diff --git a/lib/htmloutputter.php b/lib/htmloutputter.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b3b2a5ae42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/htmloutputter.php
@@ -0,0 +1,353 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Laconica, the distributed open-source microblogging tool
+ *
+ * Low-level generator for HTML
+ *
+ * PHP version 5
+ *
+ * LICENCE: This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ * @category  Output
+ * @package   Laconica
+ * @author    Evan Prodromou <evan@controlyourself.ca>
+ * @author    Sarven Capadisli <csarven@controlyourself.ca>
+ * @copyright 2008 Control Yourself, Inc.
+ * @license   http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0
+ * @link      http://laconi.ca/
+ */
+
+if (!defined('LACONICA')) {
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+require_once INSTALLDIR.'/lib/xmloutputter.php';
+
+define('PAGE_TYPE_PREFS',
+       'text/html,application/xhtml+xml,'.
+       'application/xml;q=0.3,text/xml;q=0.2');
+
+/**
+ * Low-level generator for HTML
+ *
+ * Abstracts some of the code necessary for HTML generation. Especially
+ * has methods for generating HTML form elements. Note that these have
+ * been created kind of haphazardly, not with an eye to making a general
+ * HTML-creation class.
+ *
+ * @category Output
+ * @package  Laconica
+ * @author   Evan Prodromou <evan@controlyourself.ca>
+ * @author   Sarven Capadisli <csarven@controlyourself.ca>
+ * @license  http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0
+ * @link     http://laconi.ca/
+ * @see      Action
+ * @see      HTMLOutputter
+ */
+
+class HTMLOutputter extends XMLOutputter
+{
+    /**
+     * Constructor
+     *
+     * Just wraps the XMLOutputter constructor.
+     *
+     * @param string  $output URI to output to, default = stdout
+     * @param boolean $indent Whether to indent output, default true
+     */
+
+    function __construct($output='php://output', $indent=true)
+    {
+        parent::__construct($output, $indent);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Start an HTML document
+     *
+     * If $type isn't specified, will attempt to do content negotiation.
+     *
+     * Attempts to do content negotiation for language, also.
+     *
+     * @param string $type MIME type to use; default is to do negotation.
+     *
+     * @todo extract content negotiation code to an HTTP module or class.
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+
+    function startHTML($type=null)
+    {
+        if (!$type) {
+            $httpaccept = isset($_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT']) ?
+              $_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT'] : null;
+
+            // XXX: allow content negotiation for RDF, RSS, or XRDS
+
+            $cp = common_accept_to_prefs($httpaccept);
+            $sp = common_accept_to_prefs(PAGE_TYPE_PREFS);
+
+            $type = common_negotiate_type($cp, $sp);
+
+            if (!$type) {
+                common_user_error(_('This page is not available in a '.
+                                    'media type you accept'), 406);
+                exit(0);
+            }
+        }
+
+        header('Content-Type: '.$type);
+
+        $this->startXML('html',
+                        '-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN',
+                        'http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd');
+
+        // FIXME: correct language for interface
+
+        $language = common_language();
+
+        $this->elementStart('html', array('xmlns' => 'http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml',
+                                          'xml:lang' => $language,
+                                          'lang' => $language));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Output an HTML text input element
+     *
+     * Despite the name, it is specifically for outputting a
+     * text input element, not other <input> elements. It outputs
+     * a cluster of elements, including a <label> and an associated
+     * instructions span.
+     *
+     * @param string $id           element ID, must be unique on page
+     * @param string $label        text of label for the element
+     * @param string $value        value of the element, default null
+     * @param string $instructions instructions for valid input
+     *
+     * @todo add a $name parameter
+     * @todo add a $maxLength parameter
+     * @todo add a $size parameter
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+
+    function input($id, $label, $value=null, $instructions=null)
+    {
+        $this->elementStart('p');
+        $this->element('label', array('for' => $id), $label);
+        $attrs = array('name' => $id,
+                       'type' => 'text',
+                       'class' => 'input_text',
+                       'id' => $id);
+        if ($value) {
+            $attrs['value'] = htmlspecialchars($value);
+        }
+        $this->element('input', $attrs);
+        if ($instructions) {
+            $this->element('span', 'input_instructions', $instructions);
+        }
+        $this->elementEnd('p');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * output an HTML checkbox and associated elements
+     *
+     * Note that the value is default 'true' (the string), which can
+     * be used by Action::boolean()
+     *
+     * @param string $id           element ID, must be unique on page
+     * @param string $label        text of label for the element
+     * @param string $checked      if the box is checked, default false
+     * @param string $instructions instructions for valid input
+     * @param string $value        value of the checkbox, default 'true'
+     * @param string $disabled     show the checkbox disabled, default false
+     *
+     * @return void
+     *
+     * @todo add a $name parameter
+     */
+
+    function checkbox($id, $label, $checked=false, $instructions=null,
+                      $value='true', $disabled=false)
+    {
+        $this->elementStart('p');
+        $attrs = array('name' => $id,
+                       'type' => 'checkbox',
+                       'class' => 'checkbox',
