diff --git a/lib/common.php b/lib/common.php
index 194eb568f7..58e208a4e9 100644
--- a/lib/common.php
+++ b/lib/common.php
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ require_once('DB/DataObject/Cast.php'); # for dates
 if (!function_exists('gettext')) {
     require_once("php-gettext/gettext.inc");
 }
+
 require_once(INSTALLDIR.'/lib/language.php');
 
 // This gets included before the config file, so that admin code and plugins
@@ -93,214 +94,17 @@ if (isset($path)) {
     null;
 }
 
-// default configuration, overwritten in config.php
+require_once(INSTALLDIR.'/lib/default.php');
 
-$config =
-  array('site' =>
-        array('name' => 'Just another StatusNet microblog',
-              'server' => $_server,
-              'theme' => 'default',
-              'path' => $_path,
-              'logfile' => null,
-              'logo' => null,
-              'logdebug' => false,
-              'fancy' => false,
-              'locale_path' => INSTALLDIR.'/locale',
-              'language' => 'en_US',
-              'languages' => get_all_languages(),
-              'email' =>
-              array_key_exists('SERVER_ADMIN', $_SERVER) ? $_SERVER['SERVER_ADMIN'] : null,
-              'broughtby' => null,
-              'timezone' => 'UTC',
-              'broughtbyurl' => null,
-              'closed' => false,
-              'inviteonly' => false,
-              'private' => false,
-              'ssl' => 'never',
-              'sslserver' => null,
-              'shorturllength' => 30,
-              'dupelimit' => 60, # default for same person saying the same thing
-              'textlimit' => 140,
-              ),
-        'syslog' =>
-        array('appname' => 'statusnet', # for syslog
-              'priority' => 'debug', # XXX: currently ignored
-              'facility' => LOG_USER),
-        'queue' =>
-        array('enabled' => false,
-              'subsystem' => 'db', # default to database, or 'stomp'
-              'stomp_server' => null,
-              'queue_basename' => 'statusnet',
-              'stomp_username' => null,
-              'stomp_password' => null,
-              ),
-        'license' =>
-        array('url' => 'http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/',
-              'title' => 'Creative Commons Attribution 3.0',
-              'image' => 'http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/3.0/80x15.png'),
-        'mail' =>
-        array('backend' => 'mail',
-              'params' => null),
-        'nickname' =>
-        array('blacklist' => array(),
-              'featured' => array()),
-        'profile' =>
-        array('banned' => array(),
-              'biolimit' => null),
-        'avatar' =>
-        array('server' => null,
-              'dir' => INSTALLDIR . '/avatar/',
-              'path' => $_path . '/avatar/'),
-        'background' =>
-        array('server' => null,
-              'dir' => INSTALLDIR . '/background/',
-              'path' => $_path . '/background/'),
-        'public' =>
-        array('localonly' => true,
-              'blacklist' => array(),
-              'autosource' => array()),
-        'theme' =>
-        array('server' => null,
-              'dir' => null,
-              'path'=> null),
-        'throttle' =>
-        array('enabled' => false, // whether to throttle edits; false by default
-              'count' => 20, // number of allowed messages in timespan
-              'timespan' => 600), // timespan for throttling
-        'xmpp' =>
-        array('enabled' => false,
-              'server' => 'INVALID SERVER',
-              'port' => 5222,
-              'user' => 'update',
-              'encryption' => true,
-              'resource' => 'uniquename',
-              'password' => 'blahblahblah',
-              'host' => null, # only set if != server
-              'debug' => false, # print extra debug info
-              'public' => array()), # JIDs of users who want to receive the public stream
-        'invite' =>
-        array('enabled' => true),
-        'sphinx' =>
-        array('enabled' => false,
-              'server' => 'localhost',
-              'port' => 3312),
-        'tag' =>
-        array('dropoff' => 864000.0),
-        'popular' =>
-        array('dropoff' => 864000.0),
-        'daemon' =>
-        array('piddir' => '/var/run',
-              'user' => false,
-              'group' => false),
-        'emailpost' =>
-        array('enabled' => true),
-        'sms' =>
-        array('enabled' => true),
-        'twitter' =>
-        array('enabled' => true),
-        'twitterbridge' =>
-        array('enabled' => false),
-        'integration' =>
-        array('source' => 'StatusNet', # source attribute for Twitter
-              'taguri' => $_server.',2009'), # base for tag URIs
-	'twitter' =>
-	array('consumer_key'    => null,
-	      'consumer_secret' => null),
-        'memcached' =>
-        array('enabled' => false,
-              'server' => 'localhost',
-              'base' => null,
-              'port' => 11211),
- 		'ping' =>
-        array('notify' => array()),
-        'inboxes' =>
-        array('enabled' => true), # on by default for new sites
-        'newuser' =>
-        array('default' => null,
-              'welcome' => null),
-        'snapshot' =>
-        array('run' => 'web',
-              'frequency' => 10000,
-              'reporturl' => 'http://status.net/stats/report'),
-        'attachments' =>
-        array('server' => null,
-              'dir' => INSTALLDIR . '/file/',
-              'path' => $_path . '/file/',
-              'supported' => array('image/png',
-                                   'image/jpeg',
-                                   'image/gif',
-                                   'image/svg+xml',
-                                   'audio/mpeg',
-                                   'audio/x-speex',
-                                   'application/ogg',
-                                   'application/pdf',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text-template',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics-template',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation-template',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet-template',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart-template',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.image',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.image-template',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula-template',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text-master',
-                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text-web',
-                                   'application/x-zip',
-                                   'application/zip',
-                                   'text/plain',
-                                   'video/mpeg',
-                                   'video/mp4',
-                                   'video/quicktime',
-                                   'video/mpeg'),
-        'file_quota' => 5000000,
-        'user_quota' => 50000000,
-        'monthly_quota' => 15000000,
-        'uploads' => true,
-        'filecommand' => '/usr/bin/file',
-        ),
-        'group' =>
-        array('maxaliases' => 3,
-              'desclimit' => null),
-        'oohembed' => array('endpoint' => 'http://oohembed.com/oohembed/'),
-        'search' =>
-        array('type' => 'fulltext'),
-        'sessions' =>
-        array('handle' => false, // whether to handle sessions ourselves
-              'debug' => false), // debugging output for sessions
-        'design' =>
-        array('backgroundcolor' => null, // null -> 'use theme default'
-              'contentcolor' => null,
-              'sidebarcolor' => null,
-              'textcolor' => null,
-              'linkcolor' => null,
-              'backgroundimage' => null,
-              'disposition' => null),
-        'notice' =>
-        array('contentlimit' => null),
-        'message' =>
-        array('contentlimit' => null),
-        'http' =>
-        array('client' => 'curl'), // XXX: should this be the default?
-        );
+// Set config values initially to default values
+
+$config = $default;
+
+// default configuration, overwritten in config.php
 
