diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Orchard.Core.csproj b/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Orchard.Core.csproj
index 34b23e071..9302a628a 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Orchard.Core.csproj
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Orchard.Core.csproj
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@
     <Content Include="Common\Views\EditorTemplates\Parts\Common.Owner.ascx" />
     <Content Include="Themes\Styles\site.css" />
     <Content Include="Themes\Views\Admin\Install.aspx" />
+    <Content Include="Themes\Views\header.ascx" />
     <Content Include="Themes\Views\document.aspx" />
     <Content Include="Themes\Views\EditorTemplates\Parts\Themes.SiteSettings.ascx" />
     <Content Include="Themes\Views\layout.ascx" />
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Styles/site.css b/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Styles/site.css
index 46541276c..b2005db9a 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Styles/site.css
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Styles/site.css
@@ -332,6 +332,52 @@ div#title
     font-size:95%;
 }
 
+
+/* Confirmations, Messages and the like
+----------------------------------------------------------*/
+.message, .validation-summary-errors {
+	margin:10px 0 4px 0;
+    padding:4px;
+}
+span.message {
+    display:block;
+	margin:4px 0 4px 4px;
+}
+.message a {
+    font-weight:bold;
+}
+
+.confirmation.message {
+	background:#e6f1c9; /* green */
+	border:1px solid #cfe493;
+}
+.warning.message {
+	background:#fdf5bc; /* yellow */
+	border:1px solid #ffea9b;
+}
+/* todo: (heskew) what else (other inputs) needs this? */
+.critical.message, .validation-summary-errors,
+.input-validation-error.text-box, .input-validation-error.text {
+	border:1px solid #990808;
+}
+.critical.message, .validation-summary-errors {
+	background:#e68585; /* red */
+	color:#fff;
+}
+.info.message {
+    background:#fff; /* orange :P */
+	border:1px dashed #D2D6C6;
+}
+.debug.message {
+    background:#eee;
+	border:1px dashed #D2D6C6;
+	color:#7a7a7a;
+	margin:20px 0 14px 0;
+}
+.debug.message:before {
+    content:"DEBUG » ";
+}
+
 /* Icon buttons
 ----------------------------------------------------------*/
 a.ibutton, a.ibutton:link, a.ibutton:visited {
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Views/header.ascx b/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Views/header.ascx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0c30de4ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Views/header.ascx
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl" %>
+<div id="title"><%=Html.TitleForPage(Html.SiteName()) %></div>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Views/layout.ascx b/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Views/layout.ascx
index 29d3a202c..c1a4241b9 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Views/layout.ascx
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Themes/Views/layout.ascx
@@ -1,17 +1,19 @@
 <%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<BaseViewModel>" %>
 <%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.ViewModels"%><%
-Html.RegisterStyle("site.css"); %>
+Html.RegisterStyle("site.css");
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("header", "header", Model);
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("header:after", "user", Model);
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("menu", "menu", Model);
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("content:before", "messages", Model.Messages);
+%>
 <div class="page">
-    <div id="header">
-        <div id="title"><%=Html.TitleForPage(Html.SiteName()) %></div><%
-        Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("header", "user", Model);
+    <div id="header"><%
         Html.Zone("header");
-        Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("menu", "menu", Model);
         Html.Zone("menu"); %>
     </div>
     <div id="main"><%
-        Html.ZoneBody("content");
-%>        <div id="footer"><%
+        Html.ZoneBody("content"); %>
+        <div id="footer"><%
             Html.Zone("footer");
         %></div>
     </div>
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Orchard.Web.csproj b/src/Orchard.Web/Orchard.Web.csproj
index 5c5dc5764..89e393766 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Orchard.Web.csproj
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Orchard.Web.csproj
@@ -172,7 +172,6 @@
     <Content Include="Themes\TheAdmin\Theme.gif" />
     <Content Include="Themes\TheAdmin\Theme.txt" />
     <Content Include="Themes\TheAdmin\Views\layout.ascx" />
-    <Content Include="Themes\TheAdmin\Views\Shared\document.aspx" />
     <Content Include="Views\Templates\ThreeColumns.aspx" />
     <Content Include="Views\Templates\TwoColumns.aspx" />
   </ItemGroup>
@@ -192,6 +191,9 @@
     <Content Include="Themes\Green\Views\footer.ascx" />
     <Content Include="Themes\Green\Views\layout.ascx" />
     <Content Include="Themes\Green\Views\menu.ascx" />
+    <Content Include="Themes\TheAdmin\Views\menu.ascx" />
+    <Content Include="Themes\TheAdmin\Views\user.ascx" />
+    <Content Include="Themes\TheAdmin\Views\header.ascx" />