+                       'id' => $id);
+        if ($value) {
+            $attrs['value'] = htmlspecialchars($value);
+        }
+        if ($checked) {
+            $attrs['checked'] = 'checked';
+        }
+        if ($disabled) {
+            $attrs['disabled'] = 'true';
+        }
+        $this->element('input', $attrs);
+        $this->text(' ');
+        $this->element('label', array('class' => 'checkbox_label',
+                                      'for' => $id),
+                       $label);
+        $this->text(' ');
+        if ($instructions) {
+            $this->element('span', 'input_instructions', $instructions);
+        }
+        $this->elementEnd('p');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * output an HTML combobox/select and associated elements
+     *
+     * $content is an array of key-value pairs for the dropdown, where
+     * the key is the option value attribute and the value is the option
+     * text. (Careful on the overuse of 'value' here.)
+     *
+     * @param string $id           element ID, must be unique on page
+     * @param string $label        text of label for the element
+     * @param array  $content      options array, value => text
+     * @param string $instructions instructions for valid input
+     * @param string $blank_select whether to have a blank entry, default false
+     * @param string $selected     selected value, default null
+     *
+     * @return void
+     *
+     * @todo add a $name parameter
+     */
+
+    function dropdown($id, $label, $content, $instructions=null,
+                      $blank_select=false, $selected=null)
+    {
+        $this->elementStart('p');
+        $this->element('label', array('for' => $id), $label);
+        $this->elementStart('select', array('id' => $id, 'name' => $id));
+        if ($blank_select) {
+            $this->element('option', array('value' => ''));
+        }
+        foreach ($content as $value => $option) {
+            if ($value == $selected) {
+                $this->element('option', array('value' => $value,
+                                               'selected' => $value),
+                               $option);
+            } else {
+                $this->element('option', array('value' => $value), $option);
+            }
+        }
+        $this->elementEnd('select');
+        if ($instructions) {
+            $this->element('span', 'input_instructions', $instructions);
+        }
+        $this->elementEnd('p');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * output an HTML hidden element
+     *
+     * $id is re-used as name
+     *
+     * @param string $id    element ID, must be unique on page
+     * @param string $value hidden element value, default null
+     *
+     * @return void
+     *
+     * @todo add a $name parameter
+     */
+
+    function hidden($id, $value)
+    {
+        $this->element('input', array('name' => $id,
+                                      'type' => 'hidden',
+                                      'id' => $id,
+                                      'value' => $value));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * output an HTML password input and associated elements
+     *
+     * @param string $id           element ID, must be unique on page
+     * @param string $label        text of label for the element
+     * @param string $instructions instructions for valid input
+     *
+     * @return void
+     *
+     * @todo add a $name parameter
+     */
+
+    function password($id, $label, $instructions=null)
+    {
+        $this->elementStart('p');
+        $this->element('label', array('for' => $id), $label);
+        $attrs = array('name' => $id,
+                       'type' => 'password',
+                       'class' => 'password',
+                       'id' => $id);
+        $this->element('input', $attrs);
+        if ($instructions) {
+            $this->element('span', 'input_instructions', $instructions);
+        }
+        $this->elementEnd('p');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * output an HTML submit input and associated elements
+     *
+     * @param string $id    element ID, must be unique on page
+     * @param string $label text of the button
+     * @param string $cls   class of the button, default 'submit'
+     *
+     * @return void
+     *
+     * @todo add a $name parameter
+     */
+
+    function submit($id, $label, $cls='submit')
+    {
+        $this->elementStart('p');
+        $this->element('input', array('type' => 'submit',
+                                      'id' => $id,
+                                      'name' => $id,
+                                      'class' => $cls,
+                                      'value' => $label));
+        $this->elementEnd('p');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * output an HTML textarea and associated elements
+     *
+     * @param string $id           element ID, must be unique on page
+     * @param string $label        text of label for the element
+     * @param string $content      content of the textarea, default none
+     * @param string $instructions instructions for valid input
+     *
+     * @return void
+     *
+     * @todo add a $name parameter
+     * @todo add a $cols parameter
+     * @todo add a $rows parameter
+     */
+
+    function textarea($id, $label, $content=null, $instructions=null)
+    {
+        $this->elementStart('p');
+        $this->element('label', array('for' => $id), $label);
+        $this->element('textarea', array('rows' => 3,
+                                         'cols' => 40,
+                                         'name' => $id,
+                                         'id' => $id),
+                       ($content) ? $content : '');
+        if ($instructions) {
+            $this->element('span', 'input_instructions', $instructions);
+        }
+        $this->elementEnd('p');
+    }
+}
diff --git a/lib/util.php b/lib/util.php
index dc26a705b2..9142576081 100644
--- a/lib/util.php
+++ b/lib/util.php
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
  * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
  */
 
