path.basename(__file__), "../"))
+# For import *
+__all__ = ['create_app']
 
-db_path = 'tmp'
+DEFAULT_BLUEPRINTS = tuple()
+#    frontend,
+#    user,
+#    settings,
+#    api,
+#    admin,
+#)
 
 
-app = flask.Flask(__name__)
+def create_app(config=None, app_name=None, blueprints=None):
+    """Create a Flask app."""
+
+    if app_name is None:
+        app_name = DefaultConfig.PROJECT
+    if blueprints is None:
+        blueprints = DEFAULT_BLUEPRINTS
+
+    app = Flask(app_name,
+                instance_path=INSTANCE_FOLDER_PATH,
+                instance_relative_config=True)
+    configure_app(app, config)
+    configure_hook(app)
+    configure_blueprints(app, blueprints)
+    # NOTE(termie): commented out until we switch the web config to this
+    #configure_extensions(app)
+    configure_logging(app)
+    configure_template_filters(app)
+    configure_error_handlers(app)
+
+    return app
 
 
-app.config['MAILGUN_KEY'] = '#@#@#@#@'
-app.config['MAILGUN_DOMAIN'] = 'refstack.org'
-app.config['SECRET_KEY'] = '#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@'
-app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = os.environ.get(
-    'DATABASE_URL', 'sqlite:///%s/refstack.db' % (db_path))
-app.config['DEBUG'] = True
-app.config['SECURITY_PASSWORD_HASH'] = 'sha512_crypt'
-app.config['SECURITY_PASSWORD_SALT'] = app.config['SECRET_KEY']
-app.config['SECURITY_POST_LOGIN_VIEW'] = 'dashboard'
-app.config['SECURITY_RECOVERABLE'] = True
-app.config['SECURITY_REGISTERABLE'] = True
-app.config['SECURITY_EMAIL_SENDER'] = "refstack.org"
-app.config['MAIL_SERVER'] = 'smtp.refstack.org'
-app.config['MAIL_PORT'] = 465
-app.config['MAIL_USE_SSL'] = True
-app.config['MAIL_USERNAME'] = 'postmaster@refstack.org'
-app.config['MAIL_PASSWORD'] = '1234'
+def configure_app(app, config=None):
+    """Different ways of configurations."""
+
+    # http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/api/#configuration
+    app.config.from_object(DefaultConfig)
+
+    # http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/config/#instance-folders
+    app.config.from_pyfile('production.cfg', silent=True)
+
+    if config:
+        app.config.from_object(config)
+
+    # Use instance folder instead of env variables to make deployment easier.
+    #app.config.from_envvar('%s_APP_CONFIG' % DefaultConfig.PROJECT.upper(), silent=True)
+
+
+def configure_extensions(app):
+    # flask-sqlalchemy
+    db.init_app(app)
+
+    # flask-mail
+    mail.init_app(app)
+
+    # flask-cache
+    cache.init_app(app)
+
+    # flask-babel
+    babel = Babel(app)
+
+    @babel.localeselector
+    def get_locale():
+        accept_languages = app.config.get('ACCEPT_LANGUAGES')
+        return request.accept_languages.best_match(accept_languages)
+
+    # flask-login
+    login_manager.login_view = 'frontend.login'
+    login_manager.refresh_view = 'frontend.reauth'
+
+    @login_manager.user_loader
+    def load_user(id):
+        return User.query.get(id)
+    login_manager.setup_app(app)
+
+    # flask-openid
+    oid.init_app(app)
+
+
+def configure_blueprints(app, blueprints):
+    """Configure blueprints in views."""
+
+    for blueprint in blueprints:
+        app.register_blueprint(blueprint)
+
+
+def configure_template_filters(app):
+
+    @app.template_filter()
+    def pretty_date(value):
+        return pretty_date(value)
+
+    @app.template_filter()
+    def format_date(value, format='%Y-%m-%d'):
+        return value.strftime(format)
+
+
+def configure_logging(app):
+    """Configure file(info) and email(error) logging."""
