diff --git a/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp b/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
index 805887f4a5..625820a401 100644
--- a/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
+++ b/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.cpp
@@ -27,10 +27,12 @@
 
 #include "ApplicationV8.h"
 
+#include "Actions/actions.h"
+#include "ApplicationServer/ApplicationServer.h"
 #include "Basics/ConditionLocker.h"
 #include "Basics/FileUtils.h"
-#include "Basics/MutexLocker.h"
 #include "Basics/Mutex.h"
+#include "Basics/MutexLocker.h"
 #include "Basics/ReadLocker.h"
 #include "Basics/StringUtils.h"
 #include "Basics/Thread.h"
@@ -46,7 +48,6 @@
 #include "V8Server/v8-query.h"
 #include "V8Server/v8-vocbase.h"
 #include "VocBase/server.h"
-#include "Actions/actions.h"
   
 #ifdef TRI_ENABLE_CLUSTER
 #include "Cluster/ServerState.h"
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@
 using namespace triagens;
 using namespace triagens::basics;
 using namespace triagens::arango;
+using namespace triagens::rest;
 using namespace std;
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -208,6 +210,7 @@ ApplicationV8::ApplicationV8 (TRI_server_t* server)
     _devAppPath(),
     _useActions(true),
     _developmentMode(false),
+    _frontendDevelopmentMode(false),
     _performUpgrade(false),
     _skipUpgrade(false),
     _gcInterval(1000),
@@ -594,11 +597,16 @@ void ApplicationV8::setupOptions (map<string, basics::ProgramOptionsDescription>
     ("javascript.dev-app-path", &_devAppPath, "directory for Foxx applications (development mode)")
     ("javascript.startup-directory", &_startupPath, "path to the directory containing JavaScript startup scripts")
     ("javascript.v8-options", &_v8Options, "options to pass to v8")
+
     // deprecated options
     ("javascript.action-directory", &DeprecatedPath, "path to the JavaScript action directory (deprecated)")
     ("javascript.modules-path", &DeprecatedPath, "one or more directories separated by semi-colons (deprecated)")
     ("javascript.package-path", &DeprecatedPath, "one or more directories separated by semi-colons (deprecated)")
   ;
+
+  options[ApplicationServer::OPTIONS_HIDDEN]
+    ("javascript.frontend-development", &_frontendDevelopmentMode, "allows rebuild frontend assets")
+  ;
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -803,6 +811,7 @@ bool ApplicationV8::prepareV8Instance (const size_t i) {
     TRI_AddGlobalVariableVocbase(context->_context, "APP_PATH", v8::String::New(_appPath.c_str(), _appPath.size()));
     TRI_AddGlobalVariableVocbase(context->_context, "DEV_APP_PATH", v8::String::New(_devAppPath.c_str(), _devAppPath.size()));
     TRI_AddGlobalVariableVocbase(context->_context, "DEVELOPMENT_MODE", v8::Boolean::New(_developmentMode));
+    TRI_AddGlobalVariableVocbase(context->_context, "FE_DEVELOPMENT_MODE", v8::Boolean::New(_frontendDevelopmentMode));
   }
 
