diff --git a/include/Config.php b/include/Config.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e08a7de74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/Config.php
@@ -0,0 +1,234 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * @file include/Config.php
+ * 
+ *  @brief Contains the class with methods for system configuration
+ */
+
+
+/**
+ * @brief Arbitrary sytem configuration storage
+ * Note:
+ * Please do not store booleans - convert to 0/1 integer values
+ * The Config::get() functions return boolean false for keys that are unset,
+ * and this could lead to subtle bugs.
+ *
+ * There are a few places in the code (such as the admin panel) where boolean
+ * configurations need to be fixed as of 10/08/2011.
+ */
+class Config {
+
+	/**
+	 * @brief Loads all configuration values of family into a cached storage.
+	 *
+	 * All configuration values of the system are stored in global cache
+	 * which is available under the global variable $a->config
+	 *
+	 * @param string $family
+	 *  The category of the configuration value
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public static function load($family) {
+		global $a;
+
+		$r = q("SELECT `v`, `k` FROM `config` WHERE `cat` = '%s'", dbesc($family));
+		if(count($r)) {
+			foreach($r as $rr) {
+				$k = $rr['k'];
+				if ($family === 'config') {
+					$a->config[$k] = $rr['v'];
+				} else {
+					$a->config[$family][$k] = $rr['v'];
+				}
+			}
+		} else if ($family != 'config') {
+			// Negative caching
+			$a->config[$family] = "!<unset>!";
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @brief Get a particular user's config variable given the category name
+	 * ($family) and a key.
+	 *
+	 * Get a particular config value from the given category ($family)
+	 * and the $key from a cached storage in $a->config[$uid].
+	 * $instore is only used by the set_config function
+	 * to determine if the key already exists in the DB
+	 * If a key is found in the DB but doesn't exist in
+	 * local config cache, pull it into the cache so we don't have
+	 * to hit the DB again for this item.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $family
+	 *  The category of the configuration value
+	 * @param string $key
+	 *  The configuration key to query
+	 * @param boolean $refresh
+	 *  If true the config is loaded from the db and not from the cache
+	 * @return mixed Stored value or null if it does not exist
+	 */
+	public static function get($family, $key, $refresh = false) {
+
+		global $a;
+
+		if(! $instore) {
+			// Looking if the whole family isn't set
+			if(isset($a->config[$family])) {
+				if($a->config[$family] === '!<unset>!') {
+					return null;
+				}
+			}
+
+			if(isset($a->config[$family][$key])) {
+				if($a->config[$family][$key] === '!<unset>!') {
+					return null;
+				}
+				return $a->config[$family][$key];
+			}
+		}
+
+		// If APC is enabled then fetch the data from there, else try XCache
+		/*if (function_exists("apc_fetch") AND function_exists("apc_exists"))
+			if (apc_exists($family."|".$key)) {
+				$val = apc_fetch($family."|".$key);
+				$a->config[$family][$key] = $val;
+
+				if ($val === '!<unset>!')
+					return false;
+				else
+					return $val;
+			}
+		elseif (function_exists("xcache_fetch") AND function_exists("xcache_isset"))
+			if (xcache_isset($family."|".$key)) {
+				$val = xcache_fetch($family."|".$key);
+				$a->config[$family][$key] = $val;
+
+				if ($val === '!<unset>!')
+					return false;
+				else
+					return $val;
+			}
+		*/
+
+		$ret = q("SELECT `v` FROM `config` WHERE `cat` = '%s' AND `k` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
+			dbesc($family),
+			dbesc($key)
+		);
+		if(count($ret)) {
+			// manage array value
+			$val = (preg_match("|^a:[0-9]+:{.*}$|s", $ret[0]['v'])?unserialize( $ret[0]['v']):$ret[0]['v']);
+			$a->config[$family][$key] = $val;
+
+			// If APC is enabled then store the data there, else try XCache
+			/*if (function_exists("apc_store"))
+				apc_store($family."|".$key, $val, 600);
+			elseif (function_exists("xcache_set"))
+				xcache_set($family."|".$key, $val, 600);*/
+
+			return $val;
+		}
+		else {
+			$a->config[$family][$key] = '!<unset>!';
+
+			// If APC is enabled then store the data there, else try XCache
+			/*if (function_exists("apc_store"))
+				apc_store($family."|".$key, '!<unset>!', 600);
+			elseif (function_exists("xcache_set"))
+				xcache_set($family."|".$key, '!<unset>!', 600);*/
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @brief Sets a configuration value for system config
+	 *
+	 * Stores a config value ($value) in the category ($family) under the key ($key)
+	 * for the user_id $uid.
+	 *
+	 * Note: Please do not store booleans - convert to 0/1 integer values!
+	 *
+	 * @param string $family
+	 *  The category of the configuration value
+	 * @param string $key
+	 *  The configuration key to set
+	 * @param string $value
+	 *  The value to store
+	 * @return mixed Stored $value or false if the database update failed
+	 */
+	public static function set($family,$key,$value) {
+		global $a;
+
+		// If $a->config[$family] has been previously set to '!<unset>!', then
+		// $a->config[$family][$key] will evaluate to $a->config[$family][0], and
+		// $a->config[$family][$key] = $value will be equivalent to
+		// $a->config[$family][0] = $value[0] (this causes infuriating bugs),
+		// so unset the family before assigning a value to a family's key
+		if($a->config[$family] === '!<unset>!')
+			unset($a->config[$family]);
+
+		// manage array value
+		$dbvalue = (is_array($value)?serialize($value):$value);
+		$dbvalue = (is_bool($dbvalue) ? intval($dbvalue) : $dbvalue);
+		if(self::get($family,$key,true) === false) {
+			$a->config[$family][$key] = $value;
+			$ret = q("INSERT INTO `config` ( `cat`, `k`, `v` ) VALUES ( '%s', '%s', '%s' ) ",
+				dbesc($family),
+				dbesc($key),
+				dbesc($dbvalue)
+			);
+			if($ret)
+				return $value;
+			return $ret;
+		}
+
+		$ret = q("UPDATE `config` SET `v` = '%s' WHERE `cat` = '%s' AND `k` = '%s'",
+			dbesc($dbvalue),
+			dbesc($family),
+			dbesc($key)
+		);
+
+		$a->config[$family][$key] = $value;
+
+		// If APC is enabled then store the data there, else try XCache
+		/*if (function_exists("apc_store"))
+			apc_store($family."|".$key, $value, 600);
+		elseif (function_exists("xcache_set"))
+			xcache_set($family."|".$key, $value, 600);*/
+
+		if($ret)
+			return $value;
+		return $ret;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @brief Deletes the given key from the system configuration.
+	 *
+	 * Removes the configured value from the stored cache in $a->config
+	 * and removes it from the database.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $family
+	 *  The category of the configuration value
+	 * @param string $key
+	 *  The configuration key to delete
+	 * @return mixed
+	 */
+	public static function delete($family,$key) {
+
+		global $a;
+		if(x($a->config[$family],$key))
+			unset($a->config[$family][$key]);
+		$ret = q("DELETE FROM `config` WHERE `cat` = '%s' AND `k` = '%s'",
+			dbesc($family),
+			dbesc($key)
+		);
+		// If APC is enabled then delete the data from there, else try XCache
+		/*if (function_exists("apc_delete"))
+			apc_delete($family."|".$key);
+		elseif (function_exists("xcache_unset"))
+			xcache_unset($family."|".$key);*/
+
+		return $ret;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/include/PConfig.php b/include/PConfig.php
index 9ef113699..5ee4ec692 100644
--- a/include/PConfig.php
+++ b/include/PConfig.php
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@
  */
 
