diff --git a/evennia/server/portal/portalsessionhandler.py b/evennia/server/portal/portalsessionhandler.py
index affffca56d..3f0daa72f1 100644
--- a/evennia/server/portal/portalsessionhandler.py
+++ b/evennia/server/portal/portalsessionhandler.py
@@ -369,13 +369,21 @@ class PortalSessionHandler(SessionHandler):
 
         # distribute outgoing data to the correct session methods.
         if session:
-            print ("portalsessionhandler.data_out:", session, kwargs)
             for cmdname, (cmdargs, cmdkwargs) in kwargs.iteritems():
-                try:
-                    getattr(session, "send_%s" % cmdname)(*cmdargs, **cmdkwargs)
-                except AttributeError:
-                    session.send_default(cmdname, *cmdargs, **cmdkwargs)
-                except Exception:
-                    log_trace()
+                funcname = "send_%s" % cmdname
+                if hasattr(session, funcname):
+                    # better to use hassattr here over try..except
+                    # - avoids hiding AttributeErrors in the call.
+                    try:
+                        getattr(session, funcname)(*cmdargs, **cmdkwargs)
+                    except Exception:
+                        log_trace()
+                else:
+                    try:
+                        # note that send_default always takes cmdname
+                        # as arg too.
+                        session.send_default(cmdname, *cmdargs, **cmdkwargs)
+                    except Exception:
+                        log_trace()
 
 PORTAL_SESSIONS = PortalSessionHandler()
diff --git a/evennia/server/portal/webclient.py b/evennia/server/portal/webclient.py
index c4b3cd5ccd..47a191f59c 100644
--- a/evennia/server/portal/webclient.py
+++ b/evennia/server/portal/webclient.py
@@ -143,7 +143,8 @@ class WebSocketClient(Protocol, Session):
 
         """
         if args:
-            text = args.pop(0)
+            args = list(args)
+            text = args[0]
             if text is None:
                 return
         options = kwargs.get("options", {})
@@ -156,16 +157,14 @@ class WebSocketClient(Protocol, Session):
             # screenreader mode cleans up output
             text = parse_ansi(text, strip_ansi=True, xterm256=False, mxp=False)
             text = _RE_SCREENREADER_REGEX.sub("", text)
-
         cmd = "prompt" if prompt else "text"
-
         if raw:
-            # no processing
-            data = json.dumps([cmd, (text,) + args, kwargs])
+            args[0] = text
         else:
-            # send normally, with html processing
-            data = json.dumps([cmd, (parse_html(text, strip_ansi=nomarkup),) +  args, kwargs])
-        self.sendLine(data)
+            args[0] = parse_html(text, strip_ansi=nomarkup)
+
+        # send to client on required form [cmdname, args, kwargs]
+        self.sendLine(json.dumps([cmd, args, kwargs]))
 
 
     def send_prompt(self, *args, **kwargs):
@@ -186,4 +185,5 @@ class WebSocketClient(Protocol, Session):
                 client instead.
 
         """
+        print "send_default", cmdname, args, kwargs
         session.sendLine(json.dumps([cmdname, args, kwargs]))
diff --git a/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/evennia.js b/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/evennia.js
index 20b7c4d1bd..f1a4fe1029 100644
--- a/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/evennia.js
+++ b/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/evennia.js
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
                 // make it safe to call multiple times.
                 return;
             }
-            this.initialized = true; 
+            this.initialized = true;
 
             opts = opts || {};
             this.emitter = opts.emitter || new DefaultEmitter();
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
             }
             this.connection.msg(data);
 
-            log('client msg sending: ' + cmdname + " " + args + " " + outargs + " " + outkwargs);
+            log('client msg sending: ', cmdname, args, outargs, outkwargs);
         },
 
         // Evennia -> Client.
@@ -126,7 +126,6 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         //   kwargs (obj): keyword-args to listener
         //
         emit: function (cmdname, args, kwargs) {
-            log('emit called with args: ' + cmdname + ',' + args + ',' + kwargs);
             if (kwargs.cmdid) {
                 cmdmap[kwargs.cmdid].apply(this, [args, kwargs]);
                 delete cmdmap[kwargs.cmdid];
@@ -153,8 +152,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         //   kwargs (obj): Argument to the listener.
         //
         var emit = function (cmdname, args, kwargs) {
-            log('emit', cmdname, args, kwargs);
-
+            log("DefaultEmitter.emit:", cmdname, args, kwargs);
             if (listeners[cmdname]) {
                 listeners[cmdname].apply(this, [args, kwargs]);
             };
@@ -168,6 +166,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         //     to listen to cmdname events.
         //
         var on = function (cmdname, listener) {
+            log("DefaultEmitter.on", cmdname, listener);
             if (typeof(listener === 'function')) {
                 listeners[cmdname] = listener;
             };
@@ -203,7 +202,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
         websocket.onerror = function (event) {
             log("Websocket error to ", wsurl, event);
             Evennia.emit('socket:error', [], event);
-            if (websocket.readyState === websocket.CLOSED) { 
+            if (websocket.readyState === websocket.CLOSED) {
                 log("Websocket failed. Falling back to Ajax...");
                 Evennia.connection = AjaxCometConnection();
             }
@@ -221,7 +220,7 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
             Evennia.emit(data[0], data[1], data[2]);
         };
         websocket.msg = function(cmdname, args, kwargs) {
-            // send 
+            // send
             websocket.send(JSON.stringify([cmdname, args, kwargs]));
         };
 
