diff --git a/plugins/RSSCloud/LoggingAggregator.php b/plugins/RSSCloud/LoggingAggregator.php
index cbdefc36b8..02175f43a8 100644
--- a/plugins/RSSCloud/LoggingAggregator.php
+++ b/plugins/RSSCloud/LoggingAggregator.php
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 <?php
-
 /**
  * This test class pretends to be an RSS aggregator. It logs notifications
  * from the cloud.
@@ -78,8 +77,7 @@ class LoggingAggregatorAction extends Action
             }
 
             header('Content-Type: text/xml');
-            echo "<notifyResult success='true' msg='Thanks for the update.' challenge='" .
-              $this->challenge . "' />\n";
+            echo $this->challenge;
 
         } else {
 
@@ -92,7 +90,6 @@ class LoggingAggregatorAction extends Action
 
             header('Content-Type: text/xml');
             echo '<notifyResult success=\'true\' msg=\'Thanks for the update.\' />' . "\n";
-
         }
 
         $this->ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
diff --git a/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudNotifier.php b/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudNotifier.php
index c2130b7b83..eb3198b5a4 100644
--- a/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudNotifier.php
+++ b/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudNotifier.php
@@ -33,59 +33,77 @@ if (!defined('STATUSNET')) {
 
 class RSSCloudNotifier {
 
-    function postUpdate($endpoint, $feed) {
-        common_debug("CloudNotifier->notify: $feed");
+    function challenge($endpoint, $feed)
+    {
+        $code   = common_confirmation_code(128);
+        $params = array('url' => $feed, 'challenge' => $code);
+        $url    = $endpoint . '?' . http_build_query($params);
 
-        $params = 'url=' . urlencode($feed);
-
-        $result = $this->httpPost($endpoint, $params);
-
-        // XXX: Make all this use CurlClient (lib/curlclient.php)
-
-        if ($result) {
-            common_debug('RSSCloud plugin - success notifying cloud endpoint!');
-        } else {
-            common_debug('RSSClous plugin - failure notifying cloud endpoint!');
+        try {
+            $client = new HTTPClient();
+            $response = $client->get($url);
+        } catch (HTTP_Request2_Exception $e) {
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, 'RSSCloud plugin - failure testing notify handler ' .
+                       $endpoint . ' - '  . $e->getMessage());
+            return false;
         }
 
-        return $result;
+        // Check response is betweet 200 and 299 and body contains challenge data
+
+        $status = $response->getStatus();
+        $body   = $response->getBody();
+
+        if ($status >= 200 && $status < 300) {
+
+            if (strpos($body, $code) !== false) {
+                common_log(LOG_INFO, 'RSSCloud plugin - ' .
+                           "success testing notify handler:  $endpoint");
+                return true;
+            } else {
+                common_log(LOG_INFO, 'RSSCloud plugin - ' .
+                          'challenge/repsonse failed for notify handler ' .
+                           $endpoint);
+                common_debug('body = ' . var_export($body, true));
+                return false;
+            }
+        } else {
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, 'RSSCloud plugin - ' .
+                       "failure testing notify handler:  $endpoint " .
+                       ' - got HTTP ' . $status);
+            common_debug('body = ' . var_export($body, true));
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 
-    function userAgent()
-    {
-        return 'rssCloudPlugin/' . RSSCLOUDPLUGIN_VERSION .
-          ' StatusNet/' . STATUSNET_VERSION;
-    }
+    function postUpdate($endpoint, $feed) {
 
-    private function httpPost($url, $params) {
+        $headers  = array();
+        $postdata = array('url' => $feed);
 
-        $options = array(CURLOPT_URL            => $url,
-                         CURLOPT_POST           => true,
-                         CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS     => $params,
-                         CURLOPT_USERAGENT      => $this->userAgent(),
-                         CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
-                         CURLOPT_FAILONERROR    => true,
-                         CURLOPT_HEADER         => false,
-                         CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
-                         CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT => 5,
-                         CURLOPT_TIMEOUT        => 5);
+        try {
+            $client = new HTTPClient();
+            $response = $client->post($endpoint, $headers, $postdata);
+        } catch (HTTP_Request2_Exception $e) {
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, 'RSSCloud plugin - failure notifying ' .
+                       $endpoint . ' that feed ' . $feed .
+                       ' has changed: ' . $e->getMessage());
+            return false;
+        }
 
-        $ch = curl_init();
-        curl_setopt_array($ch, $options);
+        $status = $response->getStatus();
 
-        $response = curl_exec($ch);
-
-        $info = curl_getinfo($ch);
-
-        curl_close($ch);
-
-        if ($info['http_code'] == 200) {
+        if ($status >= 200 && $status < 300) {
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, 'RSSCloud plugin - success notifying ' .
+                       $endpoint . ' that feed ' . $feed . ' has changed.');
             return true;
         } else {
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, 'RSSCloud plugin - failure notifying ' .
+                       $endpoint . ' that feed ' . $feed .
+                       ' has changed: got HTTP ' . $status);
+            common_debug('body = ' . var_export($response->getBody(), true));
             return false;
         }
     }
 
 }
 
-
diff --git a/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudPlugin.php b/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudPlugin.php
index 8e57b4a3e0..402fbec2d8 100644
--- a/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudPlugin.php
+++ b/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudPlugin.php
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ class RSSCloudPlugin extends Plugin
 
     function onStartApiRss($action)
     {
+        // XXX: Add RSS 1.0 user feeds
+
         if (get_class($action) == 'ApiTimelineUserAction') {
 
