diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse.js
index 27b12c53ab..feb375d90c 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse.js
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ window.Discourse = Ember.Application.createWithMixins(Discourse.Ajax, {
     return u + url;
   },
 
+  getURLWithCDN: function(url) {
+    url = this.getURL(url);
+    if (Discourse.CDN) { url = Discourse.CDN + url; }
+    return url;
+  },
+
   Resolver: DiscourseResolver,
 
   _titleChanged: function() {
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/dialects/quote_dialect.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/dialects/quote_dialect.js
index b0b8f5bbb8..3c50598cfc 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/dialects/quote_dialect.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/dialects/quote_dialect.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 var esc = Handlebars.Utils.escapeExpression;
+
 Discourse.BBCode.register('quote', {noWrap: true, singlePara: true}, function(contents, bbParams, options) {
   var params = {'class': 'quote'},
       username = null;
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/user.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/user.js
index 7a5bd5c37c..fde7692255 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/user.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/user.js
@@ -72,10 +72,9 @@ Discourse.User = Discourse.Model.extend({
     @type {String}
   **/
   profileBackground: function() {
-    var background = this.get('profile_background');
-    if(Em.isEmpty(background) || !Discourse.SiteSettings.allow_profile_backgrounds) { return; }
-
-    return 'background-image: url(' + background + ')';
+    var url = this.get('profile_background');
+    if (Em.isEmpty(url) || !Discourse.SiteSettings.allow_profile_backgrounds) { return; }
+    return 'background-image: url(' + Discourse.getURLWithCDN(url) + ')';
   }.property('profile_background'),
 
   /**
@@ -442,6 +441,7 @@ Discourse.User.reopenClass(Discourse.Singleton, {
 
   avatarTemplate: function(username, uploadedAvatarId) {
     var url;
+
     if (uploadedAvatarId) {
       url = "/user_avatar/" +
             Discourse.BaseUrl +
@@ -456,11 +456,7 @@ Discourse.User.reopenClass(Discourse.Singleton, {
             Discourse.LetterAvatarVersion + ".png";
     }
 
-    url = Discourse.getURL(url);
-    if (Discourse.CDN) {
-      url = Discourse.CDN + url;
-    }
-    return url;
+    return Discourse.getURLWithCDN(url);
   },
 
   /**
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/user-card.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/user-card.js.es6
index 1239420297..66e62b88d5 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/user-card.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/user-card.js.es6
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ export default Discourse.View.extend(CleansUp, {
 
   addBackground: function() {
     var url = this.get('controller.user.card_background');
+
     if (!this.get('allowBackgrounds')) { return; }
 
     var $this = this.$();
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ export default Discourse.View.extend(CleansUp, {
     if (Ember.isEmpty(url)) {
       $this.css('background-image', '').addClass('no-bg');
     } else {
-      $this.css('background-image', "url(" + url + ")").removeClass('no-bg');
+      $this.css('background-image', "url(" + Discourse.getURLWithCDN(url) + ")").removeClass('no-bg');
     }
   }.observes('controller.user.card_background'),
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index b3158c509f..ff805687b4 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
   # If we are rendering HTML, preload the session data
   def preload_json
     # We don't preload JSON on xhr or JSON request
-    return if request.xhr?
+    return if request.xhr? || request.format.json?
 
     preload_anonymous_data
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb b/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
index 7cd44ce553..34a5a8c353 100644
--- a/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ require_dependency 'distributed_memoizer'
 class PostsController < ApplicationController
 
   # Need to be logged in for all actions here
-  before_filter :ensure_logged_in, except: [:show, :replies, :by_number, :short_link, :reply_history, :revisions, :latest_revision, :expand_embed, :markdown, :raw, :cooked]
+  before_filter :ensure_logged_in, except: [:show, :replies, :by_number, :short_link, :reply_history, :revisions, :latest_revision, :expand_embed, :markdown_id, :markdown_num, :cooked, :latest]
 
   skip_before_filter :check_xhr, only: [:markdown_id, :markdown_num, :short_link]
 
