diff --git a/core/ghost.js b/core/ghost.js
index 81f7d093a4..1e58a993ac 100644
--- a/core/ghost.js
+++ b/core/ghost.js
@@ -97,6 +97,18 @@ Ghost = function () {
             // there's no management here to be sure this has loaded
             settings: function () { return instance.settingsCache; },
             dataProvider: models,
+            blogGlobals:  function () {
+                /* this is a bit of a hack until we have a better way to combine settings and config
+                 * this data is what becomes globally available to themes */
+                return {
+                    url: instance.config().env[process.env.NODE_ENV].url,
+                    title: instance.settings().title,
+                    description: instance.settings().description,
+                    logo: instance.settings().logo,
+                    /* urg.. need to fix paths */
+                    themedir: path.join('/content/themes', instance.paths().activeTheme,  instance.settingsCache.activeTheme)
+                };
+            },
             statuses: function () { return statuses; },
             polyglot: function () { return polyglot; },
             getPaths: function () {
@@ -296,27 +308,29 @@ Ghost.prototype.initPlugins = function (pluginsToLoad) {
 
 // Initialise Theme or admin
 Ghost.prototype.initTheme = function (app) {
-    var self = this;
+    var self = this,
+        hbsOptions;
     return function initTheme(req, res, next) {
         app.set('view engine', 'hbs');
         // return the correct mime type for woff files
         express['static'].mime.define({'application/font-woff': ['woff']});
 
         if (!res.isAdmin) {
+
+            // self.globals is a hack til we have a better way of getting combined settings & config
+            hbsOptions = {templateOptions: {data: {blog: self.blogGlobals()}}};
+
             if (!self.themeDirectories.hasOwnProperty(self.settings().activeTheme)) {
                 // Throw an error if the theme is not available...
                 // TODO: move this to happen on app start
                 errors.logAndThrowError('The currently active theme ' + self.settings().activeTheme + ' is missing.');
             } else if (self.themeDirectories[self.settings().activeTheme].hasOwnProperty('partials')) {
                 // Check that the theme has a partials directory before trying to use it
-                app.engine('hbs', hbs.express3(
-                    {partialsDir: path.join(self.paths().activeTheme, 'partials')}
-                ));
-            } else {
-                // No partial dir, so no need to configure it
-                app.engine('hbs', hbs.express3());
+                hbsOptions.partialsDir = path.join(self.paths().activeTheme, 'partials');
             }
 
+            app.engine('hbs', hbs.express3(hbsOptions));
+
             app.set('views', self.paths().activeTheme);
         } else {
             app.engine('hbs', hbs.express3({partialsDir: self.paths().adminViews + 'partials'}));
diff --git a/core/server/helpers/index.js b/core/server/helpers/index.js
index 485717f773..c168090e5e 100644
--- a/core/server/helpers/index.js
+++ b/core/server/helpers/index.js
@@ -20,9 +20,22 @@ coreHelpers = function (ghost) {
      * @return {Object} A Moment time / date object
      */
     ghost.registerThemeHelper('date', function (context, options) {
+        if (!options && context.hasOwnProperty('hash')) {
+            options = context;
+            context = undefined;
+
+            // set to published_at by default, if it's available
+            // otherwise, this will print the current date
+            if (this.published_at) {
+                context = this.published_at;
+            }
+        }
+
         var f = options.hash.format || "MMM Do, YYYY",
             timeago = options.hash.timeago,
             date;
+
+
         if (timeago) {
             date = moment(context).fromNow();
         } else {
@@ -31,11 +44,25 @@ coreHelpers = function (ghost) {
         return date;
     });
 
+    // ### URL helper
+    //
+    // *Usage example:*
+    // `{{url}}`
+    // `{{url absolute}}`
+    //
+    // Returns the URL for the current object context
+    // i.e. If inside a post context will return post permalink
+    // absolute flag outputs absolute URL, else URL is relative
     ghost.registerThemeHelper('url', function (context, options) {
-        if (models.isPost(this)) {
-            return "/" + this.slug;
+        var output = '';
+
+        if (options && options.absolute) {
+            output += ghost.config().env[process.NODE_ENV].url;
         }
-        return '';
+        if (models.isPost(this)) {
+            output += "/" + this.slug;
+        }
+        return output;
     });
 
     // ### Author Helper
diff --git a/core/server/models/user.js b/core/server/models/user.js
index 9ff72ab6f9..f5465e5f9b 100644
--- a/core/server/models/user.js
+++ b/core/server/models/user.js
@@ -45,6 +45,20 @@ User = GhostBookshelf.Model.extend({
         };
     },
 
+    parse: function (attrs) {
+        // temporary alias of name for full_name (will get changed in the schema)
+        if (attrs.full_name && !attrs.name) {
+            attrs.name = attrs.full_name;
+        }
+
+        // temporary alias of website for url (will get changed in the schema)
+        if (attrs.url && !attrs.website) {
+            attrs.website = attrs.url;
+        }
+
+        return attrs;
+    },
+
     initialize: function () {
         this.on('saving', this.saving, this);
         this.on('saving', this.validate, this);
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 5e5441729f..f0a39b9919 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -108,10 +108,8 @@ function ghostLocals(req, res, next) {
     if (!res.isAdmin) {
         // filter the navigation items
         ghost.doFilter('ghostNavItems', {path: req.path, navItems: []}, function (navData) {
-            // pass the theme navigation items and settings
-            _.extend(res.locals, navData, {
-                settings: ghost.settings()
-            });
+            // pass the theme navigation items, settings get configured as globals
+            _.extend(res.locals, navData);
 
             next();
         });
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index d3c28225d2..a765fc0d04 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     "engineStrict": true,
     "dependencies": {
         "express": "3.3.4",
-        "express-hbs": "0.2.0",
+        "express-hbs": "0.2.1",
         "node-polyglot": "0.2.1",
         "moment": "2.1.0",
         "underscore": "1.5.1",