 /**
- * @brief Management of user configuration
+ * @brief Management of user configuration storage
+ * Note:
+ * Please do not store booleans - convert to 0/1 integer values
+ * The PConfig::get() functions return boolean false for keys that are unset,
+ * and this could lead to subtle bugs.
  */
 class PConfig {
 
@@ -53,11 +57,11 @@ class PConfig {
 	 *  The category of the configuration value
 	 * @param string $key
 	 *  The configuration key to query
-	 * @param boolean $instore
-	 * Determines if the key already exists in the DB
-	 * @return mixed Stored value or false if it does not exist
+	 * @param boolean $refresh
+	 *  If true the config is loaded from the db and not from the cache
+	 * @return mixed Stored value or null if it does not exist
 	 */
-	public static function get($uid,$family, $key, $instore = false) {
+	public static function get($uid, $family, $key, $refresh = false) {
 
 		global $a;
 
@@ -65,13 +69,13 @@ class PConfig {
 			// Looking if the whole family isn't set
 			if(isset($a->config[$uid][$family])) {
 				if($a->config[$uid][$family] === '!<unset>!') {
-					return false;
+					return null;
 				}
 			}
 
 			if(isset($a->config[$uid][$family][$key])) {
 				if($a->config[$uid][$family][$key] === '!<unset>!') {
-					return false;
+					return null;
 				}
 				return $a->config[$uid][$family][$key];
 			}
@@ -127,7 +131,7 @@ class PConfig {
 			elseif (function_exists("xcache_set"))
 				xcache_set($uid."|".$family."|".$key, '!<unset>!', 600);*/
 		}
-		return false;
+		return null;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -155,7 +159,7 @@ class PConfig {
 		// manage array value
 		$dbvalue = (is_array($value)?serialize($value):$value);
 
