diff --git a/src/Core/Console.php b/src/Core/Console.php
index f9c37dde1e..39e2941a32 100644
--- a/src/Core/Console.php
+++ b/src/Core/Console.php
@@ -95,8 +95,16 @@ HELP;
 				break;
 			case 'docbloxerrorchecker' : $subconsole = new Console\DocBloxErrorChecker($subargs);
 				break;
+			case 'extract' : $subconsole = new Console\Extract($subargs);
+				break;
 			case 'globalcommunityblock': $subconsole = new Console\GlobalCommunityBlock($subargs);
 				break;
+			case 'globalcommunitysilence': $subconsole = new Console\GlobalCommunitySilence($subargs);
+				break;
+			case 'maintenance': $subconsole = new Console\Maintenance($subargs);
+				break;
+			case 'php2po': $subconsole = new Console\PhpToPo($subargs);
+				break;
 			default:
 				throw new \Asika\SimpleConsole\CommandArgsException('Command ' . $command . ' doesn\'t exist');
 		}
diff --git a/src/Core/Console/Extract.php b/src/Core/Console/Extract.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e6cab0654a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Core/Console/Extract.php
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Friendica\Core\Console;
+
+/**
+ * Extracts translation strings from the Friendica project's files to be exported
+ * to Transifex for translation.
+ *
+ * Outputs a PHP file with language strings used by Friendica
+ *
+ * @author Hypolite Petovan <mrpetovan@gmail.com>
+ */
+class Extract extends \Asika\SimpleConsole\Console
+{
+	protected $helpOptions = ['h', 'help', '?'];
+
+	protected function getHelp()
+	{
+		$help = <<<HELP
+console extract - Generate translation string file for the Friendica project (deprecated)
+Usage
+	bin/console extract [-h|--help|-?] [-v]
+
+Description
+	This script was used to generate the translation string file to be exported to Transifex,
+	please use bin/run_xgettext.sh instead
+
+Options
+    -h|--help|-? Show help information
+    -v           Show more debug information.
+HELP;
+		return $help;
+	}
+
+	protected function doExecute()
+	{
+		if ($this->getOption('v')) {
+			$this->out('Class: ' . __CLASS__);
+			$this->out('Arguments: ' . var_export($this->args, true));
+			$this->out('Options: ' . var_export($this->options, true));
+		}
+
+		if (count($this->args) > 0) {
+			throw new \Asika\SimpleConsole\CommandArgsException('Too many arguments');
+		}
+
+		$s = '<?php' . PHP_EOL;
+		$s .= '
+		function string_plural_select($n){
+			return ($n != 1);
+		}
+
+		';
+
+		$arr = [];
+
+		$files = array_merge(
+			['index.php', 'boot.php'],
+			glob('mod/*'),
+			glob('include/*'),
+			glob('addon/*/*'),
+			$this->globRecursive('src')
+		);
+
+		foreach ($files as $file) {
+			$str = file_get_contents($file);
+
+			$pat = '|L10n::t\(([^\)]*+)[\)]|';
+			$patt = '|L10n::tt\(([^\)]*+)[\)]|';
+
+			$matches = [];
+			$matchestt = [];
+
+			preg_match_all($pat, $str, $matches);
+			preg_match_all($patt, $str, $matchestt);
+
+			if (count($matches) || count($matchestt)) {
+				$s .= '// ' . $file . PHP_EOL;
+			}
+
+			if (!empty($matches[1])) {
+				foreach ($matches[1] as $long_match) {
+					$match_arr = preg_split('/(?<=[\'"])\s*,/', $long_match);
+					$match = $match_arr[0];
+					if (!in_array($match, $arr)) {
+						if (substr($match, 0, 1) == '$') {
+							continue;
+						}
+
+						$arr[] = $match;
+
+						$s .= '$a->strings[' . $match . '] = ' . $match . ';' . "\n";
+					}
+				}
+			}
+			if (!empty($matchestt[1])) {
+				foreach ($matchestt[1] as $match) {
+					$matchtkns = preg_split("|[ \t\r\n]*,[ \t\r\n]*|", $match);
+					if (count($matchtkns) == 3 && !in_array($matchtkns[0], $arr)) {
+						if (substr($matchtkns[1], 0, 1) == '$') {
+							continue;
+						}
+
+						$arr[] = $matchtkns[0];
+
+						$s .= '$a->strings[' . $matchtkns[0] . "] = array(\n";
+						$s .= "\t0 => " . $matchtkns[0] . ",\n";
+						$s .= "\t1 => " . $matchtkns[1] . ",\n";
+						$s .= ");\n";
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		$s .= '// Timezones' . PHP_EOL;
+
+		$zones = timezone_identifiers_list();
+		foreach ($zones as $zone) {
+			$s .= '$a->strings[\'' . $zone . '\'] = \'' . $zone . '\';' . "\n";
+		}
+
+		$this->out($s);
+
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	private function globRecursive($path) {
