diff --git a/lib/profilesection.php b/lib/profilesection.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..087adb2ef6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/profilesection.php
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Laconica, the distributed open-source microblogging tool
+ *
+ * Base class for sections showing lists of people
+ *
+ * PHP version 5
+ *
+ * LICENCE: This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ * @category  Widget
+ * @package   Laconica
+ * @author    Evan Prodromou <evan@controlyourself.ca>
+ * @copyright 2009 Control Yourself, Inc.
+ * @license   http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0
+ * @link      http://laconi.ca/
+ */
+
+if (!defined('LACONICA')) {
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+define('PROFILES_PER_SECTION', 6);
+
+/**
+ * Base class for sections
+ *
+ * These are the widgets that show interesting data about a person
+ * group, or site.
+ *
+ * @category Widget
+ * @package  Laconica
+ * @author   Evan Prodromou <evan@controlyourself.ca>
+ * @license  http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0
+ * @link     http://laconi.ca/
+ */
+
+class ProfileSection extends Section
+{
+    function showContent()
+    {
+        $profiles = $this->getProfiles();
+
+        $cnt = 0;
+
+        $this->out->elementStart('ul', 'entities users xoxo');
+
+        while ($profiles->fetch() && ++$cnt <= PROFILES_PER_SECTION) {
+            $this->showProfile($profiles);
+        }
+
+        $this->out->elementEnd('ul');
+
+        return ($cnt > PROFILES_PER_SECTION);
+    }
+
+    function getProfiles()
+    {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    function showProfile($profile)
+    {
+        $this->out->elementStart('li', 'vcard');
+        $this->out->elementStart('a', array('title' => ($profile->fullname) ?
+                                       $profile->fullname :
+                                       $profile->nickname,
+                                       'href' => $profile->profileurl,
+                                       'rel' => 'contact member',
+                                       'class' => 'url'));
+        $avatar = $profile->getAvatar(AVATAR_MINI_SIZE);
+        $this->out->element('img', array('src' => (($avatar) ? common_avatar_display_url($avatar) :  common_default_avatar(AVATAR_MINI_SIZE)),
+                                    'width' => AVATAR_MINI_SIZE,
+                                    'height' => AVATAR_MINI_SIZE,
+                                    'class' => 'avatar photo',
+                                    'alt' =>  ($profile->fullname) ?
+                                    $profile->fullname :
+                                    $profile->nickname));
+        $this->out->element('span', 'fn nickname', $profile->nickname);
+        $this->out->elementEnd('a');
+        if ($profile->value) {
+            $this->out->element('span', 'value', $profile->value);
+        }
+        $this->out->elementEnd('li');
+    }
+}