diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index 570cb8b8..c380716f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
   end
   
   def find_parent_item
-    @parent_item  = Item.find_by_name(params[:parent_name])
+    @parent_item  = Item.find_by_name(params[:parent_name] || 'root')
     unless @parent_item
       @parent_item = Page.create( :name => "root", :title => "root", :layout_name => "root" )
     end
diff --git a/app/models/item.rb b/app/models/item.rb
index 11a7f5dc..db643770 100644
--- a/app/models/item.rb
+++ b/app/models/item.rb
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ class Item
   
   before_validation :setup_default_value
   
-  attr_writer :parent_name
+  attr_accessor :parent_name
   def parent_name
-    self.parent.name
+    @parent_name || self.parent.name
   end
   
   def self.find_by_name(item_name)
diff --git a/app/models/layout.rb b/app/models/layout.rb
index 3b4f15b7..71d82c2f 100644
--- a/app/models/layout.rb
+++ b/app/models/layout.rb
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ class Layout
    
    many :children, :class_name => "Item", :foreign_key => "layout_id", :dependent => :nullify
    
-   validates_format_of :name, :with => /^[a-zA-Z-_]+$/
+   validates_format_of :name, :with => /^[0-9a-zA-Z\-_]+$/
    validates_uniqueness_of :name
    
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/models/snippet.rb b/app/models/snippet.rb
index a1b4b669..37a2dfa9 100644
--- a/app/models/snippet.rb
+++ b/app/models/snippet.rb
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@ class Snippet
    before_validation :setup_default_value
    validates_uniqueness_of :name, :scope => :parent_id
    
-   belongs_to :parent, :class_name => "Snippet", :foreign_key => :parent_id
+   belongs_to :parent, :class_name => "Item", :foreign_key => :parent_id
      
-   attr_writer :parent_name
+   attr_accessor :parent_name
    def parent_name
-     self.parent.name
+     @parent_name || self.parent.name
    end
         
    protected
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class Snippet
    end
    
    def setup_default_value
-     self.parent_id = Item.find_by_name( self.parent_name ).id
+     self.parent_id = Item.find_by_name( self.parent_name || 'root' ).id
      
      full_node = self.ancestors.map{ |a| a.name }.push( self.name )
      full_node.shift if full_node.size >= 2