   // set global flag before loading system files
diff --git a/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.h b/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.h
index d12dfac567..bc6c723884 100644
--- a/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.h
+++ b/arangod/V8Server/ApplicationV8.h
@@ -434,11 +434,17 @@ namespace triagens {
         bool _useActions;
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-/// @brief use development mode
+/// @brief enables development mode
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
         bool _developmentMode;
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief enables frontend development mode
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+        bool _frontendDevelopmentMode;
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /// @brief perform a database upgrade
 ///
diff --git a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/html/body.html.part b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/html/body.html.part
index 894c524818..af96e3214e 100644
--- a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/html/body.html.part
+++ b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/html/body.html.part
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 <body>
+ HHALO
   <nav class="navbar">
     <div class="resizecontainer">
       <div class="navlogo">
diff --git a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/img/arangodblogoAvatar.png b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/img/arangodblogoAvatar.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..227e608cfe
Binary files /dev/null and b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/img/arangodblogoAvatar.png differ
diff --git a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/bootstrap/module-internal.js b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/bootstrap/module-internal.js
index 375b370ca9..f6b7e227a0 100644
--- a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/bootstrap/module-internal.js
+++ b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/bootstrap/module-internal.js
@@ -127,6 +127,23 @@
     SYS_LOG("warning", "################################################################################");
   }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief frontendDevelopmentMode
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+  exports.frontendDevelopmentMode = false;
+
+  if (typeof FE_DEVELOPMENT_MODE !== "undefined") {
+    exports.frontendDevelopmentMode = FE_DEVELOPMENT_MODE;
+    delete FE_DEVELOPMENT_MODE;
+  }
+
+  if (exports.frontendDevelopmentMode && exports.threadNumber === 0) {
+    SYS_LOG("warning", "################################################################################");
+    SYS_LOG("warning", "frontend development mode is active, never use this in production");
+    SYS_LOG("warning", "################################################################################");
+  }
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /// @brief logfilePath
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/collections/arangoUsers.js b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/collections/arangoUsers.js
index 3179d4b406..e204354f7e 100644
--- a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/collections/arangoUsers.js
+++ b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/collections/arangoUsers.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*jslint indent: 2, nomen: true, maxlen: 100, sloppy: true, vars: true, white: true, plusplus: true */
-/*global window, Backbone, $, window */
+/*global window, Backbone, $,_, window */
 
 window.ArangoUsers = Backbone.Collection.extend({
   model: window.Users,
@@ -71,6 +71,20 @@ window.ArangoUsers = Backbone.Collection.extend({
       result.push(object);
     });
     return result;
+  },
+
+  whoAmI: function() {
+    if (this.currentUser) {
+      return this.currentUser;
+    }
+    var result;
+    $.ajax("whoAmI", {async:false}).done(
+      function(data) {
+        result = data.name;
+      }
+    );
+    this.currentUser = result;
+    return this.currentUser;
   }
 
 });
diff --git a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/templates/userBarView.ejs b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/templates/userBarView.ejs
index a07f24cc77..bcb584d2fa 100644
--- a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/templates/userBarView.ejs
+++ b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/templates/userBarView.ejs
@@ -9,10 +9,24 @@
       <img src="<%=img%>" id="userimage" height="23" width="23" /> <b class="caret"></b>
     </a>
     <ul class="user-dropdown-menu" id="user_dropdown">
-      <li class="dropdown-header"><%=prename%> <%=lastname%></li>
+      <li class="dropdown-header" style="text-transform: none">
+        <%
+        if(username === null) {
+          %>-<%
+        } else {
+          if (name) {%>
+        <%=name%> (<%=username%>)
+        <% } else {%>
+        <%=username%>
+        <%}
+
+        }
+       %>
+      <% if(username !== null) { %>
       <li class="dropdown-item">
         <a id="user" class="tab" href="#user">User profile</a>
       </li>
+      <% } %>
       <li class="dropdown-item">
         <a id="userManagement" class="internalLink" href="#userManagement">User management</a>
       </li>
diff --git a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/navigationView.js b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/navigationView.js
index f160e4f20f..50b1009334 100644
--- a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/navigationView.js
+++ b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/navigationView.js
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@
         current: window.currentDB
       });
       this.userBarView = new window.UserBarView({
-        collection: this.options.notificationCollection
+        collection: this.options.notificationCollection,
+        userCollection: window.activeUser
       });
       this.statisticBarView = new window.StatisticBarView({});
     },
diff --git a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/userBarView.js b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/userBarView.js
index 2709a9b0dc..4fceaf61a5 100644
--- a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/userBarView.js
+++ b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/userBarView.js
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
       this.collection.bind("add", this.renderNotifications.bind(this));
       this.collection.bind("remove", this.renderNotifications.bind(this));
       this.collection.bind("reset", this.renderNotifications.bind(this));
+      this.userCollection = this.options.userCollection;
     },
 
     notificationItem: templateEngine.createTemplate("notificationItem.ejs"),
@@ -94,11 +95,32 @@
     },
 