+		$dir_iterator = new \RecursiveDirectoryIterator($path);
+		$iterator = new \RecursiveIteratorIterator($dir_iterator, \RecursiveIteratorIterator::SELF_FIRST);
+
+		$return = [];
+		foreach ($iterator as $file) {
+			if ($file->getBasename() != '.' && $file->getBasename() != '..') {
+				$return[] = $file->getPathname();
+			}
+		}
+
+		return $return;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/Core/Console/GlobalCommunitySilence.php b/src/Core/Console/GlobalCommunitySilence.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..069750afc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Core/Console/GlobalCommunitySilence.php
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Friendica\Core\Console;
+
+use Friendica\Core\Protocol;
+use Friendica\Database\DBM;
+use Friendica\Network\Probe;
+
+require_once 'include/text.php';
+
+/**
+ * @brief tool to silence accounts on the global community page
+ *
+ * With this tool, you can silence an account on the global community page.
+ * Postings from silenced accounts will not be displayed on the community
+ * page. This silencing does only affect the display on the community page,
+ * accounts following the silenced accounts will still get their postings.
+ *
+ * License: AGPLv3 or later, same as Friendica
+ *
+ * @author Tobias Diekershoff
+ * @author Hypolite Petovan <mrpetovan@gmail.com>
+ */
+class GlobalCommunitySilence extends \Asika\SimpleConsole\Console
+{
+	protected $helpOptions = ['h', 'help', '?'];
+
+	protected function getHelp()
+	{
+		$help = <<<HELP
+console globalcommunitysilence - Silence remote profile from global community page
+Usage
+	bin/console globalcommunitysilence <profile_url> [-h|--help|-?] [-v]
+
+Description
+	With this tool, you can silence an account on the global community page.
+	Postings from silenced accounts will not be displayed on the community page.
+	This silencing does only affect the display on the community page, accounts
+	following the silenced accounts will still get their postings.
+
+Options
+    -h|--help|-? Show help information
+    -v           Show more debug information.
+HELP;
+		return $help;
+	}
+
+	protected function doExecute()
+	{
+		if ($this->getOption('v')) {
+			$this->out('Class: ' . __CLASS__);
+			$this->out('Arguments: ' . var_export($this->args, true));
+			$this->out('Options: ' . var_export($this->options, true));
+		}
+
+		if (count($this->args) == 0) {
+			$this->out($this->getHelp());
+			return 0;
+		}
+
+		if (count($this->args) > 1) {
+			throw new \Asika\SimpleConsole\CommandArgsException('Too many arguments');
+		}
+
+		require_once '.htconfig.php';
+		$result = \dba::connect($db_host, $db_user, $db_pass, $db_data);
+		unset($db_host, $db_user, $db_pass, $db_data);
+
+		if (!$result) {
+			throw new \RuntimeException('Unable to connect to database');
+		}
+
+		/**
+		 * 1. make nurl from last parameter
+		 * 2. check DB (contact) if there is a contact with uid=0 and that nurl, get the ID
+		 * 3. set the flag hidden=1 for the contact entry with the found ID
+		 * */
+		$net = Probe::uri($this->getArgument(0));
+		if (in_array($net['network'], [Protocol::PHANTOM, Protocol::MAIL])) {
+			throw new \RuntimeException('This account seems not to exist.');
+		}
+
+		$nurl = normalise_link($net['url']);
+		$contact = \dba::selectFirst("contact", ["id"], ["nurl" => $nurl, "uid" => 0]);
+		if (DBM::is_result($contact)) {
+			\dba::update("contact", ["hidden" => true], ["id" => $contact["id"]]);
+			$this->out('NOTICE: The account should be silenced from the global community page');
+		} else {
+			throw new \RuntimeException('NOTICE: Could not find any entry for this URL (' . $nurl . ')');
+		}
+
+		return 0;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/Core/Console/Maintenance.php b/src/Core/Console/Maintenance.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f9a4f9d2d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Core/Console/Maintenance.php
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Friendica\Core\Console;
+
+use Friendica\Core;
+
+require_once 'boot.php';
+require_once 'include/dba.php';
+
+/**
+ * @brief tool to silence accounts on the global community page
+ *
+ * With this tool, you can silence an account on the global community page.