     <Content Include="Themes\Web.config" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/Orange/Styles/site.css b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/Orange/Styles/site.css
index 3a99e5c82..79d501168 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/Orange/Styles/site.css
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/Orange/Styles/site.css
@@ -332,6 +332,52 @@ div#title
     font-size:95%;
 }
 
+
+/* Confirmations, Messages and the like
+----------------------------------------------------------*/
+.message, .validation-summary-errors {
+	margin:10px 0 4px 0;
+    padding:4px;
+}
+span.message {
+    display:block;
+	margin:4px 0 4px 4px;
+}
+.message a {
+    font-weight:bold;
+}
+
+.confirmation.message {
+	background:#e6f1c9; /* green */
+	border:1px solid #cfe493;
+}
+.warning.message {
+	background:#fdf5bc; /* yellow */
+	border:1px solid #ffea9b;
+}
+/* todo: (heskew) what else (other inputs) needs this? */
+.critical.message, .validation-summary-errors,
+.input-validation-error.text-box, .input-validation-error.text {
+	border:1px solid #990808;
+}
+.critical.message, .validation-summary-errors {
+	background:#e68585; /* red */
+	color:#fff;
+}
+.info.message {
+    background:#fff; /* orange :P */
+	border:1px dashed #D2D6C6;
+}
+.debug.message {
+    background:#eee;
+	border:1px dashed #D2D6C6;
+	color:#7a7a7a;
+	margin:20px 0 14px 0;
+}
+.debug.message:before {
+    content:"DEBUG » ";
+}
+
 /* Icon buttons
 ----------------------------------------------------------*/
 a.ibutton, a.ibutton:link, a.ibutton:visited {
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/Orange/Views/layout.ascx b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/Orange/Views/layout.ascx
index 546fc177e..c1a4241b9 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/Orange/Views/layout.ascx
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/Orange/Views/layout.ascx
@@ -1,18 +1,19 @@
 <%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<BaseViewModel>" %>
 <%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.ViewModels"%><%
-Html.RegisterStyle("site.css"); %>
+Html.RegisterStyle("site.css");
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("header", "header", Model);
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("header:after", "user", Model);
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("menu", "menu", Model);
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("content:before", "messages", Model.Messages);
+%>
 <div class="page">
-    <div id="header">
-        <div id="title"><%=Html.TitleForPage(Html.SiteName()) %></div><%
-        Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("header", "user", Model);
+    <div id="header"><%
         Html.Zone("header");
-        Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("menu", "menu", Model);
         Html.Zone("menu"); %>
     </div>
     <div id="main"><%
-        Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("content:-1", "messages", Model.Messages);
-        Html.ZoneBody("content");
-%>        <div id="footer"><%
+        Html.ZoneBody("content"); %>
+        <div id="footer"><%
             Html.Zone("footer");
         %></div>
     </div>
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/Shared/document.aspx b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/Shared/document.aspx
deleted file mode 100644
index 425a65663..000000000
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/Shared/document.aspx
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-<%@ Page Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<BaseViewModel>" %>
-<%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.ViewModels"%>
-<%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.Html"
-%><!DOCTYPE html>
-<html>
-<head>
-    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
-    <title><%=Html.Title() %></title><%
-     Html.Zone("head", ":metas :styles :scripts"); %>
-</head>
-<body><%
-    Html.ZoneBody("body"); %>
-</body>
-</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/header.ascx b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/header.ascx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..166d48c2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/header.ascx
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<AdminViewModel>" %>
+<%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.ViewModels"%>
+<h1><%=Html.ActionLink("Project Orchard", "Index", new { Area = "", Controller = "Home" })%></h1>
+<div id="site"><%=Html.ActionLink("Your Site", "Index", new { Area = "", Controller = "Home" })%></div>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/layout.ascx b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/layout.ascx
index 9d5b5125e..a5d48df02 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/layout.ascx
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/layout.ascx
@@ -1,41 +1,16 @@
 <%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<AdminViewModel>" %>
 <%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.ViewModels"%>
-<%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.Html"%>
-<%
-Html.RegisterStyle("site.css"); %>
-<div id="header" role="banner">
-    <h1><%=Html.ActionLink("Project Orchard", "Index", new { Area = "", Controller = "Home" })%></h1>
-    <div id="site"><%=Html.ActionLink("Your Site", "Index", new { Area = "", Controller = "Home" })%></div>
