diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index edb11c27..a06078ed 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 all:
 debug:
 clean:
-	rm -f *.md~ *.py~ *.json~ *.css~ Makefile~
+	rm -f *.txt~ *.md~ *.py~ *.json~ *.css~ Makefile~
 	rm -rf __pycache__
diff --git a/content.py b/content.py
index d7ade1fe..647f8181 100644
--- a/content.py
+++ b/content.py
@@ -17,9 +17,20 @@ def addMention(wordStr: str,httpPrefix: str,following: str,replaceMentions: {},r
     if len(wordStr)<2:
         return False
     possibleHandle=wordStr[1:]
-    if '@' not in possibleHandle:
-        return False
-    replaceFound=False
+    #if '@' not in possibleHandle:
+    #    # fall back to a best effort match against the following list
+    #    # if no domain was specified. eg. @nick
+    #    possibleNickname=possibleHandle
+    #    for follow in following:
+    #        if follow.startswith(possibleNickname+'@'):
+    #            replaceDomain=follow.replace('\n','').split('@')[1]
+    #            recipientActor=httpPrefix+"://"+replaceDomain+"/users/"+possibleNickname
+    #            if recipientActor not in recipients:
+    #                recipients.append(recipientActor)
+    #            replaceMentions[wordStr]="<span class=\"h-card\"><a href=\""+httpPrefix+"://"+replaceDomain+"/@"+possibleNickname+"\" class=\"u-url mention\">@<span>"+possibleNickname+"</span></a></span>"
+    #            replaceFound=True
+    #            return True
+    #    return False
     possibleNickname=possibleHandle.split('@')[0]
     possibleDomain=possibleHandle.split('@')[1]
     for follow in following:
@@ -28,20 +39,8 @@ def addMention(wordStr: str,httpPrefix: str,following: str,replaceMentions: {},r
             if recipientActor not in recipients:
                 recipients.append(recipientActor)
             replaceMentions[wordStr]="<span class=\"h-card\"><a href=\""+httpPrefix+"://"+possibleDomain+"/@"+possibleNickname+"\" class=\"u-url mention\">@<span>"+possibleNickname+"</span></a></span>"
-            replaceFound=True
-            break
-        if not replaceFound:
-            # fall back to a best effort match if an exact one is not found
-            for follow in following:
-                if follow.startswith(possibleNickname+'@'):
-                    replaceDomain=follow.replace('\n','').split('@')[1]
-                    recipientActor=httpPrefix+"://"+replaceDomain+"/users/"+possibleNickname
-                    if recipientActor not in recipients:
-                        recipients.append(recipientActor)
-                    replaceMentions[wordStr]="<span class=\"h-card\"><a href=\""+httpPrefix+"://"+replaceDomain+"/@"+possibleNickname+"\" class=\"u-url mention\">@<span>"+possibleNickname+"</span></a></span>"
-                    replaceFound=True
-                    break
-    return replaceFound
+            return True
+    return False
 
 def addHtmlTags(baseDir: str,httpPrefix: str, \
                 nickname: str,domain: str,content: str, \
diff --git a/httpsig.py b/httpsig.py
index ab0d7537..6e229816 100644
--- a/httpsig.py
+++ b/httpsig.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def signPostHeaders(privateKeyPem: str, nickname: str, domain: str, \
     else:
         bodyDigest = \
             base64.b64encode(SHA256.new(messageBodyJson.encode()).digest())
-        headers = {'host': domain, 'digest': f'SHA-256={bodyDigest}'}        
+        headers = {'host': domain, 'digest': f'SHA-256={bodyDigest}'}
     privateKeyPem = RSA.import_key(privateKeyPem)
     headers.update({
         '(request-target)': f'post {path}',
diff --git a/person.py b/person.py
index 13d2564a..d65d412e 100644
--- a/person.py
+++ b/person.py
@@ -258,6 +258,8 @@ def createPerson(baseDir: str,nickname: str,domain: str,port: int, \
         setRole(baseDir,nickname,domain,'instance','moderator')
         setRole(baseDir,nickname,domain,'instance','delegator')
 
+    if not os.path.isdir(baseDir+'/accounts'):
+        os.mkdir(baseDir+'/accounts')
     if not os.path.isdir(baseDir+'/accounts/'+nickname+'@'+domain):
         os.mkdir(baseDir+'/accounts/'+nickname+'@'+domain)
     
diff --git a/tests.py b/tests.py
index 6591c6d4..9a614b32 100644
--- a/tests.py
+++ b/tests.py
@@ -65,14 +65,22 @@ testServerEveRunning = False
 
 def testHttpsigBase(withDigest):
     print('testHttpsig(' + str(withDigest) + ')')
+
+    baseDir=os.getcwd()
+    path=baseDir+'/.testHttpsigBase'
+    if os.path.isdir(path):
+        shutil.rmtree(path)
+    os.mkdir(path)
+    os.chdir(path)
+
     nickname='socrates'
     domain='argumentative.social'
     httpPrefix='https'
     port=5576
-    baseDir=os.getcwd()
     password='SuperSecretPassword'
     privateKeyPem,publicKeyPem,person,wfEndpoint= \
-        createPerson(baseDir,nickname,domain,port,httpPrefix,False,password)
+        createPerson(path,nickname,domain,port,httpPrefix,False,password)
+    assert privateKeyPem
     messageBodyJsonStr = '{"a key": "a value", "another key": "A string"}'
 
     headersDomain=domain
@@ -86,9 +94,9 @@ def testHttpsigBase(withDigest):
             base64.b64encode(SHA256.new(messageBodyJsonStr.encode()).digest())
         headers = {'host': headersDomain, 'digest': f'SHA-256={bodyDigest}'}
 
-    path='/inbox'
+    boxpath='/inbox'
     signatureHeader = \
-        signPostHeaders(privateKeyPem, nickname, domain, port, path, httpPrefix, None)
+        signPostHeaders(privateKeyPem, nickname, domain, port, boxpath, httpPrefix, None)
     headers['signature'] = signatureHeader
     assert verifyPostHeaders(httpPrefix, publicKeyPem, headers, \
                              '/inbox' ,False, messageBodyJsonStr)
@@ -107,6 +115,8 @@ def testHttpsigBase(withDigest):
     headers['signature'] = signatureHeader
     assert verifyPostHeaders(httpPrefix, publicKeyPem, headers, \
                              '/inbox', True, messageBodyJsonStr) == False
+    os.chdir(baseDir)
+    shutil.rmtree(path)
 
 def testHttpsig():
     testHttpsigBase(False)