diff --git a/apps/dynamic_search/managers.py b/apps/dynamic_search/managers.py
index db0c99d111..0806712b45 100644
--- a/apps/dynamic_search/managers.py
+++ b/apps/dynamic_search/managers.py
@@ -15,21 +15,6 @@ from dynamic_search.conf.settings import RECENT_COUNT
 class RecentSearchManager(Manager):
     def add_query_for_user(self, search_view):#user, url, hits):
         query_dict = parse_qs(unquote_plus(smart_str(urlparse(search_view.request.get_full_path()).query)))
-        print 'query_dict', query_dict
-        print 'serial', dumps(query_dict)
-        
-        #parsed_query = urlparse.parse_qs(query)
-        #for key, value in parsed_query.items():
-        #    parsed_query[key] = ' '.join(value)#
-
-        #if 'q=' in query:
-        #    # Is a simple query
-        #    if not parsed_query.get('q'):
-        #        # Don't store empty simple searches
-        #        return
-        #    else:
-        #        # Cleanup query string and only store the q parameter
-        #        parsed_query = {'q': parsed_query['q']}
 
         if query_dict and not isinstance(search_view.request.user, AnonymousUser):
             # If the URL query has at least one variable with a value
@@ -40,6 +25,9 @@ class RecentSearchManager(Manager):
             for recent_to_delete in to_delete:
                 recent_to_delete.delete()
 
+    def get_for_user(self, user):
+        return [entry for entry in self.model.objects.filter(user=user) if entry.get_query()]
+
 
 class IndexableObjectManager(Manager):
     def get_indexables(self, datetime=None):
diff --git a/apps/dynamic_search/models.py b/apps/dynamic_search/models.py
index f0e29408fb..bcb1eb0fa9 100644
--- a/apps/dynamic_search/models.py
+++ b/apps/dynamic_search/models.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 from django.contrib.contenttypes.models import ContentType
 from django.contrib.contenttypes import generic
 from django.utils.simplejson import loads
+from django.utils.http import urlencode
 
 from .managers import RecentSearchManager, IndexableObjectManager
 from .api import registered_search_dict
@@ -30,28 +31,31 @@ class RecentSearch(models.Model):
     objects = RecentSearchManager()
 
     def __unicode__(self):
+        return self.form_string()
+
+    def form_string(self):
+        query = self.get_query()
         if self.is_advanced():
             return u'%s (%s)' % (self.get_query(), self.hits)
         else:
-            return u'%s (%s)' % (self.get_query().get('q'), self.hits)
+            return u'%s (%s)' % (u' '.join(self.get_query().get('q')), self.hits)
 
     def save(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.datetime_created = datetime.datetime.now()
         super(RecentSearch, self).save(*args, **kwargs)
 
-    #def readable_query(self):
-    #    return self.
-
-    #def url(self):
-    #    view = 'results' if self.is_advanced() else 'search'
-    #    return '%s?%s' % (reverse(view), self.query)
-
     def get_query(self):
-        return loads(self.query)
+        try:
+            return loads(self.query)
+        except ValueError:
+            return {}
 
     def is_advanced(self):
         return 'q' not in self.get_query()
 
+    def get_absolute_url(self):
+        return '?'.join([reverse('search'), urlencode(self.get_query(), doseq=True)])
+
     class Meta:
         ordering = ('-datetime_created',)
         verbose_name = _(u'recent search')
diff --git a/apps/dynamic_search/templatetags/search_tags.py b/apps/dynamic_search/templatetags/search_tags.py
index 555c7a7c87..9874169d26 100644
--- a/apps/dynamic_search/templatetags/search_tags.py
+++ b/apps/dynamic_search/templatetags/search_tags.py
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 from django.template import Library
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 
-from dynamic_search.forms import SearchForm
-from dynamic_search.models import RecentSearch
-from dynamic_search.conf.settings import RECENT_COUNT
+from ..forms import SearchForm
+from ..models import RecentSearch
+from ..conf.settings import RECENT_COUNT
 
 register = Library()
 
@@ -25,18 +27,21 @@ def search_form(context):
 
 @register.inclusion_tag('generic_subtemplate.html', takes_context=True)
 def recent_searches_template(context):
-    recent_searches = RecentSearch.objects.filter(user=context['user'])
-    context.update({
-        'request': context['request'],
-        'STATIC_URL': context['STATIC_URL'],
-        'side_bar': True,
-        'title': _(u'recent searches (maximum of %d)') % RECENT_COUNT,
-        'paragraphs': [
-            u'<a href="%(url)s"><span class="famfam active famfam-%(icon)s"></span>%(text)s</a>' % {
-                'text': rs,
-                'url': reverse('search'),
-                'icon': 'zoom_in' if rs.is_advanced() else 'zoom',
-            } for rs in recent_searches
-        ]
-    })
-    return context
+    try:
+        recent_searches = RecentSearch.objects.get_for_user(user=context['user'])
+        context.update({
+            'request': context['request'],
+            'STATIC_URL': context['STATIC_URL'],
+            'side_bar': True,
+            'title': _(u'recent searches (maximum of %d)') % RECENT_COUNT,
+            'paragraphs': [
+                u'<a href="%(url)s"><span class="famfam active famfam-%(icon)s"></span>%(text)s</a>' % {
+                    'text': recent_search,
+                    'url': recent_search.get_absolute_url(),
+                    'icon': 'zoom_in' if recent_search.is_advanced() else 'zoom',
+                } for recent_search in recent_searches
+            ]
+        })
+        return context
+    except Exception, e:
+        print 'EEEEEEEEEEEE', e