diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/filters/VitroRequestPrep.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/filters/VitroRequestPrep.java
index 3066dacc6..f5767dcd3 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/filters/VitroRequestPrep.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/filters/VitroRequestPrep.java
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ public class VitroRequestPrep implements Filter {
                 	return;
                 }
                 vreq.setPortal(portal);
-                portalFlag = new PortalFlag((HttpServletRequest)request,_appbean, portal);
+                portalFlag = new PortalFlag((HttpServletRequest)request,_appbean, portal, wdf);
                 vreq.setPortalFlag(portalFlag);
             }
         }catch(FlagException ex){
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/flags/PortalFlag.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/flags/PortalFlag.java
index 1ec31b186..48f6aae88 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/flags/PortalFlag.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/flags/PortalFlag.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.ApplicationBean;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.Portal;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.dao.WebappDaoFactory;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.FlagMathUtils;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.flags.RequestToPortalFlag;
 
@@ -118,10 +119,11 @@ public class PortalFlag   {
      * Use this to make a new PortalFlag from the http request and the ServletContext.
      *
      * @param req
+     * @param wdf TODO
      */
-    public PortalFlag(HttpServletRequest req,ApplicationBean appBean, Portal portalBean)
+    public PortalFlag(HttpServletRequest req,ApplicationBean appBean, Portal portalBean, WebappDaoFactory wdf)
         throws FlagException {
-        RequestToPortalFlag.preparePortalStateForFiltering(this, req,appBean,portalBean);
+        RequestToPortalFlag.preparePortalStateForFiltering(this, req,appBean,portalBean,wdf);
     }
 
     /******************* methods *************************/
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/flags/RequestToPortalFlag.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/flags/RequestToPortalFlag.java
index afce950da..79118c9a9 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/flags/RequestToPortalFlag.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/flags/RequestToPortalFlag.java
@@ -2,21 +2,20 @@
 
 package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.flags;
 
-import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.beans.LoginFormBean;
-import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.flags.PortalFlag;
-import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.flags.FlagException;
-import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.flags.AuthFlag;
-import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.ApplicationBean;
-import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.Portal;
-import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.VitroRequest;
-import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.FlagMathUtils;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpSession;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Set;
-import java.util.HashSet;
+
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.beans.LoginFormBean;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.ApplicationBean;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.Portal;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.VitroRequest;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.dao.WebappDaoFactory;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.FlagMathUtils;
 
 /**
  * Created by IntelliJ IDEA.
@@ -145,7 +144,7 @@ public class RequestToPortalFlag {
      */
 
     public static void preparePortalStateForFiltering(PortalFlag portalFlag, HttpServletRequest req,
-        ApplicationBean appBean, Portal portalBean) throws FlagException {
+        ApplicationBean appBean, Portal portalBean, WebappDaoFactory wdf) throws FlagException {
     	
     	VitroRequest request = new VitroRequest(req);
     	
@@ -163,7 +162,8 @@ public class RequestToPortalFlag {
         portalFlag.flag3Active=appBean.isFlag3Active() ;
 
         if(  !portalBean.isFlag1Filtering() 
-            || "nofiltering".equals(req.getParameter("flag1")) ) {
+            || "nofiltering".equals(req.getParameter("flag1")) 
+            || wdf.getApplicationDao().isFlag1Active() ) {
             portalFlag.flag1Active=false;
             portalFlag.flag2Active=false;
             portalFlag.flag3Active=false;
diff --git a/webapp/web/templates/browse/browseGroup.jsp b/webapp/web/templates/browse/browseGroup.jsp
index a248c642b..cd3c24c29 100644
--- a/webapp/web/templates/browse/browseGroup.jsp
+++ b/webapp/web/templates/browse/browseGroup.jsp
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
 <%@ page import="java.util.Iterator" %>
 <%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jstl/core" prefix="c" %><%/* this odd thing points to something in web.xml */ %>
 <%@ page errorPage="/error.jsp"%>
-<jsp:useBean id="loginHandler" class="edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.beans.LoginFormBean" scope="session" />
+
+<%@page import="com.hp.hpl.jena.vocabulary.OWL"%><jsp:useBean id="loginHandler" class="edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.beans.LoginFormBean" scope="session" />
 <%  /***********************************************
          Display Browse Results (the "Index" menu command)
 
@@ -66,12 +67,15 @@ if( request.getAttribute("classgroupsIsEmpty") != null && ((Boolean)request.getA
                     while (classIter.hasNext()) {
                         classObj = classIter.next();
                         if (classObj!=null && classObj instanceof VClass) {
-                            VClass theClass=(VClass)classObj;
-                            String linkStr=response.encodeURL("entitylist");
-                if (theClass.getURI() == null)
-                    theClass.setURI("null://null");
-                            String queryStr="?vclassId="+URLEncoder.encode(theClass.getURI(),"UTF-8")+additionalParameterStr; %>
-                            <li><a href="<%=linkStr+queryStr%>"><%=theClass.getName()%></a> (<%=theClass.getEntityCount()%>)</li>
+                            VClass theClass=(VClass)classObj;
+                            //filter out owl:Thing
+                            if( theClass.getName() == null || OWL.Thing.getURI().equals(theClass.getURI()))
+                            	continue;
+                           	String linkStr=response.encodeURL("entitylist");
+               				if (theClass.getURI() == null)
+                   				theClass.setURI("null://null");
+                           	String queryStr="?vclassId="+URLEncoder.encode(theClass.getURI(),"UTF-8")+additionalParameterStr; %>
+                           	<li><a href="<%=linkStr+queryStr%>"><%=theClass.getName()%></a> (<%=theClass.getEntityCount()%>)</li>
     <%                  }
                     }%>
                     </ul>