+
+    if app.debug or app.testing:
+        # Skip debug and test mode. Just check standard output.
+        return
+
+    import logging
+    from logging.handlers import SMTPHandler
+
+    # Set info level on logger, which might be overwritten by handers.
+    # Suppress DEBUG messages.
+    app.logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+
+    info_log = os.path.join(app.config['LOG_FOLDER'], 'info.log')
+    info_file_handler = logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler(info_log, maxBytes=100000, backupCount=10)
+    info_file_handler.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+    info_file_handler.setFormatter(logging.Formatter(
+        '%(asctime)s %(levelname)s: %(message)s '
+        '[in %(pathname)s:%(lineno)d]')
+    )
+    app.logger.addHandler(info_file_handler)
+
+    # Testing
+    #app.logger.info("testing info.")
+    #app.logger.warn("testing warn.")
+    #app.logger.error("testing error.")
+
+    mail_handler = SMTPHandler(app.config['MAIL_SERVER'],
+                               app.config['MAIL_USERNAME'],
+                               app.config['ADMINS'],
+                               'O_ops... %s failed!' % app.config['PROJECT'],
+                               (app.config['MAIL_USERNAME'],
+                                app.config['MAIL_PASSWORD']))
+    mail_handler.setLevel(logging.ERROR)
+    mail_handler.setFormatter(logging.Formatter(
+        '%(asctime)s %(levelname)s: %(message)s '
+        '[in %(pathname)s:%(lineno)d]')
+    )
+    app.logger.addHandler(mail_handler)
+
+
+def configure_hook(app):
+    @app.before_request
+    def before_request():
+        pass
+
+
+def configure_error_handlers(app):
+
+    @app.errorhandler(403)
+    def forbidden_page(error):
+        return render_template("errors/forbidden_page.html"), 403
+
+    @app.errorhandler(404)
+    def page_not_found(error):
+        return render_template("errors/page_not_found.html"), 404
+
+    @app.errorhandler(500)
+    def server_error_page(error):
+        return render_template("errors/server_error.html"), 500
diff --git a/refstack/config.py b/refstack/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..168efb46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/refstack/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# This file based on MIT licensed code at: https://github.com/imwilsonxu/fbone
+
+import os
+
+from utils import make_dir, INSTANCE_FOLDER_PATH
+
+
+class BaseConfig(object):
+
+    PROJECT = "fbone"
+
+    # Get app root path, also can use flask.root_path.
+    # ../../config.py
+    PROJECT_ROOT = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)))
+
+    DEBUG = False
+    TESTING = False
+
+    ADMINS = ['youremail@yourdomain.com']
+
+    # http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/quickstart/#sessions
+    SECRET_KEY = 'secret key'
+
+    LOG_FOLDER = os.path.join(INSTANCE_FOLDER_PATH, 'logs')
+    make_dir(LOG_FOLDER)
+
+    # Fild upload, should override in production.
+    # Limited the maximum allowed payload to 16 megabytes.
+    # http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/patterns/fileuploads/#improving-uploads
+    MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH = 16 * 1024 * 1024
+    UPLOAD_FOLDER = os.path.join(INSTANCE_FOLDER_PATH, 'uploads')
+    make_dir(UPLOAD_FOLDER)
+
+
+class DefaultConfig(BaseConfig):
+
+    DEBUG = True
+
+    # Flask-Sqlalchemy: http://packages.python.org/Flask-SQLAlchemy/config.html
+    SQLALCHEMY_ECHO = True
+    # SQLITE for prototyping.
+    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = 'sqlite:///' + INSTANCE_FOLDER_PATH + '/db.sqlite'
+    # MYSQL for production.