-/* XXX: break up into separate modules (HTTP, HTML, user, files) */
+/* XXX: break up into separate modules (HTTP, user, files) */
 
 // Show a server error
 
@@ -108,8 +108,6 @@ function common_init_language()
     }
 }
 
-define('PAGE_TYPE_PREFS', 'text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.3,text/xml;q=0.2');
-
 function common_show_header($pagetitle, $callable=null, $data=null, $headercall=null)
 {
 
@@ -194,38 +192,6 @@ function common_show_header($pagetitle, $callable=null, $data=null, $headercall=
     common_element_start('div', array('id' => 'content'));
 }
 
-function common_start_html($type=null, $indent=true)
-{
-
-    if (!$type) {
-        $httpaccept = isset($_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT']) ? $_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT'] : null;
-
-        // XXX: allow content negotiation for RDF, RSS, or XRDS
-
-        $type = common_negotiate_type(common_accept_to_prefs($httpaccept),
-                                      common_accept_to_prefs(PAGE_TYPE_PREFS));
-
-        if (!$type) {
-            common_user_error(_('This page is not available in a media type you accept'), 406);
-            exit(0);
-        }
-    }
-
-    header('Content-Type: '.$type);
-
-    common_start_xml('html',
-                     '-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN',
-                     'http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd', $indent);
-
-    // FIXME: correct language for interface
-
-    $language = common_language();
-
-    common_element_start('html', array('xmlns' => 'http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml',
-                                       'xml:lang' => $language,
-                                       'lang' => $language));
-}
-
 function common_show_footer()
 {
     global $xw, $config;
@@ -321,121 +287,6 @@ function common_menu_item($url, $text, $title=null, $is_selected=false)
     common_element_end('li');
 }
 
-function common_input($id, $label, $value=null,$instructions=null)
-{
-    common_element_start('p');
-    common_element('label', array('for' => $id), $label);
-    $attrs = array('name' => $id,
-                   'type' => 'text',
-                   'class' => 'input_text',
-                   'id' => $id);
-    if ($value) {
-        $attrs['value'] = htmlspecialchars($value);
-    }
-    common_element('input', $attrs);
-    if ($instructions) {
-        common_element('span', 'input_instructions', $instructions);
-    }
-    common_element_end('p');
-}
-
-function common_checkbox($id, $label, $checked=false, $instructions=null, $value='true', $disabled=false)
-{
-    common_element_start('p');
-    $attrs = array('name' => $id,
-                   'type' => 'checkbox',
-                   'class' => 'checkbox',
-                   'id' => $id);
-    if ($value) {
-        $attrs['value'] = htmlspecialchars($value);
-    }
-    if ($checked) {
-        $attrs['checked'] = 'checked';
-    }
-    if ($disabled) {
-        $attrs['disabled'] = 'true';
-    }
-    common_element('input', $attrs);
-    common_text(' ');
-    common_element('label', array('class' => 'checkbox_label', 'for' => $id), $label);
-    common_text(' ');
-    if ($instructions) {
-        common_element('span', 'input_instructions', $instructions);
-    }
-    common_element_end('p');
-}
-
-function common_dropdown($id, $label, $content, $instructions=null, $blank_select=false, $selected=null)
-{
-    common_element_start('p');
-    common_element('label', array('for' => $id), $label);
-    common_element_start('select', array('id' => $id, 'name' => $id));
-    if ($blank_select) {
-        common_element('option', array('value' => ''));
-    }
-    foreach ($content as $value => $option) {
-        if ($value == $selected) {
-            common_element('option', array('value' => $value, 'selected' => $value), $option);
-        } else {
-            common_element('option', array('value' => $value), $option);
-        }
-    }
-    common_element_end('select');
-    if ($instructions) {
-        common_element('span', 'input_instructions', $instructions);
-    }
-    common_element_end('p');
-}
-function common_hidden($id, $value)
-{
-    common_element('input', array('name' => $id,
-                                  'type' => 'hidden',
-                                  'id' => $id,
-                                  'value' => $value));
-}
-
-function common_password($id, $label, $instructions=null)
-{
-    common_element_start('p');
-    common_element('label', array('for' => $id), $label);
-    $attrs = array('name' => $id,
-                   'type' => 'password',
-                   'class' => 'password',
-                   'id' => $id);
-    common_element('input', $attrs);
-    if ($instructions) {
-        common_element('span', 'input_instructions', $instructions);
-    }
-    common_element_end('p');
-}
-
-function common_submit($id, $label, $cls='submit')
-{
-    global $xw;
-    common_element_start('p');
-    common_element('input', array('type' => 'submit',
-                                  'id' => $id,
-                                  'name' => $id,
-                                  'class' => $cls,
-                                  'value' => $label));
-    common_element_end('p');
-}
-
-function common_textarea($id, $label, $content=null, $instructions=null)
-{
-    common_element_start('p');
-    common_element('label', array('for' => $id), $label);
-    common_element('textarea', array('rows' => 3,
-                                     'cols' => 40,
-                                     'name' => $id,
-                                     'id' => $id),
-                   ($content) ? $content : '');
-    if ($instructions) {
-        common_element('span', 'input_instructions', $instructions);
-    }
-    common_element_end('p');
-}
-
 function common_timezone()
 {
     if (common_logged_in()) {