 $config['db'] = &PEAR::getStaticProperty('DB_DataObject','options');
 
-$config['db'] =
-  array('database' => 'YOU HAVE TO SET THIS IN config.php',
-        'schema_location' => INSTALLDIR . '/classes',
-        'class_location' => INSTALLDIR . '/classes',
-        'require_prefix' => 'classes/',
-        'class_prefix' => '',
-        'mirror' => null,
-        'utf8' => true,
-        'db_driver' => 'DB', # XXX: JanRain libs only work with DB
-        'quote_identifiers' => false,
-        'type' => 'mysql' );
+$config['db'] = $default['db'];
 
 // Backward compatibility
 
diff --git a/lib/default.php b/lib/default.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7af94d2ad6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/default.php
@@ -0,0 +1,232 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * StatusNet, the distributed open-source microblogging tool
+ *
+ * Default settings for core configuration
+ *
+ * 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  Config
+ * @package   StatusNet
+ * @author    Evan Prodromou <evan@status.net>
+ * @copyright 2008-9 StatusNet, Inc.
+ * @license   http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0
+ * @link      http://status.net/
+ */
+
+$default =
+  array('site' =>
+        array('name' => 'Just another StatusNet microblog',
+              'server' => $_server,
+              'theme' => 'default',
+              'path' => $_path,
+              'logfile' => null,
+              'logo' => null,
+              'logdebug' => false,
+              'fancy' => false,
+              'locale_path' => INSTALLDIR.'/locale',
+              'language' => 'en_US',
+              'languages' => get_all_languages(),
+              'email' =>
+              array_key_exists('SERVER_ADMIN', $_SERVER) ? $_SERVER['SERVER_ADMIN'] : null,
+              'broughtby' => null,
+              'timezone' => 'UTC',
+              'broughtbyurl' => null,
+              'closed' => false,
+              'inviteonly' => false,
+              'private' => false,
+              'ssl' => 'never',
+              'sslserver' => null,
+              'shorturllength' => 30,
+              'dupelimit' => 60, # default for same person saying the same thing
+              'textlimit' => 140,
+              ),
+        'db' =>
+        array('database' => 'YOU HAVE TO SET THIS IN config.php',
+              'schema_location' => INSTALLDIR . '/classes',
+              'class_location' => INSTALLDIR . '/classes',
+              'require_prefix' => 'classes/',
+              'class_prefix' => '',
+              'mirror' => null,
+              'utf8' => true,
+              'db_driver' => 'DB', # XXX: JanRain libs only work with DB
+              'quote_identifiers' => false,
+              'type' => 'mysql' ),
+        'syslog' =>
+        array('appname' => 'statusnet', # for syslog
+              'priority' => 'debug', # XXX: currently ignored
+              'facility' => LOG_USER),
+        'queue' =>
+        array('enabled' => false,
+              'subsystem' => 'db', # default to database, or 'stomp'
+              'stomp_server' => null,
+              'queue_basename' => 'statusnet',
+              'stomp_username' => null,
+              'stomp_password' => null,
+              ),
+        'license' =>
+        array('url' => 'http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/',
+              'title' => 'Creative Commons Attribution 3.0',
+              'image' => 'http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/3.0/80x15.png'),
+        'mail' =>
+        array('backend' => 'mail',
+              'params' => null),
+        'nickname' =>
+        array('blacklist' => array(),
+              'featured' => array()),
+        'profile' =>
+        array('banned' => array(),
+              'biolimit' => null),
+        'avatar' =>
+        array('server' => null,
+              'dir' => INSTALLDIR . '/avatar/',
+              'path' => $_path . '/avatar/'),
+        'background' =>
+        array('server' => null,
+              'dir' => INSTALLDIR . '/background/',
+              'path' => $_path . '/background/'),
+        'public' =>
+        array('localonly' => true,
+              'blacklist' => array(),
+              'autosource' => array()),
+        'theme' =>
+        array('server' => null,
+              'dir' => null,
+              'path'=> null),
+        'throttle' =>
+        array('enabled' => false, // whether to throttle edits; false by default
+              'count' => 20, // number of allowed messages in timespan
+              'timespan' => 600), // timespan for throttling
+        'xmpp' =>
+        array('enabled' => false,
