diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b678f55..62ff3fd 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,6 +8,6 @@ build
 .DS_Store
 dist
 development.ini
-*.swp
+*.sw?
 *~
 node_modules
diff --git a/ckanext/harvest/tests/harvesters/__init__.py b/ckanext/harvest/tests/harvesters/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/ckanext/harvest/tests/harvesters/test_base.py b/ckanext/harvest/tests/harvesters/test_base.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e1da21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ckanext/harvest/tests/harvesters/test_base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+import re
+
+from nose.tools import assert_equal
+
+from ckanext.harvest.harvesters.base import HarvesterBase
+try:
+    from ckan.tests import helpers
+    from ckan.tests import factories
+except ImportError:
+    from ckan.new_tests import helpers
+    from ckan.new_tests import factories
+
+
+_ensure_name_is_unique = HarvesterBase._ensure_name_is_unique
+
+
+class TestGenNewName(object):
+    @classmethod
+    def setup_class(cls):
+        helpers.reset_db()
+
+    def test_basic(self):
+        assert_equal(HarvesterBase._gen_new_name('Trees'), 'trees')
+
+    def test_munge(self):
+        assert_equal(
+            HarvesterBase._gen_new_name('Trees and branches - survey.'),
+            'trees-and-branches-survey')
+
+
+class TestEnsureNameIsUnique(object):
+    def setup(self):
+        helpers.reset_db()
+
+    def test_no_existing_datasets(self):
+        factories.Dataset(name='unrelated')
+        assert_equal(_ensure_name_is_unique('trees'), 'trees')
+
+    def test_existing_dataset(self):
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees')
+        assert_equal(_ensure_name_is_unique('trees'), 'trees1')
+
+    def test_two_existing_datasets(self):
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees')
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees1')
+        assert_equal(_ensure_name_is_unique('trees'), 'trees2')
+
+    def test_no_existing_datasets_and_long_name(self):
+        assert_equal(_ensure_name_is_unique('x'*101), 'x'*100)
+
+    def test_existing_dataset_and_long_name(self):
+        # because PACKAGE_NAME_MAX_LENGTH = 100
+        factories.Dataset(name='x'*100)
+        assert_equal(_ensure_name_is_unique('x'*101), 'x'*99 + '1')
+
+    def test_update_dataset_with_new_name(self):
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees1')
+        assert_equal(_ensure_name_is_unique('tree', existing_name='trees1'),
+                     'tree')
+
+    def test_update_dataset_but_with_same_name(self):
+        # this can happen if you remove a trailing space from the title - the
+        # harvester sees the title changed and thinks it should have a new
+        # name, but clearly it can reuse its existing one
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees')
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees1')
+        assert_equal(_ensure_name_is_unique('trees', existing_name='trees'),
+                     'trees')
+
+    def test_update_dataset_to_available_shorter_name(self):
+        # this can be handy when if reharvesting, you got duplicates and
+        # managed to purge one set and through a minor title change you can now
+        # lose the appended number. users don't like unnecessary numbers.
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees1')
+        assert_equal(_ensure_name_is_unique('trees', existing_name='trees1'),
+                     'trees')
+
+    def test_update_dataset_but_doesnt_change_to_other_number(self):
+        # there's no point changing one number for another though
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees')
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees2')
+        assert_equal(_ensure_name_is_unique('trees', existing_name='trees2'),
+                     'trees2')
+
+    def test_update_dataset_with_new_name_with_numbers(self):
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees')
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees2')
+        factories.Dataset(name='frogs')
+        assert_equal(_ensure_name_is_unique('frogs', existing_name='trees2'),
+                     'frogs1')
+
+    def test_existing_dataset_appending_hex(self):
+        factories.Dataset(name='trees')
+        name = _ensure_name_is_unique('trees', append_type='random-hex')
+        # e.g. 'trees0b53f'
+        assert re.match('trees[\da-f]{5}', name)