@@ -290,17 +289,17 @@ An "emitter" object must have a function
 // Args:
 //   msg (str): Message to log to console.
 //
-function log(msg) {
+function log() {
   if (Evennia.debug) {
-    console.log(msg);
+    console.log(arguments);
   }
 }
 
 // Called when page has finished loading (kicks the client into gear)
 $(document).ready(function() {
     setTimeout( function () {
-        Evennia.init() 
-        }, 
+        Evennia.init()
+        },
         500
     );
 });
diff --git a/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/webclient_gui.js b/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/webclient_gui.js
index d7b38fecb8..e86a55059c 100644
--- a/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/webclient_gui.js
+++ b/evennia/web/webclient/static/webclient/js/webclient_gui.js
@@ -7,12 +7,12 @@
  *
  * The job of this code is to create listeners to subscribe to evennia
  * messages, via Evennia.emitter.on(cmdname, listener) and to handle
- * input from the user and send it to 
+ * input from the user and send it to
  * Evennia.msg(cmdname, args, kwargs, [callback]).
  *
  */
 
-// 
+//
 // GUI Elements
 //
 
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ var inputlog = function() {
     history[0] = ''; // the very latest input is empty for new entry.
 
     function history_back() {
-        // step backwards in history stack 
+        // step backwards in history stack
         history_pos = Math.min(++history_pos, history.length - 1);
-        return history[history.length - 1 - history_pos]; 
+        return history[history.length - 1 - history_pos];
     }
     function history_fwd() {
         // step forwards in history stack
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ var inputlog = function() {
             history[history.length] = '';
         }
     }
-    return {back: history_back, 
+    return {back: history_back,
             fwd: history_fwd,
             add: history_add}
 };
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ $.fn.appendCaret = function() {
 };
 
 
-// GUI Event Handlers 
+// GUI Event Handlers
 
 $(document).keydown( function(event) {
     // catch all keyboard input, handle special chars
@@ -126,16 +126,17 @@ function set_window_size() {
 $(window).resize(set_window_size);
 
 
-// 
-// Listeners 
+//
+// Listeners
 //
 
 function doText(args, kwargs) {
     // append message to previous ones
+    log("doText:", args, kwargs);
     $("#messagewindow").append(
-            "<div class='msg out>" + args[0] + "</div>");
+            "<div class='msg out'>" + args[0] + "</div>");
     // scroll message window to bottom
-    $("#messagewindow").animate({scrollTop: $('#messageindow')[0].scrollHeight});
+    $("#messagewindow").animate({scrollTop: $('#messagewindow')[0].scrollHeight});
 }
 
 function doPrompt(args, kwargs) {
@@ -147,17 +148,18 @@ function doPrompt(args, kwargs) {
 
 $(document).ready(function() {
     // a small timeout to stop 'loading' indicator in Chrome
-    Evennia.init() 
+    Evennia.init()
     // register listeners
+    log("register listeners ...");
     Evennia.emitter.on("text", doText);
     Evennia.emitter.on("prompt", doPrompt);
-    set_window_size();    
-    
+    set_window_size();
+
     // set an idle timer to avoid proxy servers to time out on us (every 3 minutes)
     setInterval(function() {
         log('Idle tick.');
         Evennia.msg("text", ["idle"], {});
-    }, 
+    },
     60000*3
     );
 });
diff --git a/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/webclient.html b/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/webclient.html
index 449466303b..23fc272b07 100644
--- a/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/webclient.html
+++ b/evennia/web/webclient/templates/webclient/webclient.html
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@
     - connecting     - custom connect messages
     - jquery_import  - for changing to a local jquery version
     - guilib_import  - for using your own gui lib
---> 
+-->
 
 
 {% block client %}
 
 <div id="client">
-    <div id="messagewindow"> mainarea  </div>
-    <div id="inputform"> 
+    <div id="messagewindow"></div>
+    <div id="inputform">
         <textarea name="inputfield" type="text"> </textarea>
     </div>
 </div>