diff --git a/tracks/app/controllers/login_controller.rb b/tracks/app/controllers/login_controller.rb
index 3675cb02..2fc038f3 100644
--- a/tracks/app/controllers/login_controller.rb
+++ b/tracks/app/controllers/login_controller.rb
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ class LoginController < ApplicationController
         end
       when :get
         if User.no_users_yet?
-          redirect_to :action => 'signup'
+          redirect_to :controller => 'users', :action => 'new'
         end
     end
   end
diff --git a/tracks/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/tracks/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index 82f9693f..9ff49a2f 100644
--- a/tracks/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/tracks/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ class UsersController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   before_filter :admin_login_required, :only => [ :index, :destroy ]
+  skip_before_filter :login_required, :only => [ :new, :create ]
+  prepend_before_filter :login_optional, :only => [ :new, :create ]
   
   def index
     @page_title = "TRACKS::Manage Users"
@@ -19,13 +21,15 @@ class UsersController < ApplicationController
 
   def new
     if User.no_users_yet?
-      @page_title = "Sign up as the admin user"
+      @page_title = "TRACKS::Sign up as the admin user"
+      @heading = "Welcome to TRACKS. To get started, please create an admin account:"
       @user = get_new_user
     elsif @user && @user.is_admin?
-      @page_title = "Sign up a new user"
+      @page_title = "TRACKS::Sign up a new user"
+      @heading = "Sign up a new user:"
       @user = get_new_user
     else # all other situations (i.e. a non-admin is logged in, or no one is logged in, but we have some users)
-      @page_title = "No signups"
+      @page_title = "TRACKS::No signups"
       @admin_email = User.find_admin.preference.admin_email
       render :action => "nosignup", :layout => "login"
       return
diff --git a/tracks/app/views/users/new.rhtml b/tracks/app/views/users/new.rhtml
index d620f68e..fa0c30fd 100644
--- a/tracks/app/views/users/new.rhtml
+++ b/tracks/app/views/users/new.rhtml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
   <%= render_flash %>
 	
-  <h3><%= @page_title -%></h3>
+  <h3><%= @heading -%></h3>
 
   <table>
     <tr>
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     </tr>
     <tr>
       <td></td>
-      <td><input type="submit" value="Signup &#187;" class="primary" /></td>
+      <td><input type="submit" id="signup" value="Signup &#187;" class="primary" /></td>
     </tr>
   </table>
   
diff --git a/tracks/lib/login_system.rb b/tracks/lib/login_system.rb
index 1a423c5c..cd2edd52 100644
--- a/tracks/lib/login_system.rb
+++ b/tracks/lib/login_system.rb
@@ -66,6 +66,22 @@ module LoginSystem
     return false 
   end
   
+  def login_optional
+
+    if session['user_id'] and authorize?(get_current_user)
+      return true
+    end
+    
+    http_user, http_pass = get_basic_auth_data
+    if user = User.authenticate(http_user, http_pass)
+      session['user_id'] = user.id
+      get_current_user
+      return true
+    end
+
+    return true 
+  end
+  
   def get_current_user
     if @user.nil? && session['user_id']
       @user = User.find session['user_id'], :include => :preference
diff --git a/tracks/test/functional/login_controller_test.rb b/tracks/test/functional/login_controller_test.rb
index 4171fc84..273b2b72 100644
--- a/tracks/test/functional/login_controller_test.rb
+++ b/tracks/test/functional/login_controller_test.rb
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class LoginControllerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_login_with_no_users_redirects_to_signup
     User.delete_all
     get :login
-    assert_redirected_to :controller => 'login', :action => 'signup'
+    assert_redirected_to :controller => 'users', :action => 'new'
   end
   
   def test_logout
diff --git a/tracks/test/integration/create_user_api_test.rb b/tracks/test/integration/create_user_api_test.rb
index 333ba241..db58790d 100644
--- a/tracks/test/integration/create_user_api_test.rb
+++ b/tracks/test/integration/create_user_api_test.rb
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class CreateUserControllerTest < ActionController::IntegrationTest
   
   def test_fails_with_401_if_not_authorized_user
     authenticated_post_xml_to_user_create @@foobar_postdata, 'nobody', 'nohow'
-    assert_401_unauthorized
+    assert_401_unauthorized_admin
   end
   
  def test_fails_with_401_if_not_admin_user