@@ -25,6 +25,33 @@ class PostsController < ApplicationController
     end
   end
 
+  def latest
+    params.permit(:before)
+    last_post_id = params[:before].to_i
+    last_post_id = Post.last.id if last_post_id <= 0
+
+    # last 50 post IDs only, to avoid counting deleted posts in security check
+    posts = Post.order(created_at: :desc)
+                .where('posts.id <= ?', last_post_id)
+                .where('posts.id > ?', last_post_id - 50)
+                .includes(topic: :category)
+                .includes(:user)
+                .limit(50)
+    # Remove posts the user doesn't have permission to see
+    # This isn't leaking any information we weren't already through the post ID numbers
+    posts = posts.reject { |post| !guardian.can_see?(post) }
+
+    counts = PostAction.counts_for(posts, current_user)
+
+    render_json_dump(serialize_data(posts,
+                                    PostSerializer,
+                                    scope: guardian,
+                                    root: 'latest_posts',
+                                    add_raw: true,
+                                    all_post_actions: counts)
+    )
+  end
+
   def cooked
     post = find_post_from_params
     render json: {cooked: post.cooked}
diff --git a/app/models/concerns/has_custom_fields.rb b/app/models/concerns/has_custom_fields.rb
index 854dee20ef..7b68761902 100644
--- a/app/models/concerns/has_custom_fields.rb
+++ b/app/models/concerns/has_custom_fields.rb
@@ -78,17 +78,6 @@ module HasCustomFields
     !@custom_fields || @custom_fields_orig == @custom_fields
   end
 
-  protected
-
-  def refresh_custom_fields_from_db
-    target = Hash.new
-    _custom_fields.pluck(:name,:value).each do |key, value|
-      self.class.append_custom_field(target, key, value)
-    end
-    @custom_fields_orig = target
-    @custom_fields = @custom_fields_orig.dup
-  end
-
   def save_custom_fields
     if !custom_fields_clean?
       dup = @custom_fields.dup
@@ -134,4 +123,16 @@ module HasCustomFields
       refresh_custom_fields_from_db
     end
   end
+
+  protected
+
+  def refresh_custom_fields_from_db
+    target = Hash.new
+    _custom_fields.pluck(:name,:value).each do |key, value|
+      self.class.append_custom_field(target, key, value)
+    end
+    @custom_fields_orig = target
+    @custom_fields = @custom_fields_orig.dup
+  end
+
 end
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index b90c5544d2..4a8cd72b09 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   delegate :last_sent_email_address, :to => :email_logs
 
-  before_validation :downcase_email
+  before_validation :strip_downcase_email
 
   validates_presence_of :username
   validate :username_validator
@@ -764,8 +764,11 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
     self.username_lower = username.downcase
   end
 
-  def downcase_email
-    self.email = self.email.downcase if self.email
+  def strip_downcase_email
+    if self.email
+      self.email = self.email.strip
+      self.email = self.email.downcase
+    end
   end
 
   def username_validator
diff --git a/app/serializers/post_serializer.rb b/app/serializers/post_serializer.rb
index 2a1b31d88b..3496159a52 100644
--- a/app/serializers/post_serializer.rb
+++ b/app/serializers/post_serializer.rb
@@ -1,12 +1,17 @@
 class PostSerializer < BasicPostSerializer
 
   # To pass in additional information we might need
-  attr_accessor :topic_view,
+  INSTANCE_VARS = [:topic_view,
                 :parent_post,
                 :add_raw,
                 :single_post_link_counts,
                 :draft_sequence,
-                :post_actions
+                :post_actions,
+                :all_post_actions]
+
+  INSTANCE_VARS.each do |v|
+    self.send(:attr_accessor, v)
+  end
 
   attributes :post_number,
              :post_type,
@@ -54,6 +59,15 @@ class PostSerializer < BasicPostSerializer
              :static_doc,
              :via_email
 
+  def initialize(object, opts)
+    super(object, opts)
+    PostSerializer::INSTANCE_VARS.each do |name|
+      if opts.include? name
+        self.send("#{name}=", opts[name])
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   def topic_slug
     object.try(:topic).try(:slug)
   end
@@ -155,6 +169,13 @@ class PostSerializer < BasicPostSerializer
     scope.is_staff? && object.deleted_by.present?
   end
 
+  # Helper function to decide between #post_actions and @all_post_actions
+  def actions
+    return post_actions if post_actions.present?
+    return all_post_actions[object.id] if all_post_actions.present?
+    nil
+  end
+
   # Summary of the actions taken on this post
   def actions_summary
     result = []
@@ -168,7 +189,7 @@ class PostSerializer < BasicPostSerializer
         id: id,
         count: count,
         hidden: (sym == :vote),
-        can_act: scope.post_can_act?(object, sym, taken_actions: post_actions)
+        can_act: scope.post_can_act?(object, sym, taken_actions: actions)
       }
 
       if sym == :notify_user && scope.current_user.present? && scope.current_user == object.user
@@ -183,9 +204,9 @@ class PostSerializer < BasicPostSerializer
                                            active_flags[id].count > 0
       end
 