             $attrs = array('domain'            => $this->domain,
diff --git a/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudRequestNotify.php b/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudRequestNotify.php
index 8b5deb1365..135c316f7b 100644
--- a/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudRequestNotify.php
+++ b/plugins/RSSCloud/RSSCloudRequestNotify.php
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class RSSCloudRequestNotifyAction extends Action
         $this->protocol  = $this->arg('protocol');
         $this->procedure = $this->arg('notifyProcedure');
         $this->domain    = $this->arg('domain');
-        
+
         $this->feeds     = $this->getFeeds();
 
         return true;
@@ -103,29 +103,29 @@ class RSSCloudRequestNotifyAction extends Action
         }
 
         // We have to validate everything before saving anything.
-        // We only return one success or failure no matter how 
+        // We only return one success or failure no matter how
         // many feeds the subscriber is trying to subscribe to
 
         foreach ($this->feeds as $feed) {
-            
+
             if (!$this->validateFeed($feed)) {
                 $msg = 'Feed subscription failed - Not a valid feed.';
                 $this->showResult(false, $msg);
                 return;
             }
-            
+
             if (!$this->testNotificationHandler($feed)) {
                 $msg = 'Feed subscription failed - ' .
                 'notification handler doesn\'t respond correctly.';
                 $this->showResult(false, $msg);
-                return;  
+                return;
             }
-            
+
         }
 
         foreach ($this->feeds as $feed) {
             $this->saveSubscription($feed);
-        } 
+        }
 
         // XXX: What to do about deleting stale subscriptions?  25 hours seems harsh.
         // WordPress doesn't ever remove subscriptions.
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ class RSSCloudRequestNotifyAction extends Action
         $msg = 'Thanks for the registration. It worked. When the feed(s) update(s) we\'ll notify you. ' .
                ' Don\'t forget to re-register after 24 hours, your subscription will expire in 25.';
 
-        $this->showResult(true, $msg);        
+        $this->showResult(true, $msg);
     }
 
     function validateFeed($feed)
@@ -147,45 +147,45 @@ class RSSCloudRequestNotifyAction extends Action
         return true;
     }
 
-
     function getFeeds()
     {
         $feeds = array();
-            
-        while (list($key, $feed) = each ($this->args)) {            
+
+        while (list($key, $feed) = each ($this->args)) {
             if (preg_match('/^url\d*$/', $key)) {
                 $feeds[] = $feed;
-            } 
+            }
         }
 
         return $feeds;
     }
 
     function testNotificationHandler($feed)
-    {        
+    {
         common_debug("RSSCloudPlugin - testNotificationHandler()");
-        
+
         $notifier = new RSSCloudNotifier();
-        
+
         if (isset($this->domain)) {
-            
-            //get
-            
-            $this->url = 'http://' . $this->domain . ':' . $this->port . '/' . $this->path;
-            
-            common_debug('domain set need to send challenge');
-            
+
+            // 'domain' param set, so we have to use GET and send a challenge
+
+            $endpoint = 'http://' . $this->domain . ':' . $this->port . '/' . $this->path;
+
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, 'Testing notification handler with challenge: ' .
+                       $endpoint);
+
+            return $notifier->challenge($endpoint, $feed);
+
         } else {
-            
-            //post
-            
-            $this->url = 'http://' . $this->ip . ':' . $this->port . '/' . $this->path;
-            
-            //return $notifier->postUpdate($endpoint, $feed);
 
-        }   
+            $endpoint = 'http://' . $this->ip . ':' . $this->port . '/' . $this->path;
 
-        return true;
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, 'Testing notification handler: ' .
+                       $endpoint);
+
+            return $notifier->postUpdate($endpoint, $feed);
+        }
 
     }
 
@@ -193,6 +193,8 @@ class RSSCloudRequestNotifyAction extends Action
     {
         // We only do profile feeds
 
+        // XXX: Add cloud element to RSS 1.0 feeds
+
         $path = common_path('api/statuses/user_timeline/');
         $valid = '%^' . $path . '(?<nickname>.*)\.rss$%';
 
@@ -209,37 +211,31 @@ class RSSCloudRequestNotifyAction extends Action
     function saveSubscription($feed)
     {
         $user = $this->userFromFeed($feed);
-        
-        common_debug('user = ' . $user->id);
-        
+
         $sub = RSSCloudSubscription::getSubscription($user->id, $this->url);
-        
+
         if ($sub) {
-            common_debug("already subscribed to that!");
+            common_debug("Already subscribed to that!");
         } else {
-            common_debug('No feed for user ' . $user->id . ' notify: ' . $this->url);
+
+            $sub = new RSSCloudSubscription();
+
+            $sub->subscribed = $user->id;
+            $sub->url        = $this->url;
+            $sub->created    = common_sql_now();
+
+            // auto timestamp doesn't seem to work for me
+
+            // $sub->modified   = common_sql_now();
+
+            if (!$sub->insert()) {
+                common_log_db_error($sub, 'INSERT', __FILE__);
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            DB_DataObject::debugLevel();
         }
-        
-        common_debug('RSSPlugin - saveSubscription');
-        // turn debugging high
-        DB_DataObject::debugLevel(5);
-        
-        $sub = new RSSCloudSubscription();
-        
-        $sub->subscribed = $user->id;
-        $sub->url        = $this->url;
-        $sub->created    = common_sql_now();
-        
-        // auto timestamp doesn't seem to work for me
-        
-        $sub->modified   = common_sql_now();
-        
-        if (!$sub->insert()) {
-            common_log_db_error($sub, 'INSERT', __FILE__);
-            return false;
-        }
-        DB_DataObject::debugLevel();
-        
+
         return true;
     }
 
@@ -253,5 +249,3 @@ class RSSCloudRequestNotifyAction extends Action
 
 }
 
-
-