diff --git a/mod/poke.php b/mod/poke.php
index db1c949636..45a577cda6 100644
--- a/mod/poke.php
+++ b/mod/poke.php
@@ -1,4 +1,18 @@
-<?php
+<?php /** @file */
+
+/**
+ *
+ * Poke, prod, finger, or otherwise do unspeakable things to somebody - who must be a connection in your address book
+ * This function can be invoked with the required arguments (verb and cid and private and possibly parent) silently via ajax or
+ * other web request. You must be logged in and connected to a profile. 
+ * If the required arguments aren't present, we'll display a simple form to choose a recipient and a verb.
+ * parent is a special argument which let's you attach this activity as a comment to an existing conversation, which
+ * may have started with somebody else poking (etc.) somebody, but this isn't necessary. This can be used in the more pokes
+ * plugin version to have entire conversations where Alice poked Bob, Bob fingered Alice, Alice hugged Bob, etc.  
+ *
+ * private creates a private conversation with the recipient. Otherwise your profile's default post privacy is used.
+ *
+ */
 
 require_once('include/security.php');
 require_once('include/bbcode.php');
@@ -33,7 +47,7 @@ function poke_init(&$a) {
 	logger('poke: verb ' . $verb . ' contact ' . $contact_id, LOGGER_DEBUG);
 
 
-	$r = q("SELECT * FROM `contact` WHERE `id` = %d and  `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
+	$r = q("SELECT * FROM `contact` WHERE `id` = %d AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
 		intval($contact_id),
 		intval($uid)
 	);
@@ -46,8 +60,8 @@ function poke_init(&$a) {
 	$target = $r[0];
 
 	if($parent) {
-		$r = q("select uri, private, allow_cid, allow_gid, deny_cid, deny_gid
-			from item where id = %d and parent = %d and uid = %d limit 1",
+		$r = q("SELECT `uri`, `private`, `allow_cid`, `allow_gid`, `deny_cid`, `deny_gid`
+			FROM `item` WHERE `id` = %d AND `parent` = %d AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
 			intval($parent),
 			intval($parent),
 			intval($uid)
@@ -140,7 +154,7 @@ function poke_content(&$a) {
 	$id = '';
 
 	if(intval($_GET['c'])) {
-		$r = q("select id,name from contact where id = %d and uid = %d limit 1",
+		$r = q("SELECT `id`,`name` FROM `contact` WHERE `id` = %d AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
 			intval($_GET['c']),
 			intval(local_user())
 		);
@@ -153,31 +167,16 @@ function poke_content(&$a) {
 
 	$base = $a->get_baseurl();
 
-	$a->page['htmlhead'] .= '<script src="' . $a->get_baseurl(true) . '/library/jquery_ac/friendica.complete.js" ></script>';
-	$a->page['htmlhead'] .= <<< EOT
+	$head_tpl = get_markup_template('poke_head.tpl');
+	$a->page['htmlhead'] .= replace_macros($head_tpl,array(
+		'$baseurl' => $a->get_baseurl(true),
+		'$base' => $base
+	));
 
-<script>$(document).ready(function() {
-	var a;
-	a = $("#poke-recip").autocomplete({
-		serviceUrl: '$base/acl',
-		minChars: 2,
-		width: 350,
-		onSelect: function(value,data) {
-			$("#poke-recip-complete").val(data);
-		}
-	});
-	a.setOptions({ params: { type: 'a' }});
-
-
-});
-
-</script>
-EOT;
 
 	$parent = ((x($_GET,'parent')) ? intval($_GET['parent']) : '0');
 
 
-
 	$verbs = get_poke_verbs();
 
 	$shortlist = array();
diff --git a/view/templates/poke_content.tpl b/view/templates/poke_content.tpl
index 857dfb2003..18191de03f 100644
--- a/view/templates/poke_content.tpl
+++ b/view/templates/poke_content.tpl
@@ -3,31 +3,33 @@
 