+ * Postings from silenced accounts will not be displayed on the community
+ * page. This silencing does only affect the display on the community page,
+ * accounts following the silenced accounts will still get their postings.
+ *
+ * Usage: pass the URL of the profile to be silenced account as only parameter
+ *        at the command line when running this tool. E.g.
+ *
+ *        $> util/global_community_silence.php http://example.com/profile/bob
+ *
+ *        will silence bob@example.com so that his postings won't appear at
+ *        the global community page.
+ *
+ * License: AGPLv3 or later, same as Friendica
+ *
+ * @author Tobias Diekershoff
+ * @author Hypolite Petovan <mrpetovan@gmail.com>
+ */
+class Maintenance extends \Asika\SimpleConsole\Console
+{
+	protected $helpOptions = ['h', 'help', '?'];
+
+	protected function getHelp()
+	{
+		$help = <<<HELP
+console maintenance - Sets maintenance mode for this node
+Usage
+	bin/console maintenance <enable> [<reason>] [-h|--help|-?] [-v]
+
+Description
+	<enable> cen be either 0 or 1 to disabled or enable the maintenance mode on this node.
+
+	<reason> is a quote-enclosed string with the optional reason for the maintenance mode.
+
+Examples
+	bin/console maintenance 1
+		Enables the maintenance mode without setting a reason message
+
+	bin/console maintenance 1 "SSL certification update"
+		Enables the maintenance mode with setting a reason message
+
+	bin/console maintenance 0
+		Disables the maintenance mode
+
+Options
+    -h|--help|-? Show help information
+    -v           Show more debug information.
+HELP;
+		return $help;
+	}
+
+	protected function doExecute()
+	{
+		if ($this->getOption('v')) {
+			$this->out('Class: ' . __CLASS__);
+			$this->out('Arguments: ' . var_export($this->args, true));
+			$this->out('Options: ' . var_export($this->options, true));
+		}
+
+		if (count($this->args) == 0) {
+			$this->out($this->getHelp());
+			return 0;
+		}
+
+		if (count($this->args) > 2) {
+			throw new \Asika\SimpleConsole\CommandArgsException('Too many arguments');
+		}
+
+		require_once '.htconfig.php';
+		$result = \dba::connect($db_host, $db_user, $db_pass, $db_data);
+		unset($db_host, $db_user, $db_pass, $db_data);
+
+		if (!$result) {
+			throw new \RuntimeException('Unable to connect to database');
+		}
+
+		Core\Config::load();
+
+		$lang = Core\L10n::getBrowserLanguage();
+		Core\L10n::loadTranslationTable($lang);
+
+		$enabled = intval($this->getArgument(0));
+
+		Core\Config::set('system', 'maintenance', $enabled);
+
+		$reason = $this->getArgument(1);
+
+		if ($enabled && $this->getArgument(1)) {
+			Core\Config::set('system', 'maintenance_reason', $this->getArgument(1));
+		} else {
+			Core\Config::set('system', 'maintenance_reason', '');
+		}
+
+		if ($enabled) {
+			$mode_str = "maintenance mode";
+		} else {
+			$mode_str = "normal mode";
+		}
+
+		$this->out('System set in ' . $mode_str);
+
+		if ($enabled && $reason != '') {
+			$this->out('Maintenance reason: ' . $reason);
+		}
+
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/Core/Console/PhpToPo.php b/src/Core/Console/PhpToPo.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e26ea88921
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Core/Console/PhpToPo.php
@@ -0,0 +1,241 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Friendica\Core\Console;
+
+/**
+ * Read a strings.php file and create messages.po in the same directory
+ *
+ * @author Hypolite Petovan <mrpetovan@gmail.com>
+ */
+class PhpToPo extends \Asika\SimpleConsole\Console
+{
+
+	protected $helpOptions = ['h', 'help', '?'];
+
+	private $normBaseMsgIds = [];
+	const NORM_REGEXP = "|[\\\]|";
+
+	protected function getHelp()
+	{
+		$help = <<<HELP
+console php2po - Generate a messages.po file from a string.php file
+Usage
+	bin/console php2po [-p <n>] <path/to/strings.php> [-h|--help|-?] [-v]
+
+Options:
+	-p <n> Number of plural forms/ Default: 2
+
+Description
+	Read a strings.php file and create the according messages.po in the same directory
+
+Options
+    -h|--help|-? Show help information
+    -v           Show more debug information.