-		if(get_pconfig($uid,$family,$key,true) === false) {
+		if(self::get($uid,$family,$key,true) === false) {
 			$a->config[$uid][$family][$key] = $value;
 			$ret = q("INSERT INTO `pconfig` ( `uid`, `cat`, `k`, `v` ) VALUES ( %d, '%s', '%s', '%s' ) ",
 				intval($uid),
diff --git a/include/config.php b/include/config.php
index 585caf43a..8f36dbdc8 100644
--- a/include/config.php
+++ b/include/config.php
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 <?php
 
 require_once("include/PConfig.php");
+require_once("include/Config.php");
 
 /**
  * @file include/config.php
  * 
- *  @brief Arbitrary configuration storage
+ *  @brief (Deprecated) Arbitrary configuration storage
  * Note:
  * Please do not store booleans - convert to 0/1 integer values
  * The get_?config() functions return boolean false for keys that are unset,
@@ -16,132 +17,44 @@ require_once("include/PConfig.php");
  */
 
 /**
- * @brief Loads all configuration values of family into a cached storage.
+ * @brief (Deprecated) Loads all configuration values of family into a cached storage.
  *
- * All configuration values of the system are stored in global cache
- * which is available under the global variable $a->config
+ * Note: This function is deprecated. Use Config::load() instead.
  *
  * @param string $family
  *  The category of the configuration value
  * @return void
  */
 function load_config($family) {
-	global $a;
-
-	$r = q("SELECT `v`, `k` FROM `config` WHERE `cat` = '%s'", dbesc($family));
-	if(count($r)) {
-		foreach($r as $rr) {
-			$k = $rr['k'];
-			if ($family === 'config') {
-				$a->config[$k] = $rr['v'];
-			} else {
-				$a->config[$family][$k] = $rr['v'];
-			}
-		}
-	} else if ($family != 'config') {
-		// Negative caching
-		$a->config[$family] = "!<unset>!";
-	}
+	return Config::load($family);
 }
 
 /**
- * @brief Get a particular user's config variable given the category name
+ * @brief (Deprecated) Get a particular user's config variable given the category name
  * ($family) and a key.
  *
- * Get a particular config value from the given category ($family)
- * and the $key from a cached storage in $a->config[$uid].
- * $instore is only used by the set_config function
- * to determine if the key already exists in the DB
- * If a key is found in the DB but doesn't exist in
- * local config cache, pull it into the cache so we don't have
- * to hit the DB again for this item.
+ * Note: This function is deprecated. Use Config::get() instead.
  *
  * @param string $family
  *  The category of the configuration value
  * @param string $key
  *  The configuration key to query
- * @param boolean $instore Determines if the key already exists in the DB
+ * @param boolean $refresh
+ *  If true the config is loaded from the db and not from the cache
  * @return mixed Stored value or false if it does not exist
  */
-function get_config($family, $key, $instore = false) {
+function get_config($family, $key, $refresh = false) {
+	$v = Config::get($family, $key, $refresh);
+	if(is_null($v))
+		$v = false;
 
-	global $a;
-
-	if(! $instore) {
-		// Looking if the whole family isn't set
-		if(isset($a->config[$family])) {
-			if($a->config[$family] === '!<unset>!') {
-				return false;
-			}
-		}
-
-		if(isset($a->config[$family][$key])) {
-			if($a->config[$family][$key] === '!<unset>!') {
-				return false;
-			}
-			return $a->config[$family][$key];
-		}
-	}
-
-	// If APC is enabled then fetch the data from there, else try XCache
-	/*if (function_exists("apc_fetch") AND function_exists("apc_exists"))
-		if (apc_exists($family."|".$key)) {
-			$val = apc_fetch($family."|".$key);
-			$a->config[$family][$key] = $val;
-
-			if ($val === '!<unset>!')
-				return false;
-			else
-				return $val;
-		}
-	elseif (function_exists("xcache_fetch") AND function_exists("xcache_isset"))
-		if (xcache_isset($family."|".$key)) {
-			$val = xcache_fetch($family."|".$key);
-			$a->config[$family][$key] = $val;
-
-			if ($val === '!<unset>!')
-				return false;
-			else
-				return $val;
-		}
-	*/
-
-	$ret = q("SELECT `v` FROM `config` WHERE `cat` = '%s' AND `k` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
-		dbesc($family),
-		dbesc($key)
-	);
-	if(count($ret)) {
-		// manage array value
-		$val = (preg_match("|^a:[0-9]+:{.*}$|s", $ret[0]['v'])?unserialize( $ret[0]['v']):$ret[0]['v']);
-		$a->config[$family][$key] = $val;
-
-		// If APC is enabled then store the data there, else try XCache
-		/*if (function_exists("apc_store"))
-			apc_store($family."|".$key, $val, 600);
-		elseif (function_exists("xcache_set"))
-			xcache_set($family."|".$key, $val, 600);*/
-
-		return $val;
-	}
-	else {
-		$a->config[$family][$key] = '!<unset>!';
-
-		// If APC is enabled then store the data there, else try XCache
-		/*if (function_exists("apc_store"))
-			apc_store($family."|".$key, '!<unset>!', 600);
-		elseif (function_exists("xcache_set"))
-			xcache_set($family."|".$key, '!<unset>!', 600);*/
-	}
-	return false;
+	return $v;
 }
 