 <div id="poke-desc">{{$desc}}</div>
 
-<form action="poke" method="get">
-<br />
-<br />
 
-<div id="poke-recip-label">{{$clabel}}</div>
-<br />
-<input id="poke-recip" type="text" size="64" maxlength="255" value="{{$name|escape:'html'}}" name="pokename" autocomplete="off" />
-<input id="poke-recip-complete" type="hidden" value="{{$id}}" name="cid" />
-<input id="poke-parent" type="hidden" value="{{$parent}}" name="parent" />
-<br />
-<br />
-<div id="poke-action-label">{{$choice}}</div>
-<br />
-<br />
-<select name="verb" id="poke-verb-select" >
-{{foreach $verbs as $v}}
-<option value="{{$v.0}}">{{$v.1}}</option>
-{{/foreach}}
-</select>
-<br />
-<br />
-<div id="poke-private-desc">{{$prv_desc}}</div>
-<input type="checkbox" name="private" {{if $parent}}disabled="disabled"{{/if}} value="1" />
-<br />
-<br />
-<input type="submit" name="submit" value="{{$submit|escape:'html'}}" />
-</form>
+<div id="poke-wrapper">
+	<form action="poke" method="get">
+
+	<div id="poke-recipient">
+		<div id="poke-recip-label">{{$clabel}}</div>
+		<input id="poke-recip" type="text" size="64" maxlength="255" value="{{$name|escape:'html'}}" name="pokename" autocomplete="off" />
+		<input id="poke-recip-complete" type="hidden" value="{{$id}}" name="cid" />
+		<input id="poke-parent" type="hidden" value="{{$parent}}" name="parent" />
+	</div>
+
+	<div id="poke-action">
+		<div id="poke-action-label">{{$choice}}</div>
+		<select name="verb" id="poke-verb-select" >
+		{{foreach $verbs as $v}}
+		<option value="{{$v.0}}">{{$v.1}}</option>
+		{{/foreach}}
+		</select>
+	</div>
+
+	<div id="poke-privacy-settings">
+		<div id="poke-private-desc">{{$prv_desc}}</div>
+		<input type="checkbox" name="private" {{if $parent}}disabled="disabled"{{/if}} value="1" />
+	</div>
+
+	<input type="submit" name="submit" value="{{$submit|escape:'html'}}" />
+
+	</form>
+</div>
 
diff --git a/view/templates/poke_head.tpl b/view/templates/poke_head.tpl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6e30eb7fee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/view/templates/poke_head.tpl
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<script src="{{$baseurl}}/library/jquery_ac/friendica.complete.js" ></script>
+
+<script>$(document).ready(function() {
+	var a;
+	a = $("#poke-recip").autocomplete({
+		serviceUrl: '{{$base}}/acl',
+		minChars: 2,
+		width: 350,
+		onSelect: function(value,data) {
+			$("#poke-recip-complete").val(data);
+		}
+	});
+	a.setOptions({ params: { type: 'a' }});
+
+
+});
+
+</script>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/view/theme/duepuntozero/style.css b/view/theme/duepuntozero/style.css
index ae2530b6a2..087104123a 100644
--- a/view/theme/duepuntozero/style.css
+++ b/view/theme/duepuntozero/style.css
@@ -2022,6 +2022,21 @@ a.mail-list-link {
 .message-links-end {
 	clear: both;
 }
+#poke-desc {
+	margin: 5px 0 10px;
+}
+
+#poke-wrapper  {
+	padding: 10px 0 20px;
+}
+
+#poke-recipient, #poke-action, #poke-privacy-settings {
+	margin: 10px 0 30px;
+}
+
+#poke-recip-label, #poke-action-label, #prvmail-message-label {
+	margin: 10px 0 10px;
+}
 
 #sidebar-group-list ul {
 	list-style-type: none;
diff --git a/view/theme/frost-mobile/style.css b/view/theme/frost-mobile/style.css
index f4b46fed84..22460b0590 100644
--- a/view/theme/frost-mobile/style.css
+++ b/view/theme/frost-mobile/style.css
@@ -2500,6 +2500,22 @@ a.mail-list-link {
 	clear: both;
 }
 
+#poke-desc {
+	margin: 5px 0 10px;
+}
+
+#poke-wrapper  {
+	padding: 10px 0 0px;
+}
+
+#poke-recipient, #poke-action, #poke-privacy-settings {
+	margin: 10px 0 30px;
+}
+
+#poke-recip-label, #poke-action-label, #prvmail-message-label {
+	margin: 10px 0 10px;
+}
+
 #sidebar-group-list ul {
 	list-style-type: none;
 }
diff --git a/view/theme/frost/style.css b/view/theme/frost/style.css
index 8b87c3bd42..396f32cf97 100644
--- a/view/theme/frost/style.css
+++ b/view/theme/frost/style.css
@@ -2315,6 +2315,22 @@ a.mail-list-link {
 	clear: both;
 }
 