+    #SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = 'mysql://username:password@server/db?charset=utf8'
+
+    # Flask-babel: http://pythonhosted.org/Flask-Babel/
+    ACCEPT_LANGUAGES = ['zh']
+    BABEL_DEFAULT_LOCALE = 'en'
+
+    # Flask-cache: http://pythonhosted.org/Flask-Cache/
+    CACHE_TYPE = 'simple'
+    CACHE_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 60
+
+    # Flask-mail: http://pythonhosted.org/flask-mail/
+    # https://bitbucket.org/danjac/flask-mail/issue/3/problem-with-gmails-smtp-server
+    MAIL_DEBUG = DEBUG
+    MAIL_SERVER = 'smtp.gmail.com'
+    MAIL_PORT = 587
+    MAIL_USE_TLS = True
+    MAIL_USE_SSL = False
+    # Should put MAIL_USERNAME and MAIL_PASSWORD in production under instance folder.
+    MAIL_USERNAME = 'yourmail@gmail.com'
+    MAIL_PASSWORD = 'yourpass'
+    MAIL_DEFAULT_SENDER = MAIL_USERNAME
+
+    # Flask-openid: http://pythonhosted.org/Flask-OpenID/
+    OPENID_FS_STORE_PATH = os.path.join(INSTANCE_FOLDER_PATH, 'openid')
+    make_dir(OPENID_FS_STORE_PATH)
+
+
+class TestConfig(BaseConfig):
+    TESTING = True
+    WTF_CSRF_ENABLED = False
+
+    SQLALCHEMY_ECHO = False
+    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = 'sqlite://'
diff --git a/refstack/decorators.py b/refstack/decorators.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e0539f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/refstack/decorators.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#-*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# This file based on MIT licensed code at: https://github.com/imwilsonxu/fbone
+
+from functools import wraps
+
+from flask import abort
+from flask.ext.login import current_user
+
+
+def admin_required(f):
+    @wraps(f)
+    def decorated_function(*args, **kwargs):
+        if not current_user.is_admin():
+            abort(403)
+        return f(*args, **kwargs)
+    return decorated_function
diff --git a/refstack/default_settings.py b/refstack/default_settings.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a02e8314
--- /dev/null
+++ b/refstack/default_settings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2013 Piston Cloud Computing, Inc.
+# All Rights Reserved.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+import os
+
+###############################################################
+#
+#
+#           THIS FILE IS NOT USED
+#           (leaveing it around briefly for reference)
+#
+#
+###############################################################
+
+db_path = '/tmp'
+
+
+class Default(object):
+    MAILGUN_KEY = '#@#@#@#@'
+    MAILGUN_DOMAIN = 'refstack.org'
+    SECRET_KEY = '#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@'
+    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = os.environ.get(
+              'DATABASE_URL', 'sqlite:///%s/refstack.db' % (db_path))
+    DEBUG = True
+    SECURITY_PASSWORD_HASH = 'sha512_crypt'
+    SECURITY_PASSWORD_SALT = SECRET_KEY
+    SECURITY_POST_LOGIN_VIEW = 'dashboard'
+    SECURITY_RECOVERABLE = True
+    SECURITY_REGISTERABLE = True
+    SECURITY_EMAIL_SENDER = "refstack.org"
+    MAIL_SERVER = 'smtp.refstack.org'
+    MAIL_PORT = 465
+    MAIL_USE_SSL = True
+    MAIL_USERNAME = 'postmaster@refstack.org'
+    MAIL_PASSWORD = '1234'
diff --git a/refstack/extensions.py b/refstack/extensions.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e83656c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/refstack/extensions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# This file based on MIT licensed code at: https://github.com/imwilsonxu/fbone
+
+from flask.ext.sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
+db = SQLAlchemy()
+
+from flask.ext.mail import Mail
+mail = Mail()
+
+# TODO(termie): not used yet
+#from flask.ext.cache import Cache
+#cache = Cache()
+
+from flask.ext.login import LoginManager
+login_manager = LoginManager()
+
+from flask.ext.openid import OpenID
+oid = OpenID()
diff --git a/refstack/utils.py b/refstack/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5def7aa9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/refstack/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# This file based on MIT licensed code at: https://github.com/imwilsonxu/fbone
+
+"""
+    Utils has nothing to do with models and views.
