diff --git a/.classpath b/.classpath
index 2f8f88c..7ee9f9b 100644
--- a/.classpath
+++ b/.classpath
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <classpath>
-	<classpathentry kind="src" output="target/questions-2.1.0-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes" path="src/main/java">
+	<classpathentry kind="src" output="target/questions-2.2.0-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes" path="src/main/java">
 		<attributes>
 			<attribute name="optional" value="true"/>
 			<attribute name="maven.pomderived" value="true"/>
 		</attributes>
 	</classpathentry>
-	<classpathentry excluding="**" kind="src" output="target/questions-2.1.0-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes" path="src/main/resources">
+	<classpathentry excluding="**" kind="src" output="target/questions-2.2.0-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes" path="src/main/resources">
 		<attributes>
 			<attribute name="maven.pomderived" value="true"/>
 		</attributes>
@@ -39,5 +39,5 @@
 			<attribute name="maven.pomderived" value="true"/>
 		</attributes>
 	</classpathentry>
-	<classpathentry kind="output" path="target/questions-2.1.0-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes"/>
+	<classpathentry kind="output" path="target/questions-2.2.0-SNAPSHOT/WEB-INF/classes"/>
 </classpath>
diff --git a/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component b/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component
index 65f5dd8..b36d0bc 100644
--- a/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component
+++ b/.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     <wb-resource deploy-path="/" source-path="/src/main/webapp" tag="defaultRootSource"/>
     <wb-resource deploy-path="/WEB-INF/classes" source-path="/src/main/java"/>
         <wb-resource deploy-path="/WEB-INF/classes" source-path="/src/main/resources"/>
-        <dependent-module archiveName="gcube-widgets-2.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar" deploy-path="/WEB-INF/lib" handle="module:/resource/gcube-widgets/gcube-widgets">
+        <dependent-module archiveName="gcube-widgets-2.1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar" deploy-path="/WEB-INF/lib" handle="module:/resource/gcube-widgets/gcube-widgets">
             <dependency-type>uses</dependency-type>
         </dependent-module>
     <property name="java-output-path" value="/${module}/target/www/WEB-INF/classes"/>
diff --git a/distro/changelog.xml b/distro/changelog.xml
index c599812..1d32f29 100644
--- a/distro/changelog.xml
+++ b/distro/changelog.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 <ReleaseNotes>
+<Changeset component="org.gcube.portlets-user.questions.2-2-0" date="2016-11-23">
+		<Change>Removed ASL Session, increased performance</Change>
+	</Changeset>	
 	<Changeset component="org.gcube.portlets-user.questions.2-1-0" date="2016-10-03">
 		<Change>Removed leave group possibility</Change>
 		<Change>Displays VRE-Managers and Groups in the related VRE</Change>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 8130c8d..1fd740c 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 	<groupId>org.gcube.portlets.user</groupId>
 	<artifactId>questions</artifactId>
 	<packaging>war</packaging>
-	<version>2.1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+	<version>2.2.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	<name>gCube Questions Ask Managers Portlet</name>
 	<description>
 		gCube Questions Ask Managers Portlet
@@ -74,11 +74,7 @@
 			<artifactId>gcube-widgets</artifactId>
 			<scope>compile</scope>
 		</dependency>
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.gcube.portal</groupId>
-			<artifactId>custom-portal-handler</artifactId>
-			<scope>provided</scope>
-		</dependency>
+		
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.gcube.common.portal</groupId>
 			<artifactId>portal-manager</artifactId>
@@ -93,11 +89,7 @@
 			<artifactId>usermanagement-core</artifactId>
 			<scope>provided</scope>
 		</dependency>
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.gcube.applicationsupportlayer</groupId>
-			<artifactId>aslcore</artifactId>
-			<scope>provided</scope>
-		</dependency>
+	
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>com.google</groupId>
 			<artifactId>gwt-jsonmaker</artifactId>
@@ -108,6 +100,23 @@
 			<artifactId>portal-service</artifactId>
 			<scope>provided</scope>
 		</dependency>
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>com.liferay.portal</groupId>
+			<artifactId>util-bridges</artifactId>
+			<version>${liferay.version}</version>
+			<scope>provided</scope>
+		</dependency>
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>com.liferay.portal</groupId>
+			<artifactId>util-taglib</artifactId>
+			<version>${liferay.version}</version>
+			<scope>provided</scope>
+		</dependency>
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>com.liferay.portal</groupId>
+			<artifactId>util-java</artifactId>
+			<scope>provided</scope>
+		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>junit</groupId>
 			<artifactId>junit</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/questions/server/QuestionsServiceImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/questions/server/QuestionsServiceImpl.java
index 72c22ed..636e9bd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/questions/server/QuestionsServiceImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/questions/server/QuestionsServiceImpl.java
@@ -6,14 +6,11 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64;
-import org.gcube.application.framework.core.session.ASLSession;
-import org.gcube.application.framework.core.session.SessionManager;
 import org.gcube.common.portal.GCubePortalConstants;
-import org.gcube.portal.custom.scopemanager.scopehelper.ScopeHelper;
+import org.gcube.common.portal.PortalContext;
 import org.gcube.portal.databook.client.GCubeSocialNetworking;
 import org.gcube.portlets.user.questions.client.QuestionsService;
 import org.gcube.portlets.user.questions.shared.GroupDTO;
-import org.gcube.vomanagement.usermanagement.GroupManager;
 import org.gcube.vomanagement.usermanagement.impl.LiferayGroupManager;
 import org.gcube.vomanagement.usermanagement.impl.LiferayRoleManager;
 import org.gcube.vomanagement.usermanagement.impl.LiferayUserManager;
@@ -35,43 +32,15 @@ import com.liferay.portal.service.UserLocalServiceUtil;
 @SuppressWarnings("serial")
 public class QuestionsServiceImpl extends RemoteServiceServlet implements QuestionsService {
 	private static final Logger _log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(QuestionsServiceImpl.class);
-	private static final String TEST_USER = "test.user";
-
-	/**
-	 * the current ASLSession
-	 * @return the session
-	 */
-	private ASLSession getASLSession() {
-		String sessionID = this.getThreadLocalRequest().getSession().getId();
-		String user = (String) this.getThreadLocalRequest().getSession().getAttribute(ScopeHelper.USERNAME_ATTRIBUTE);
-		if (user == null) {
-			_log.warn("USER IS NULL setting test.user and Running OUTSIDE PORTAL");
-			user = getDevelopmentUser();
-		}		
-		return SessionManager.getInstance().getASLSession(sessionID, user);
-	}
-	/**
-	 * when packaging test will fail if the user is not set to test.user
-	 * @return .
-	 */
-	public String getDevelopmentUser() {
-		String user = TEST_USER;
-		user = "massimiliano.assante";
-		return user;
-	}
 