+HELP;
+		return $help;
+	}
+
+	protected function doExecute()
+	{
+		if ($this->getOption('v')) {
+			$this->out('Class: ' . __CLASS__);
+			$this->out('Arguments: ' . var_export($this->args, true));
+			$this->out('Options: ' . var_export($this->options, true));
+		}
+
+		if (count($this->args) == 0) {
+			$this->out($this->getHelp());
+			return 0;
+		}
+
+		if (count($this->args) > 1) {
+			throw new \Asika\SimpleConsole\CommandArgsException('Too many arguments');
+		}
+
+		$a = get_app();
+
+		$phpfile = realpath($this->getArgument(0));
+
+		if (!file_exists($phpfile)) {
+			throw new \RuntimeException('Supplied file path doesn\'t exist.');
+		}
+
+		if (!is_writable(dirname($phpfile))) {
+			throw new \RuntimeException('Supplied directory isn\'t writable.');
+		}
+
+		$pofile = dirname($phpfile) . '/messages.po';
+
+		// start !
+		include_once($phpfile);
+
+		$out = '';
+		$out .= "# FRIENDICA Distributed Social Network\n";
+		$out .= "# Copyright (C) 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 the Friendica Project\n";
+		$out .= "# This file is distributed under the same license as the Friendica package.\n";
+		$out .= "# \n";
+		$out .= 'msgid ""' . "\n";
+		$out .= 'msgstr ""' . "\n";
+		$out .= '"Project-Id-Version: friendica\n"' . "\n";
+		$out .= '"Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"' . "\n";
+		$out .= '"POT-Creation-Date: ' . date("Y-m-d H:i:sO") . '\n"' . "\n";
+		$out .= '"MIME-Version: 1.0\n"' . "\n";
+		$out .= '"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n"' . "\n";
+		$out .= '"Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n"' . "\n";
+
+		// search for plural info
+		$lang = "";
+		$lang_logic = "";
+		$lang_pnum = 2;
+
+		$_idx = array_search('-p', $argv);
+		if ($_idx !== false) {
+			$lang_pnum = $argv[$_idx + 1];
+		}
+
+		$infile = file($phpfile);
+		foreach ($infile as $l) {
+			$l = trim($l);
+			if ($this->startsWith($l, 'function string_plural_select_')) {
+				$lang = str_replace('function string_plural_select_', '', str_replace('($n){', '', $l));
+			}
+			if ($this->startsWith($l, 'return')) {
+				$lang_logic = str_replace('$', '', trim(str_replace('return ', '', $l), ';'));
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+
+		$this->out('Language: ' . $lang);
+		$this->out('Plural forms: ' . $lang_pnum);
+		$this->out('Plural forms: ' . $lang_logic);
+
+		$out .= sprintf('"Language: %s\n"', $lang) . "\n";
+		$out .= sprintf('"Plural-Forms: nplurals=%s; plural=%s;\n"', $lang_pnum, $lang_logic) . "\n";
+		$out .= "\n";
+
+		$this->out('Loading base message.po...');
+
+		// load base messages.po and extract msgids
+		$base_msgids = [];
+		$base_f = file("util/messages.po");
+		if (!$base_f) {
+			throw new \RuntimeException('The base util/messages.po file is missing.');
+		}
+
+		$_f = 0;
+		$_mid = "";
+		$_mids = [];
+		foreach ($base_f as $l) {
+			$l = trim($l);
+
+			if ($this->startsWith($l, 'msgstr')) {