+"""
+
+import string
+import random
+import os
+
+from datetime import datetime
+
+
+# Instance folder path, make it independent.
+INSTANCE_FOLDER_PATH = os.path.join('/tmp', 'instance')
+
+ALLOWED_AVATAR_EXTENSIONS = set(['png', 'jpg', 'jpeg', 'gif'])
+
+# Form validation
+
+USERNAME_LEN_MIN = 4
+USERNAME_LEN_MAX = 25
+
+REALNAME_LEN_MIN = 4
+REALNAME_LEN_MAX = 25
+
+PASSWORD_LEN_MIN = 6
+PASSWORD_LEN_MAX = 16
+
+AGE_MIN = 1
+AGE_MAX = 300
+
+DEPOSIT_MIN = 0.00
+DEPOSIT_MAX = 9999999999.99
+
+# Sex type.
+MALE = 1
+FEMALE = 2
+OTHER = 9
+SEX_TYPE = {
+    MALE: u'Male',
+    FEMALE: u'Female',
+    OTHER: u'Other',
+}
+
+# Model
+STRING_LEN = 64
+
+
+def get_current_time():
+    return datetime.utcnow()
+
+
+def pretty_date(dt, default=None):
+    """
+    Returns string representing "time since" e.g.
+    3 days ago, 5 hours ago etc.
+    Ref: https://bitbucket.org/danjac/newsmeme/src/a281babb9ca3/newsmeme/
+    """
+
+    if default is None:
+        default = 'just now'
+
+    now = datetime.utcnow()
+    diff = now - dt
+
+    periods = (
+        (diff.days / 365, 'year', 'years'),
+        (diff.days / 30, 'month', 'months'),
+        (diff.days / 7, 'week', 'weeks'),
+        (diff.days, 'day', 'days'),
+        (diff.seconds / 3600, 'hour', 'hours'),
+        (diff.seconds / 60, 'minute', 'minutes'),
+        (diff.seconds, 'second', 'seconds'),
+    )
+
+    for period, singular, plural in periods:
+
+        if not period:
+            continue
+
+        if period == 1:
+            return u'%d %s ago' % (period, singular)
+        else:
+            return u'%d %s ago' % (period, plural)
+
+    return default
+
+
+def allowed_file(filename):
+    return '.' in filename and filename.rsplit('.', 1)[1] in ALLOWED_AVATAR_EXTENSIONS
+
+
+def id_generator(size=10, chars=string.ascii_letters + string.digits):
+    #return base64.urlsafe_b64encode(os.urandom(size))
+    return ''.join(random.choice(chars) for x in range(size))
+
+
+def make_dir(dir_path):
+    try:
+        if not os.path.exists(dir_path):
+            os.mkdir(dir_path)
+    except Exception, e:
+        raise e
diff --git a/refstack/web.py b/refstack/web.py
index 3a7d60bc..675ab692 100755
--- a/refstack/web.py
+++ b/refstack/web.py
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@
 #    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
+import os
+import logging
+
+import flask
 from flask import Flask, abort, flash, request, redirect, url_for, \
     render_template, g, session
 from flask_openid import OpenID
@@ -24,11 +28,20 @@ from wtforms import Form, BooleanField, TextField, \
     PasswordField, validators
 from flask_mail import Mail
 
-from refstack.app import app
+from refstack import app as base_app
+from refstack import utils
 from refstack.models import *
 
-mail = Mail(app)
 
+# TODO(termie): temporary hack for first-run experience
+utils.make_dir(utils.INSTANCE_FOLDER_PATH)
+
+# TODO(termie): transition all the routes below to blueprints
+# TODO(termie): use extensions setup from the create_app() call
+
+app = base_app.create_app()
+
+mail = Mail(app)
 # setup flask-openid
 oid = OpenID(app)
 admin = Admin(app, base_template='admin/master.html')
@@ -270,6 +283,3 @@ def logout():
     session.pop('openid', None)
     flash(u'You have been signed out')
     return redirect(oid.get_next_url())
-
-
-