-      if post_actions.present? && post_actions.has_key?(id)
+      if actions.present? && actions.has_key?(id)
         action_summary[:acted] = true
-        action_summary[:can_undo] = scope.can_delete?(post_actions[id])
+        action_summary[:can_undo] = scope.can_delete?(actions[id])
       end
 
       # only show public data
@@ -226,7 +247,7 @@ class PostSerializer < BasicPostSerializer
   end
 
   def include_bookmarked?
-    post_actions.present? && post_actions.keys.include?(PostActionType.types[:bookmark])
+    actions.present? && actions.keys.include?(PostActionType.types[:bookmark])
   end
 
   def include_display_username?
diff --git a/config/locales/server.en.yml b/config/locales/server.en.yml
index b8470eb786..a75be34e8d 100644
--- a/config/locales/server.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/server.en.yml
@@ -1013,7 +1013,7 @@ en:
 
     disable_edit_notifications: "Disables edit notifications by the system user when 'download_remote_images_to_local' is active."
 
-    enable_names: "Allow showing user full names. Disable to hide full names."
+    enable_names: "Show the user's full name on their profile, user card, and emails. Disable to hide full name everywhere."
     display_name_on_posts: "Show a user's full name on their posts in addition to their @username."
     invites_per_page: "Default invites shown on the user page."
     short_progress_text_threshold: "After the number of posts in a topic goes above this number, the progress bar will only show the current post number. If you change the progress bar's width, you may need to change this value."
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index 3c288b57d0..8a41b8be10 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -269,6 +269,7 @@ Discourse::Application.routes.draw do
   get "uploads/:site/:sha" => "uploads#show", constraints: { site: /\w+/, sha: /[a-z0-9]{40}/}
   post "uploads" => "uploads#create"
 
+  get "posts" => "posts#latest"
   get "posts/by_number/:topic_id/:post_number" => "posts#by_number"
   get "posts/:id/reply-history" => "posts#reply_history"
   get "posts/:username/deleted" => "posts#deleted_posts", constraints: {username: USERNAME_ROUTE_FORMAT}
diff --git a/lib/pretty_text.rb b/lib/pretty_text.rb
index ee5aa57833..d095bd0c6a 100644
--- a/lib/pretty_text.rb
+++ b/lib/pretty_text.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 require 'v8'
 require 'nokogiri'
+require_dependency 'url_helper'
 require_dependency 'excerpt_parser'
 require_dependency 'post'
 
 module PrettyText
 
   class Helpers
+    include UrlHelper
 
     def t(key, opts)
       key = "js." + key
@@ -21,15 +23,15 @@ module PrettyText
     # function here are available to v8
     def avatar_template(username)
       return "" unless username
-
       user = User.find_by(username_lower: username.downcase)
-      user.avatar_template if user.present?
+      return "" unless user.present?
+      schemaless absolute user.avatar_template
     end
 
     def is_username_valid(username)
       return false unless username
       username = username.downcase
-      return User.exec_sql('SELECT 1 FROM users WHERE username_lower = ?', username).values.length == 1
+      User.exec_sql('SELECT 1 FROM users WHERE username_lower = ?', username).values.length == 1
     end
   end
 
@@ -128,7 +130,9 @@ module PrettyText
     context.eval("Discourse.SiteSettings = #{SiteSetting.client_settings_json};")
     context.eval("Discourse.CDN = '#{Rails.configuration.action_controller.asset_host}';")
     context.eval("Discourse.BaseUrl = 'http://#{RailsMultisite::ConnectionManagement.current_hostname}';")
-    context.eval("Discourse.getURL = function(url) {return '#{Discourse::base_uri}' + url};")
+
+    context.eval("Discourse.getURL = function(url) { return '#{Discourse::base_uri}' + url };")
+    context.eval("Discourse.getURLWithCDN = function(url) { url = Discourse.getURL(url); if (Discourse.CDN) { url = Discourse.CDN + url; } return url; };")
   end
 
   def self.markdown(text, opts=nil)
diff --git a/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb b/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
index 7dda67ae99..00bb220717 100644
--- a/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
@@ -12,20 +12,20 @@ describe PrettyText do
 