     render: function (el) {
+      var username = this.userCollection.whoAmI(),
+        img = null,
+        name = null,
+        active = false,
+        currentUser = null;
+      if (username !== null) {
+        this.userCollection.fetch({async:false});
+        currentUser = this.userCollection.findWhere({user: username});
+        currentUser.set({loggedIn : true});
+        name = currentUser.get("name");
+        img = currentUser.get("img");
+        active = currentUser.get("active");
+      }
+      if (!img) {
+        img = "img/arangodblogoAvatar.png";
+      }
+      if (!name) {
+        name = "";
+      }
+
       this.$el = el;
       this.$el.html(this.template.render({
-        img : "https://s.gravatar.com/avatar/9c53a795affc3c3c03801ffae90e2e11?s=80",
-        prename : "Floyd",
-        lastname : "Pepper",
+        img : img,
+        name : name,
+        username : username,
+        active : active,
         notifications : this.collection
       }));
 
diff --git a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/userManagementView.js b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/userManagementView.js
index 3e4babbee0..36d12d6162 100644
--- a/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/userManagementView.js
+++ b/js/apps/system/aardvark/frontend/js/views/userManagementView.js
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
       "click #submitCreateUser"                               : "submitCreateUser",
       "click #userManagementTable .icon_arangodb_roundminus"  : "removeUser",
       "click #submitDeleteUser"                               : "submitDeleteUser",
-//      "click .editUser"                                       : "editUser",
+      "click .editUser"                                       : "editUser",
       "click #submitEditUser"                                 : "submitEditUser"
     },
 
@@ -34,14 +34,28 @@
 
     renderTable: function () {
       this.collection.forEach(function(user) {
+        var deleteButton =
+          '<span class="arangoicon icon_arangodb_roundminus" data-original-title="Delete user"></span>';
+        if(user.get("loggedIn")) {
+          deleteButton = '';
+        }
+        var username = user.get("user"),
+          name = user.get("name"),
+          img = user.get("img"),
+          active = user.get("active");
+        if (!img) {
+          img = " ";
+        }
+        if (!name) {
+          name = " ";
+        }
         $("#userManagementTable tbody").append(
-          '<tr class="editUser" id="' + user.get("user") + '">' +
-            '<td><a>' + user.get("user") + '</a></td>' +//username
-            '<td><a>' + "" + '</a></td>' +//avatar
-            '<td><a>' + "" + '</a></td>' +//name
-            '<td><a>' + user.get("active") + '</a></td>' +//active
-            '<td><span class="arangoicon icon_arangodb_roundminus"' +
-            'data-original-title="Delete user"></span></td>' +
+          '<tr class="editUser" id="' + username + '">' +
+            '<td><a>' + username + '</a></td>' +//username
+            '<td><a>' + img + '</a></td>' +//avatar
+            '<td><a>' + name + '</a></td>' +//name
+            '<td><a>' + active + '</a></td>' +//active
+            '<td>' + deleteButton + '</td>' +
           '</tr>'
         );
       });
@@ -136,7 +150,7 @@
 
     editUser : function(e) {
       this.userToEdit = $(e.currentTarget).attr("id");
-      console.log(this.userToEdit);
+//      console.log(this.userToEdit);
       $('#editUserModal').modal('show');
       var user = this.collection.findWhere({user: this.userToEdit});
       $('#editUsername').html(user.get("user"));
@@ -145,14 +159,14 @@
     },
 
     submitEditUser : function() {
-      console.log("submitEditUser");
+//      console.log("submitEditUser");
       var self = this;
       var userName      = this.userToEdit;
       var name          = $('#editName').val();
       var status        = $('#editStatus').is(':checked');
-      console.log(userName);
-      console.log(name);
-      console.log(status);
+//      console.log(userName);
+//      console.log(name);
+//      console.log(status);
       if (!this.validateStatus(status)) {
         $('#editStatus').closest("th").css("backgroundColor", "red");
         return;
diff --git a/js/common/bootstrap/module-internal.js b/js/common/bootstrap/module-internal.js
index 375b370ca9..f6b7e227a0 100644
--- a/js/common/bootstrap/module-internal.js
+++ b/js/common/bootstrap/module-internal.js
@@ -127,6 +127,23 @@
     SYS_LOG("warning", "################################################################################");
   }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief frontendDevelopmentMode
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+  exports.frontendDevelopmentMode = false;
+
+  if (typeof FE_DEVELOPMENT_MODE !== "undefined") {
+    exports.frontendDevelopmentMode = FE_DEVELOPMENT_MODE;
+    delete FE_DEVELOPMENT_MODE;
+  }
+
+  if (exports.frontendDevelopmentMode && exports.threadNumber === 0) {
+    SYS_LOG("warning", "################################################################################");
+    SYS_LOG("warning", "frontend development mode is active, never use this in production");
+    SYS_LOG("warning", "################################################################################");
+  }
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /// @brief logfilePath
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/js/server/modules/org/arangodb/foxx/manager.js b/js/server/modules/org/arangodb/foxx/manager.js
index 149f9ae471..0c1580a802 100644
--- a/js/server/modules/org/arangodb/foxx/manager.js
+++ b/js/server/modules/org/arangodb/foxx/manager.js
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ var fs = require("fs");
 var _ = require("underscore");
 