 	@Override
 	public ArrayList<GroupDTO> getGroups() {		
 		ArrayList<GroupDTO> toReturn = new ArrayList<>();	
-		ASLSession session = getASLSession();
-		if (session.getUsername().compareTo(TEST_USER) == 0) {
-			_log.error("User is NULL, session expired?");
-			return new ArrayList<>();
-		}
+		
 		if (isWithinPortal()) {
 			try {
 			
-				long vreGroupId = session.getGroupId();
+				long vreGroupId = PortalContext.getConfiguration().getCurrentGroupId(getThreadLocalRequest());
 				String vreFriendlyURL = new LiferayGroupManager().getGroup(vreGroupId).getFriendlyURL();
 				StringBuffer pageToRedirectURL= new StringBuffer(GCubePortalConstants.PREFIX_GROUP_URL)
 						.append(vreFriendlyURL)
@@ -84,7 +53,7 @@ public class QuestionsServiceImpl extends RemoteServiceServlet implements Questi
 				managerRedirectURL += new String(Base64.encodeBase64(("-100").getBytes()));
 			
 				toReturn.add(new GroupDTO(true, "View Managers", "No Desc", managerRedirectURL));
-				List<GCubeTeam> groups = new LiferayRoleManager().listTeamsByGroup(getCurrentGroupID());
+				List<GCubeTeam> groups = new LiferayRoleManager().listTeamsByGroup(vreGroupId);
 				for (GCubeTeam g : groups) {
 					String encodedTeamId = new String(Base64.encodeBase64((""+g.getTeamId()).getBytes()));
 					String teamRedirectURL = pageToRedirectURL+encodedTeamId;
@@ -124,24 +93,7 @@ public class QuestionsServiceImpl extends RemoteServiceServlet implements Questi
 			return false;
 		}			
 	}
-	/**
-	 * Get the current group ID
-	 * 
-	 * @return the current group ID or null if an exception is thrown
-	 * @throws Exception 
-	 * @throws CurrentGroupRetrievalException 
-	 */
-	private long getCurrentGroupID(){
-		GroupManager groupM = new LiferayGroupManager();
-		ASLSession session = getASLSession();
-		_log.debug("The current group NAME is --> " + session.getGroupName());	
-		try {
-			return groupM.getGroupId(session.getGroupName());
-		} catch (Exception e) {
-			e.printStackTrace();
-		}
-		return 0;
-	}
+	
 
 	
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/questions/server/portlet/VREManagersPortlet.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/questions/server/portlet/VREManagersPortlet.java
index c8fa073..6c2cc49 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/questions/server/portlet/VREManagersPortlet.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/questions/server/portlet/VREManagersPortlet.java
@@ -1,16 +1,15 @@
 
 package org.gcube.portlets.user.questions.server.portlet;
 