       before(:each) do
         eviltrout = User.new
-        eviltrout.stubs(:avatar_template).returns("http://test.localhost/uploads/default/avatars/42d/57c/46ce7ee487/{size}.png")
+        eviltrout.stubs(:avatar_template).returns("//test.localhost/uploads/default/avatars/42d/57c/46ce7ee487/{size}.png")
         User.expects(:find_by).with(username_lower: "eviltrout").returns(eviltrout)
       end
 
       it "produces a quote even with new lines in it" do
-        expect(PrettyText.cook("[quote=\"EvilTrout, post:123, topic:456, full:true\"]ddd\n[/quote]")).to match_html "<aside class=\"quote\" data-post=\"123\" data-topic=\"456\" data-full=\"true\"><div class=\"title\">\n<div class=\"quote-controls\"></div>\n<img width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"http://test.localhost/uploads/default/avatars/42d/57c/46ce7ee487/40.png\" class=\"avatar\">EvilTrout:</div>\n<blockquote><p>ddd</p></blockquote></aside>"
+        expect(PrettyText.cook("[quote=\"EvilTrout, post:123, topic:456, full:true\"]ddd\n[/quote]")).to match_html "<aside class=\"quote\" data-post=\"123\" data-topic=\"456\" data-full=\"true\"><div class=\"title\">\n<div class=\"quote-controls\"></div>\n<img width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"//test.localhost/uploads/default/avatars/42d/57c/46ce7ee487/40.png\" class=\"avatar\">EvilTrout:</div>\n<blockquote><p>ddd</p></blockquote></aside>"
       end
 
       it "should produce a quote" do
-        expect(PrettyText.cook("[quote=\"EvilTrout, post:123, topic:456, full:true\"]ddd[/quote]")).to match_html "<aside class=\"quote\" data-post=\"123\" data-topic=\"456\" data-full=\"true\"><div class=\"title\">\n<div class=\"quote-controls\"></div>\n<img width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"http://test.localhost/uploads/default/avatars/42d/57c/46ce7ee487/40.png\" class=\"avatar\">EvilTrout:</div>\n<blockquote><p>ddd</p></blockquote></aside>"
+        expect(PrettyText.cook("[quote=\"EvilTrout, post:123, topic:456, full:true\"]ddd[/quote]")).to match_html "<aside class=\"quote\" data-post=\"123\" data-topic=\"456\" data-full=\"true\"><div class=\"title\">\n<div class=\"quote-controls\"></div>\n<img width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"//test.localhost/uploads/default/avatars/42d/57c/46ce7ee487/40.png\" class=\"avatar\">EvilTrout:</div>\n<blockquote><p>ddd</p></blockquote></aside>"
       end
 
       it "trims spaces on quote params" do
-        expect(PrettyText.cook("[quote=\"EvilTrout, post:555, topic: 666\"]ddd[/quote]")).to match_html "<aside class=\"quote\" data-post=\"555\" data-topic=\"666\"><div class=\"title\">\n<div class=\"quote-controls\"></div>\n<img width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"http://test.localhost/uploads/default/avatars/42d/57c/46ce7ee487/40.png\" class=\"avatar\">EvilTrout:</div>\n<blockquote><p>ddd</p></blockquote></aside>"
+        expect(PrettyText.cook("[quote=\"EvilTrout, post:555, topic: 666\"]ddd[/quote]")).to match_html "<aside class=\"quote\" data-post=\"555\" data-topic=\"666\"><div class=\"title\">\n<div class=\"quote-controls\"></div>\n<img width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"//test.localhost/uploads/default/avatars/42d/57c/46ce7ee487/40.png\" class=\"avatar\">EvilTrout:</div>\n<blockquote><p>ddd</p></blockquote></aside>"
       end
 
     end
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index a13dc476f3..69bd8cb3a6 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -261,8 +261,14 @@ describe User do
 
     it "downcases email addresses" do
       user = Fabricate.build(:user, email: 'Fancy.Caps.4.U@gmail.com')
-      user.save
-      expect(user.reload.email).to eq('fancy.caps.4.u@gmail.com')
+      user.valid?
+      expect(user.email).to eq('fancy.caps.4.u@gmail.com')
+    end
+
+    it "strips whitespace from email addresses" do
+      user = Fabricate.build(:user, email: ' example@gmail.com ')
+      user.valid?
+      expect(user.email).to eq('example@gmail.com')
     end
   end