+              'server' => 'INVALID SERVER',
+              'port' => 5222,
+              'user' => 'update',
+              'encryption' => true,
+              'resource' => 'uniquename',
+              'password' => 'blahblahblah',
+              'host' => null, # only set if != server
+              'debug' => false, # print extra debug info
+              'public' => array()), # JIDs of users who want to receive the public stream
+        'invite' =>
+        array('enabled' => true),
+        'sphinx' =>
+        array('enabled' => false,
+              'server' => 'localhost',
+              'port' => 3312),
+        'tag' =>
+        array('dropoff' => 864000.0),
+        'popular' =>
+        array('dropoff' => 864000.0),
+        'daemon' =>
+        array('piddir' => '/var/run',
+              'user' => false,
+              'group' => false),
+        'emailpost' =>
+        array('enabled' => true),
+        'sms' =>
+        array('enabled' => true),
+        'twitter' =>
+        array('enabled' => true),
+        'twitterbridge' =>
+        array('enabled' => false),
+        'integration' =>
+        array('source' => 'StatusNet', # source attribute for Twitter
+              'taguri' => $_server.',2009'), # base for tag URIs
+	'twitter' =>
+	array('consumer_key'    => null,
+	      'consumer_secret' => null),
+        'memcached' =>
+        array('enabled' => false,
+              'server' => 'localhost',
+              'base' => null,
+              'port' => 11211),
+ 		'ping' =>
+        array('notify' => array()),
+        'inboxes' =>
+        array('enabled' => true), # on by default for new sites
+        'newuser' =>
+        array('default' => null,
+              'welcome' => null),
+        'snapshot' =>
+        array('run' => 'web',
+              'frequency' => 10000,
+              'reporturl' => 'http://status.net/stats/report'),
+        'attachments' =>
+        array('server' => null,
+              'dir' => INSTALLDIR . '/file/',
+              'path' => $_path . '/file/',
+              'supported' => array('image/png',
+                                   'image/jpeg',
+                                   'image/gif',
+                                   'image/svg+xml',
+                                   'audio/mpeg',
+                                   'audio/x-speex',
+                                   'application/ogg',
+                                   'application/pdf',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text-template',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics-template',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation-template',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet-template',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart-template',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.image',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.image-template',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula-template',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text-master',
+                                   'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text-web',
+                                   'application/x-zip',
+                                   'application/zip',
+                                   'text/plain',
+                                   'video/mpeg',
+                                   'video/mp4',
+                                   'video/quicktime',
+                                   'video/mpeg'),
+        'file_quota' => 5000000,
+        'user_quota' => 50000000,
+        'monthly_quota' => 15000000,
+        'uploads' => true,
+        'filecommand' => '/usr/bin/file',
+        ),
+        'group' =>
+        array('maxaliases' => 3,
+              'desclimit' => null),
+        'oohembed' => array('endpoint' => 'http://oohembed.com/oohembed/'),
+        'search' =>
+        array('type' => 'fulltext'),
+        'sessions' =>
+        array('handle' => false, // whether to handle sessions ourselves
+              'debug' => false), // debugging output for sessions
+        'design' =>
+        array('backgroundcolor' => null, // null -> 'use theme default'
+              'contentcolor' => null,
+              'sidebarcolor' => null,
+              'textcolor' => null,
+              'linkcolor' => null,
+              'backgroundimage' => null,
+              'disposition' => null),
+        'notice' =>
+        array('contentlimit' => null),
+        'message' =>
+        array('contentlimit' => null),
+        'http' =>
+        array('client' => 'curl'), // XXX: should this be the default?
+        );