diff --git a/public/src/app.js b/public/src/app.js
index 64ebe9b84c..7cf640da72 100644
--- a/public/src/app.js
+++ b/public/src/app.js
@@ -2,15 +2,17 @@
 /*global io, templates, translator, ajaxify, utils, bootbox, RELATIVE_PATH, config*/
 
 var	socket,
-	app = {
-		'username': null,
-		'uid': null,
-		'isFocused': true,
-		'isConnected': false,
-		'currentRoom': null,
-		'widgets': {},
-		'cacheBuster': null
-	};
+	app = app || {};
+
+app.isFocused = true;
+app.isConnected = false;
+app.currentRoom = null;
+app.widgets = {};
+app.cacheBuster = null;
+
+// TODO: deprecate in 0.7.0, use app.user
+app.username = null;
+app.uid = null;
 
 (function () {
 	var showWelcomeMessage = false;
@@ -35,8 +37,6 @@ var	socket,
 			app.uid = data.uid;
 			app.isAdmin = data.isAdmin;
 
-			app.user = data;
-
 			app.showLoginMessage();
 			app.replaceSelfLinks();
 			$(window).trigger('action:connected');
diff --git a/src/middleware/middleware.js b/src/middleware/middleware.js
index 25691d0e42..17e868a576 100644
--- a/src/middleware/middleware.js
+++ b/src/middleware/middleware.js
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ middleware.renderHeader = function(req, res, callback) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		templateValues.config = JSON.stringify(res.locals.config);
+		templateValues.configJSON = JSON.stringify(res.locals.config);
 
 		templateValues.metaTags = defaultMetaTags.concat(res.locals.metaTags || []).map(function(tag) {
 			if(!tag || typeof tag.content !== 'string') {
@@ -315,7 +315,14 @@ middleware.renderHeader = function(req, res, callback) {
 				if (uid) {
 					user.getUserFields(uid, ['username', 'userslug', 'picture', 'status', 'banned'], next);
 				} else {
-					next();
+					next(null, {
+						username: '[[global:guest]]',
+						userslug: '',
+						picture: user.createGravatarURLFromEmail(''),
+						status: 'offline',
+						banned: false,
+						uid: 0
+					});
 				}
 			}
 		}, function(err, results) {
@@ -328,10 +335,12 @@ middleware.renderHeader = function(req, res, callback) {
 				res.redirect('/');
 				return;
 			}
+			results.user.isAdmin = results.isAdmin || false;
 
 			templateValues.browserTitle = results.title;
-			templateValues.isAdmin = results.isAdmin || false;
+			templateValues.isAdmin = results.user.isAdmin;
 			templateValues.user = results.user;
+			templateValues.userJSON = JSON.stringify(results.user);
 			templateValues.customCSS = results.customCSS;
 			templateValues.customJS = results.customJS;
 			templateValues.maintenanceHeader = parseInt(meta.config.maintenanceMode, 10) === 1 && !results.isAdmin;