diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index b9b8e04..5d1afc2 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@
 			<groupId>org.gcube.portlets.user</groupId>
 			<artifactId>wsmail-widget</artifactId>
 			<version>[1.1.0-SNAPSHOT, 2.0.0-SNAPSHOT)</version>
+			<scope>provided</scope>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.gcube.portlets.user</groupId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/client/panels/NewsFeedPanel.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/client/panels/NewsFeedPanel.java
index c841c12..72164bf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/client/panels/NewsFeedPanel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/client/panels/NewsFeedPanel.java
@@ -438,7 +438,8 @@ public class NewsFeedPanel extends Composite {
 		newsPanel.clear();
 		newsPanel.add(new HTML("<div class=\"nofeed-message\">" +
 				"Ops! There were problems while retrieving your feeds!. <br> " +
-				"Looks like we are not able to communicate with the infrastructure, <br> please try again in a short while.</div>"));
+				"Looks like we are not able to communicate with the infrastructure, (or your session expired)<br> please try again in a short while or refresh the page.</div>"));
+		stopTimer();
 	}
 
 	private void doAddLike(final TweetTemplate owner, final String feedId) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/server/NewsServiceImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/server/NewsServiceImpl.java
index 93e72b6..61b92e6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/server/NewsServiceImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/server/NewsServiceImpl.java
@@ -104,6 +104,11 @@ public class NewsServiceImpl extends RemoteServiceServlet implements NewsService
 				return getEclipseResult(userName, false);
 			}
 			else {
+				//in case the portal is restarted and you have the social home open it will get test.user (no callback to set session info)
+				//this check just return nothing if that happens
+				if (userName.compareTo("test.user") == 0)
+					return null;
+				
 				_log.info("****** retrieving feeds for user: " + userName);
 				User currUser = OrganizationsUtil.validateUser(userName);
 
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/Avatar_default.png b/src/main/webapp/images/Avatar_default.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a6c844
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/close.png b/src/main/webapp/images/close.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..978ee49
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/close_darker.gif b/src/main/webapp/images/close_darker.gif
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0ae170c
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/comment_edit.png b/src/main/webapp/images/comment_edit.png
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index 0000000..d31e68a
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/edit.png b/src/main/webapp/images/edit.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03d88a1
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/feeds-loader.gif b/src/main/webapp/images/feeds-loader.gif
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89ae681
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/feeds-spacer.gif b/src/main/webapp/images/feeds-spacer.gif
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dabcc3c
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/grid_small_dot.png b/src/main/webapp/images/grid_small_dot.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6f9099
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/loading-comments.gif b/src/main/webapp/images/loading-comments.gif
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..507b556
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/spacer-dot.png b/src/main/webapp/images/spacer-dot.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ae3d33
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/star_blue.png b/src/main/webapp/images/star_blue.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e475c89
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/user_endorse.png b/src/main/webapp/images/user_endorse.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df0576e
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diff --git a/src/main/webapp/images/warning_blue.png b/src/main/webapp/images/warning_blue.png
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index 0000000..a4e57c6
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