+				if ($_mid != '""') {
+					$base_msgids[$_mid] = $_mids;
+					$this->normBaseMsgIds[preg_replace(self::NORM_REGEXP, "", $_mid)] = $_mid;
+				}
+
+				$_f = 0;
+				$_mid = "";
+				$_mids = [];
+			}
+
+			if ($this->startsWith($l, '"') && $_f == 2) {
+				$_mids[count($_mids) - 1] .= "\n" . $l;
+			}
+			if ($this->startsWith($l, 'msgid_plural ')) {
+				$_f = 2;
+				$_mids[] = str_replace('msgid_plural ', '', $l);
+			}
+
+			if ($this->startsWith($l, '"') && $_f == 1) {
+				$_mid .= "\n" . $l;
+				$_mids[count($_mids) - 1] .= "\n" . $l;
+			}
+			if ($this->startsWith($l, 'msgid ')) {
+				$_f = 1;
+				$_mid = str_replace('msgid ', '', $l);
+				$_mids = [$_mid];
+			}
+		}
+
+		$this->out('Done.');
+		$this->out('Creating ' . $pofile . '...');
+
+		// create msgid and msgstr
+		$warnings = "";
+		foreach ($a->strings as $key => $str) {
+			$msgid = $this->massageString($key);
+
+			if (preg_match("|%[sd0-9](\$[sn])*|", $msgid)) {
+				$out .= "#, php-format\n";
+			}
+			$msgid = $this->findOriginalMsgId($msgid);
+			$out .= 'msgid ' . $msgid . "\n";
+
+			if (is_array($str)) {
+				if (array_key_exists($msgid, $base_msgids) && isset($base_msgids[$msgid][1])) {
+					$out .= 'msgid_plural ' . $base_msgids[$msgid][1] . "\n";
+				} else {
+					$out .= 'msgid_plural ' . $msgid . "\n";
+					$warnings .= "[W] No source plural form for msgid:\n" . str_replace("\n", "\n\t", $msgid) . "\n\n";
+				}
+				foreach ($str as $n => $msgstr) {
+					$out .= 'msgstr[' . $n . '] ' . $this->massageString($msgstr) . "\n";
+				}
+			} else {
+				$out .= 'msgstr ' . $this->massageString($str) . "\n";
+			}
+
+			$out .= "\n";
+		}
+
+		file_put_contents($pofile, $out);
+
+		$this->out('Done.');
+
+		if ($warnings == "") {
+			$this->out('No warnings.');
+		} else {
+			$this->out($warnings);
+		}
+
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	private function startsWith($haystack, $needle)
+	{
+		// search backwards starting from haystack length characters from the end
+		return $needle === "" || strrpos($haystack, $needle, -strlen($haystack)) !== FALSE;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Get a string and retun a message.po ready text
+	 * - replace " with \"
+	 * - replace tab char with \t
+	 * - manage multiline strings
+	 */
+	private function massageString($str)
+	{
+		$str = str_replace('\\', '\\\\', $str);
+		$str = str_replace('"', '\"', $str);
+		$str = str_replace("\t", '\t', $str);
+		$str = str_replace("\n", '\n"' . "\n" . '"', $str);
+		if (strpos($str, "\n") !== false && $str[0] !== '"') {
+			$str = '"' . "\n" . $str;
+		}
+
+		$str = preg_replace("|\n([^\"])|", "\n\"$1", $str);
+		return sprintf('"%s"', $str);
+	}
+
+	private function findOriginalMsgId($str)
+	{
+		$norm_str = preg_replace(self::NORM_REGEXP, "", $str);
+		if (array_key_exists($norm_str, $this->normBaseMsgIds)) {
+			return $this->normBaseMsgIds[$norm_str];
+		}
+
+		return $str;
+	}
+
+}