 /**
- * @brief Sets a configuration value for system config
+ * @brief (Deprecated) Sets a configuration value for system config
  *
- * Stores a config value ($value) in the category ($family) under the key ($key)
- * for the user_id $uid.
- *
- * Note: Please do not store booleans - convert to 0/1 integer values!
+ * Note: This function is deprecated. Use Config::set() instead.
  *
  * @param string $family
  *  The category of the configuration value
@@ -152,55 +65,13 @@ function get_config($family, $key, $instore = false) {
  * @return mixed Stored $value or false if the database update failed
  */
 function set_config($family,$key,$value) {
-	global $a;
-
-	// If $a->config[$family] has been previously set to '!<unset>!', then
-	// $a->config[$family][$key] will evaluate to $a->config[$family][0], and
-	// $a->config[$family][$key] = $value will be equivalent to
-	// $a->config[$family][0] = $value[0] (this causes infuriating bugs),
-	// so unset the family before assigning a value to a family's key
-	if($a->config[$family] === '!<unset>!')
-		unset($a->config[$family]);
-
-	// manage array value
-	$dbvalue = (is_array($value)?serialize($value):$value);
-	$dbvalue = (is_bool($dbvalue) ? intval($dbvalue) : $dbvalue);
-	if(get_config($family,$key,true) === false) {
-		$a->config[$family][$key] = $value;
-		$ret = q("INSERT INTO `config` ( `cat`, `k`, `v` ) VALUES ( '%s', '%s', '%s' ) ",
-			dbesc($family),
-			dbesc($key),
-			dbesc($dbvalue)
-		);
-		if($ret)
-			return $value;
-		return $ret;
-	}
-
-	$ret = q("UPDATE `config` SET `v` = '%s' WHERE `cat` = '%s' AND `k` = '%s'",
-		dbesc($dbvalue),
-		dbesc($family),
-		dbesc($key)
-	);
-
-	$a->config[$family][$key] = $value;
-
-	// If APC is enabled then store the data there, else try XCache
-	/*if (function_exists("apc_store"))
-		apc_store($family."|".$key, $value, 600);
-	elseif (function_exists("xcache_set"))
-		xcache_set($family."|".$key, $value, 600);*/
-
-	if($ret)
-		return $value;
-	return $ret;
+	return Config::set($family, $key, $value);
 }
 
 /**
- * @brief Deletes the given key from the system configuration.
+ * @brief (Deprecated) Deletes the given key from the system configuration.
  *
- * Removes the configured value from the stored cache in $a->config
- * and removes it from the database.
+ * Note: This function is deprecated. Use Config::delete() instead.
  *
  * @param string $family
  *  The category of the configuration value
@@ -209,21 +80,7 @@ function set_config($family,$key,$value) {
  * @return mixed
  */
 function del_config($family,$key) {
-
-	global $a;
-	if(x($a->config[$family],$key))
-		unset($a->config[$family][$key]);
-	$ret = q("DELETE FROM `config` WHERE `cat` = '%s' AND `k` = '%s'",
-		dbesc($family),
-		dbesc($key)
-	);
-	// If APC is enabled then delete the data from there, else try XCache
-	/*if (function_exists("apc_delete"))
-		apc_delete($family."|".$key);
-	elseif (function_exists("xcache_unset"))
-		xcache_unset($family."|".$key);*/
-
-	return $ret;
+	return Config::delete($family, $key);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -253,12 +110,16 @@ function load_pconfig($uid,$family) {
  *  The category of the configuration value
  * @param string $key
  *  The configuration key to query
- * @param boolean $instore
- * Determines if the key already exists in the DB
+ * @param boolean $refresh
+ *  If true the config is loaded from the db and not from the cache
  * @return mixed Stored value or false if it does not exist
  */
-function get_pconfig($uid,$family, $key, $instore = false) {
-	return PConfig::get($uid, $family, $key, $instore);
+function get_pconfig($uid, $family, $key, $refresh = false) {
+	$v = PConfig::get($uid, $family, $key, $refresh);
+	if(is_null($v))
+		$v = false;
+
+	return $v;
 }
 
 /**