 var executeGlobalContextFunction = require("internal").executeGlobalContextFunction;
+var frontendDevelopmentMode = require("internal").frontendDevelopmentMode;
 var checkParameter = arangodb.checkParameter;
 var transformScript = require("org/arangodb/foxx/preprocessor").preprocess;
 
@@ -326,6 +327,80 @@ function buildAssetContent (app, assets, basePath) {
   return content;
 }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief installs an asset for an app
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+function buildFileAsset (app, path, basePath, asset) {
+  var content = buildAssetContent(app, asset.files, basePath);
+  var type;
+  var route;
+
+  // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  // content-type detection
+  // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+  // contentType explicitly specified for asset
+  if (asset.hasOwnProperty("contentType") && asset.contentType !== '') {
+    type = asset.contentType;
+  }
+
+  // path contains a dot, derive content type from path 
+  else if (path.match(/\.[a-zA-Z0-9]+$/)) {
+    type = arangodb.guessContentType(path);
+  }
+
+  // path does not contain a dot,
+  // derive content type from included asset names
+  else if (asset.files.length > 0) {
+    type = arangodb.guessContentType(asset.files[0]);
+  }
+
+  // use built-in defaulti content-type
+  else {
+    type = arangodb.guessContentType("");
+  }
+
+  // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  // return content
+  // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+  return { contentType: type, body: content };
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief generates development asset action
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+function buildDevelopmentAssetRoute (app, path, basePath, asset) {
+  var internal = require("internal");
+
+  return {
+    url: { match: path },
+    action: { 
+      callback: function (req, res) {
+        var c = buildFileAsset(app, path, basePath, asset);
+
+        res.contentType = c.contentType;
+        res.body = c.body;
+      }
+    }
+  };
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief generates asset action
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+function buildAssetRoute (app, path, basePath, asset) {
+  var c = buildFileAsset(app, path, basePath, asset);
+
+  return {
+    url: { match: path },
+    content: { contentType: c.contentType, body: c.body }
+  };
+}
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /// @brief installs the assets of an app
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -352,39 +427,16 @@ function installAssets (app, routes) {
           basePath = asset.basePath;
         }
 
+        normalized = arangodb.normalizeURL("/" + path);
+
         if (asset.hasOwnProperty('files')) {
-          var content = buildAssetContent(app, asset.files, basePath);
-          var type;
-
-          normalized = arangodb.normalizeURL("/" + path);
-
-          // content-type detection
-          // ----------------------
-
-          if (asset.hasOwnProperty("contentType") && asset.contentType !== '') {
-            // contentType explicitly specified for asset
-            type = asset.contentType;
-          }
-          else if (normalized.match(/\.[a-zA-Z0-9]+$/)) {
-            // path contains a dot
-            // derive content type from path 
-            type = arangodb.guessContentType(normalized);
-          }
-          else if (asset.files.length > 0) {
-            // path does not contain a dot
-            // derive content type from included asset names
-            type = arangodb.guessContentType(asset.files[0]);
+          if (frontendDevelopmentMode) {
+            route = buildDevelopmentAssetRoute(app, normalized, basePath, asset);
           }
           else {
-            // use built-in defaulti content-type
-            type = arangodb.guessContentType("");
+            route = buildAssetRoute(app, normalized, basePath, asset);
           }
 
-          route = {
-            url: { match: normalized },
-            content: { contentType: type, body: content }
-          };
-
           routes.routes.push(route);
         }
       }