diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 89f27ac..6b1c8a2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 *.sw*
 .bundle
 *.db
+.env.rb
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cd93b2e..7958b5a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,18 +5,32 @@ Roda, Falcon, Sequel, and SQLite
 
 the point of this project is to quickly build something and work on continuous deployment while making small refinements to the functional pieces.
 
+the only outside piece of software that this project relies on is sqlite3. 
+
 
 first you have to install the dependencies:
 
 `bundle install`
 
+
 if you want the development group included run this first:
 
-`bundle config set --local with 'development'
+`bundle config set --local with 'development'`
+
+
+then create a .env.rb file in the root directory that contains the following ENV attributes:
+
+```
+ENV["APP_SESSION_SECRET"] = {output of a random 64 byte secret}
+
+ENV["DB_NAME"] = {db file name}
+```
+
 
 after the dependencies are installed, you have to create the db
 
-`sequel -m db/migrations sqlite://db/url_shortener.db`
+`sequel -m db/migrations sqlite://db/{DB_NAME}`
+
 
 to start the application with Falcon:
 
diff --git a/app.rb b/app.rb
index 4b2b414..54554b6 100644
--- a/app.rb
+++ b/app.rb
@@ -4,11 +4,16 @@ require 'json'
 require 'sequel'
 
 class App < Roda
-  DB = Sequel.sqlite('db/url_shortener.db')
-  links = DB[:links]
+  plugin :sessions, secret: ENV.delete('APP_SESSION_SECRET')
   plugin :render, escape: true
+  plugin :flash
+
+  DB = Sequel.sqlite("db/#{ENV['DB_NAME']}")
+  links = DB[:links]
+
   route do |r|
     r.root do
+      @message = flash['message'] || "Enter a URL"
       view :home
     end
 
@@ -19,11 +24,16 @@ class App < Roda
 
     r.post "create" do
       url = r.params['url']
-      if url.empty? then r.redirect '/' end
+      if url.empty? 
+        flash['message'] = "Please enter a valid URL";
+        r.redirect '/'
+      end
       if nil == links.filter(:url => url).first
         code = SecureRandom.urlsafe_base64 4
         links.insert(url: url, code: code) 
+        @message = "Link created"
       end
+      @message ||= "Link exists"
       @new_link = 'http://' + request.env['HTTP_HOST'] + '/' + links.filter(:url => url).first[:code]
       view :create   
     end
diff --git a/config.ru b/config.ru
index 90dc7d6..02b347a 100644
--- a/config.ru
+++ b/config.ru
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+require './.env'
 require './app'
 
 run App.app
diff --git a/features/homepage.feature b/features/homepage.feature
index 9215df1..4a96c4a 100644
--- a/features/homepage.feature
+++ b/features/homepage.feature
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Feature: Homepage
   Scenario: Homepage Loads with a form
     Given I visit the "/" page
     Then I should see text "URL Shortener"
+    And I should see the message "Enter a URL"
     And I should see a form field "url"
     And I should see a "Submit" button
 
@@ -14,9 +15,21 @@ Feature: Homepage
     Given I visit the "/" page
     When I click the "Submit" button
     Then I should be on "/" page
+    And I should see the message "Please enter a valid URL"
 
+  @db-test
   Scenario: Submitting the form with a correct URL
     Given I visit the "/" page
-    When I type "http://google.com/" in the "url" field
+    When I type "http://google.com" in the "url" field
     And I click the "Submit" button
     Then I should be on "/create" page
+    And I should see the message "Link created"
+
+  @db-test
+  Scenario: Submitting the form with an existing URL
+    Given I visit the "/" page
+    And A link already exists with the url "http://google.com"
+    When I type "http://google.com" in the "url" field
+    And I click the "Submit" button
+    Then I should be on "/create" page
+    And I should see the message "Link exists"
diff --git a/features/step_definitions/steps.rb b/features/step_definitions/steps.rb
index 78eb083..9bc830e 100644
--- a/features/step_definitions/steps.rb
+++ b/features/step_definitions/steps.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,18 @@
+# BEFORE
+Before('@db-test') do
+  @links = Sequel.sqlite("db/#{ENV['DB_NAME']}")[:links]
+end
+
 # GIVEN
 
 Given('I visit the {string} page') do |string|
   visit string
 end
 
+Given('A link already exists with the url {string}') do |string|
+  @links.insert(url: string, code: "aaaaaa")
+end
+
 # WHEN
 
 When('I click the {string} button') do |string|
@@ -31,3 +40,13 @@ end
 Then('I should be on {string} page') do |string|
   page.should have_current_path string
 end
+
+Then('I should see the message {string}') do |message|
+  page.should have_selector '#message', text: message
+end
+
+# AFTER
+
+After('@db-test') do
+  @links.delete
+end
diff --git a/features/support/env.rb b/features/support/env.rb
index 6ee27f9..5307da0 100644
--- a/features/support/env.rb
+++ b/features/support/env.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,20 @@
+require_relative '../../.env'
+ENV["DB_NAME"] = "test_#{ENV["DB_NAME"]}"
 require_relative '../../app'
 require 'rubygems'
 require 'roda'
+require 'sequel'
 require 'capybara'
 require 'capybara/dsl'
 require 'rspec'
 
+# DB initialization
+Sequel.extension :migration
+Sequel.sqlite("db/#{ENV['DB_NAME']}") do |db|
+  Sequel::Migrator.apply(db, "db/migrations")
+end
 
+# attach app to Capybara
 Capybara.app = App
 
 include Capybara::DSL
diff --git a/views/layout.erb b/views/layout.erb
index e1b8a4b..a15f97c 100644
--- a/views/layout.erb
+++ b/views/layout.erb
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   <body style="background: #FEFEFE; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #555555;">
     <main style="max-width: 30rem; min-width: 18rem; border: 5px solid #999999; border-radius: 20px; margin: auto; padding: 1rem; margin-top: 5rem; text-align: center; min-height: 175px;">
       <h1>URL Shortener</h1>
+      <h4 id="message"><%== @message %></h4>
       <%== yield %>
     </main>
   </body>