+#poke-desc {
+	margin: 5px 0 10px;
+}
+
+#poke-wrapper  {
+	padding: 10px 0 20px;
+}
+
+#poke-recipient, #poke-action, #poke-privacy-settings {
+	margin: 10px 0 30px;
+}
+
+#poke-recip-label, #poke-action-label, #prvmail-message-label {
+	margin: 10px 0 10px;
+}
+
 #sidebar-group-list ul {
 	list-style-type: none;
 }
diff --git a/view/theme/quattro/dark/style.css b/view/theme/quattro/dark/style.css
index 1eda67de13..aaeb74e752 100644
--- a/view/theme/quattro/dark/style.css
+++ b/view/theme/quattro/dark/style.css
@@ -2267,6 +2267,20 @@ ul.tabs li .active {
   -ms-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;
   transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;
 }
+/* poke */
+#poke-desc {
+  margin: 5px 0 25px;
+}
+#poke-recipient,
+#poke-action,
+#poke-privacy-settings {
+  margin: 10px 0 30px;
+}
+#poke-recip-label,
+#poke-action-label,
+#prvmail-message-label {
+  margin: 10px 0 10px;
+}
 /* theme screenshot */
 .screenshot,
 #theme-preview {
diff --git a/view/theme/quattro/green/style.css b/view/theme/quattro/green/style.css
index 71569971e5..ef408b4cd2 100644
--- a/view/theme/quattro/green/style.css
+++ b/view/theme/quattro/green/style.css
@@ -2267,6 +2267,20 @@ ul.tabs li .active {
   -ms-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;
   transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;
 }
+/* poke */
+#poke-desc {
+  margin: 5px 0 25px;
+}
+#poke-recipient,
+#poke-action,
+#poke-privacy-settings {
+  margin: 10px 0 30px;
+}
+#poke-recip-label,
+#poke-action-label,
+#prvmail-message-label {
+  margin: 10px 0 10px;
+}
 /* theme screenshot */
 .screenshot,
 #theme-preview {
diff --git a/view/theme/quattro/lilac/style.css b/view/theme/quattro/lilac/style.css
index 55b81e5daf..e31a427468 100644
--- a/view/theme/quattro/lilac/style.css
+++ b/view/theme/quattro/lilac/style.css
@@ -2267,6 +2267,20 @@ ul.tabs li .active {
   -ms-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;
   transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;
 }
+/* poke */
+#poke-desc {
+  margin: 5px 0 25px;
+}
+#poke-recipient,
+#poke-action,
+#poke-privacy-settings {
+  margin: 10px 0 30px;
+}
+#poke-recip-label,
+#poke-action-label,
+#prvmail-message-label {
+  margin: 10px 0 10px;
+}
 /* theme screenshot */
 .screenshot,
 #theme-preview {
diff --git a/view/theme/quattro/quattro.less b/view/theme/quattro/quattro.less
index 3c9915576f..19847ad2de 100644
--- a/view/theme/quattro/quattro.less
+++ b/view/theme/quattro/quattro.less
@@ -1525,6 +1525,18 @@ ul.tabs {
 	&:hover .mail-delete { .opaque(1); }
 
 }
+/* poke */
+#poke-desc {
+	margin: 5px 0 25px;
+}
+
+#poke-recipient, #poke-action, #poke-privacy-settings {
+	margin: 10px 0 30px;
+}
+
+#poke-recip-label, #poke-action-label, #prvmail-message-label {
+	margin: 10px 0 10px;
+}
 
 /* theme screenshot */
 .screenshot, #theme-preview {
diff --git a/view/theme/smoothly/style.css b/view/theme/smoothly/style.css
index 46d8902aeb..da180ae61e 100644
--- a/view/theme/smoothly/style.css
+++ b/view/theme/smoothly/style.css
@@ -2693,6 +2693,25 @@ margin-left: 0px;
 	border: 1px solid #7C7D7B;
 }
 
+/* ========== */
+/* = Poke = */
+/* ========== */
+#poke-desc {
+	margin: 5px 0 20px;
+}
+#poke-wrapper  {
+	margin: 40px 0 20px;
+}
+#poke-recipient, #poke-action, #poke-privacy-settings {
+	margin: 10px 0 30px;
+}
+#poke-recip-label, #poke-action-label, #prvmail-message-label {
+	margin: 10px 0 20px;
+}
+#poke-recip {
+	float: none;
+}
+
 /* ================= */
 /* = Notifications = */
 /* ================= */
diff --git a/view/theme/vier/style.css b/view/theme/vier/style.css
index 1c03edc6bf..a6a27832f5 100644
--- a/view/theme/vier/style.css
+++ b/view/theme/vier/style.css
@@ -2496,6 +2496,22 @@ a.mail-list-link {
 	border: none;
 }
 
+/* ========== */
+/* = Poke = */
+/* ========== */
+#poke-desc {
+	margin: 10px 0 20px;
+}
+#poke-wrapper  {
+	margin: 40px 0 20px;
+}
+#poke-recipient, #poke-action, #poke-privacy-settings {
+	margin: 10px 0 30px;
+}
+#poke-recip-label, #poke-action-label, #prvmail-message-label {
+	margin: 10px 0 20px;
+}
+
 /* ========== */
 /* = Events = */
 /* ========== */