-    <% if (Model.CurrentUser != null) { //todo: (heskew) localize the string format "User: <username> | a:logoff"
-        %><div id="login"><%="User"%>: <%=Html.Encode(Model.CurrentUser.UserName)%> | <%=Html.ActionLink("Logout", "LogOff", new { Area = "", Controller = "Account" }) %></div><%
-        } %>
-</div>
+<%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.Html"%><%
+Html.RegisterStyle("site.css");
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("header", "header", Model);
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("header:after", "user", Model); // todo: (heskew) should be a user display or widget
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("menu", "menu", Model);
+Model.Zones.AddRenderPartial("content:before", "messages", Model.Messages);
+%>
+<div id="header" role="banner"><% Html.Zone("header"); %></div>
 <div id="content">
-    <div id="navshortcut"><a href="#navigation"><%="Skip to navigation" %></a></div>
-    <div id="main" role="main">
-        <div class="wrapper">
-            <% Html.RenderPartial("Messages", Model.Messages); %>
-        </div><%
-        Html.ZoneBody("content");
-%>    </div>
-    <ul id="navigation" role="navigation">
-        <li class="first"><h4><span>Dashboard</span></h4></li>
-        <%if (Model.AdminMenu != null) {
-              foreach (var menuSection in Model.AdminMenu) {
-                  // todo: (heskew) need some help(er)
-                  var firstSectionItem = menuSection.Items.FirstOrDefault();
-                  var sectionHeaderMarkup = firstSectionItem != null
-                      ? Html.ActionLink(menuSection.Text, (string)firstSectionItem.RouteValues["action"], firstSectionItem.RouteValues).ToHtmlString()
-                      : string.Format("<span>{0}</span>", Html.Encode(menuSection.Text));
-                  %>
-              <li><h4><%=sectionHeaderMarkup%></h4><ul><%foreach (var menuItem in menuSection.Items) { %>
-              <li><%=Html.ActionLink(menuItem.Text, (string)menuItem.RouteValues["action"], menuItem.RouteValues)%></li>
-              <%} %></ul></li>
-        <%
-            }
-          }%>
-    </ul>
+    <div id="navshortcut"><a href="#menu"><%="Skip to navigation" %></a></div>
+    <div id="main" role="main"><% Html.ZoneBody("content"); %></div>
+    <div id="menu"><% Html.Zone("menu"); %></div>
 </div>
-<div id="footer" role="contentinfo"><%
-    Html.Zone("footer");
-%></div>
\ No newline at end of file
+<div id="footer" role="contentinfo"><% Html.Zone("footer"); %></div>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/menu.ascx b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/menu.ascx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..835c34b99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/menu.ascx
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<AdminViewModel>" %>
+<%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.ViewModels"%>
+<ul id="navigation" role="navigation">
+    <li class="first"><h4><span>Dashboard</span></h4></li>
+    <%if (Model.AdminMenu != null) {
+          foreach (var menuSection in Model.AdminMenu) {
+              // todo: (heskew) need some help(er)
+              var firstSectionItem = menuSection.Items.FirstOrDefault();
+              var sectionHeaderMarkup = firstSectionItem != null
+                  ? Html.ActionLink(menuSection.Text, (string)firstSectionItem.RouteValues["action"], firstSectionItem.RouteValues).ToHtmlString()
+                  : string.Format("<span>{0}</span>", Html.Encode(menuSection.Text));
+              %>
+          <li><h4><%=sectionHeaderMarkup%></h4><ul><%foreach (var menuItem in menuSection.Items) { %>
+          <li><%=Html.ActionLink(menuItem.Text, (string)menuItem.RouteValues["action"], menuItem.RouteValues)%></li>
+          <%} %></ul></li>
+    <%
+        }
+      }%>
+</ul>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/user.ascx b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/user.ascx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d49d45be1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Themes/TheAdmin/Views/user.ascx
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl<AdminViewModel>" %>
+<%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.ViewModels"%>
+<% if (Model.CurrentUser != null) { //todo: (heskew) localize the string format "User: <username> | a:logoff"
+    %><div id="login"><%="User"%>: <%=Html.Encode(Model.CurrentUser.UserName)%> | <%=Html.ActionLink("Logout", "LogOff", new { Area = "", Controller = "Account" }) %></div><%
+   } %>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Views/Account/LogOn.ascx b/src/Orchard.Web/Views/Account/LogOn.ascx
index 3a9cfe784..de2ccb868 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Views/Account/LogOn.ascx
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Views/Account/LogOn.ascx
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 <%@ Import Namespace="Orchard.Mvc.ViewModels"%>
 <h2><%=Html.TitleForPage("Log On") %></h2>
 <p>Please enter your username and password. <%= Html.ActionLink("Register", "Register") %> if you don't have an account.</p>
-<% if (Model != null && Model.Messages != null) Html.RenderPartial("Messages", Model.Messages); %>
 <%= Html.ValidationSummary("Login was unsuccessful. Please correct the errors and try again.") %>
 
 <% using (Html.BeginFormAntiForgeryPost()) { %>