-import javax.portlet.GenericPortlet;
-import javax.portlet.ActionRequest;
-import javax.portlet.RenderRequest;
-import javax.portlet.ActionResponse;
-import javax.portlet.RenderResponse;
-import javax.portlet.PortletException;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import javax.portlet.PortletRequestDispatcher;
 
-import org.gcube.portal.custom.scopemanager.scopehelper.ScopeHelper;
+import javax.portlet.ActionRequest;
+import javax.portlet.ActionResponse;
+import javax.portlet.GenericPortlet;
+import javax.portlet.PortletException;
+import javax.portlet.PortletRequestDispatcher;
+import javax.portlet.RenderRequest;
+import javax.portlet.RenderResponse;
 
 /**
  *
@@ -19,7 +18,6 @@ import org.gcube.portal.custom.scopemanager.scopehelper.ScopeHelper;
  public class VREManagersPortlet extends GenericPortlet {
 	public void doView(RenderRequest request, RenderResponse response)	throws PortletException, IOException {
 		response.setContentType("text/html");
-		ScopeHelper.setContext(request);
 	    PortletRequestDispatcher dispatcher = getPortletContext().getRequestDispatcher("/WEB-INF/jsp/VREManagers_view.jsp");
 	    dispatcher.include(request, response);		
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/portlet.xml b/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/portlet.xml
index 2023431..48748f9 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/portlet.xml
+++ b/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/portlet.xml
@@ -1,30 +1,33 @@
-<?xml version="1.0"?>
-
-<portlet-app
-	version="2.0"
-	xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/portlet/portlet-app_2_0.xsd"
-	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-	xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/portlet/portlet-app_2_0.xsd http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/portlet/portlet-app_2_0.xsd"
->
-	<portlet>
-		<portlet-name>VRESettings</portlet-name>
-		<display-name>VRE Settings</display-name>
-		<portlet-class>org.gcube.portlets.user.questions.server.portlet.VREManagersPortlet</portlet-class>
-		<init-param>
-			<name>view-jsp</name>
-			<value>/view.jsp</value>
-		</init-param>
-		<expiration-cache>0</expiration-cache>
-		<supports>
-			<mime-type>text/html</mime-type>
-		</supports>
-		<portlet-info>
-			<title>VRE Managers and Groups</title>
-			<short-title>VRE Managers and Groups</short-title>
-			<keywords>VRE Managers and Groups</keywords>
-		</portlet-info>
-		<security-role-ref>
-			<role-name>administrator</role-name>
-		</security-role-ref>
-	</portlet>
-</portlet-app>
\ No newline at end of file
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<portlet-app version="2.0"
+    xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/portlet/portlet-app_2_0.xsd"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/portlet/portlet-app_2_0.xsd http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/portlet/portlet-app_2_0.xsd">
+    <portlet>
+        <portlet-name>VRESettings</portlet-name>
+        <display-name>VRE Settings</display-name>
+        <portlet-class>org.gcube.portlets.user.questions.server.portlet.VREManagersPortlet</portlet-class>
+        <init-param>
+            <name>view-jsp</name>
+            <value>/view.jsp</value>
+        </init-param>
+        <expiration-cache>0</expiration-cache>
+        <supports>
+            <mime-type>text/html</mime-type>
+        </supports>
+        <portlet-info>
+            <title>VRE Managers and Groups</title>
+            <short-title>VRE Managers and Groups</short-title>
+            <keywords>VRE, VRE Managers, Groups</keywords>
+        </portlet-info>
+        <portlet-preferences>
+            <preference>
+                <name>portletSetupShowBorders</name>
+                <value>true</value>
+            </preference>
+        </portlet-preferences>
+        <security-role-ref>
+            <role-name>administrator</role-name>
+        </security-role-ref>
+    </portlet>   
+</portlet-app>
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml b/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
index f5ed878..3e3a7b9 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
+++ b/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
@@ -1,21 +1,25 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<web-app xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-	xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee 
-          http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd"
-	version="3.0">
-
-	<!-- Servlets -->
-	<servlet>
-		<servlet-name>groupServlet</servlet-name>
-		<servlet-class>org.gcube.portlets.user.questions.server.QuestionsServiceImpl</servlet-class>
-	</servlet>
-
-
-	<servlet-mapping>
-		<servlet-name>groupServlet</servlet-name>
-		<url-pattern>/questions/getgroups</url-pattern>
-	</servlet-mapping>
-
-
-
-</web-app>
+<web-app xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee" xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd" version="3.0">
+  <servlet>
+    <servlet-name>groupServlet</servlet-name>
+    <servlet-class>org.gcube.portlets.user.questions.server.QuestionsServiceImpl</servlet-class>
+  </servlet>
+  <servlet-mapping>
+    <servlet-name>groupServlet</servlet-name>
+    <url-pattern>/questions/getgroups</url-pattern>
+  </servlet-mapping>
+  <filter>
+	<filter-name>LogFilter</filter-name>
+	<filter-class>
+		org.gcube.portlets.user.questions.server.LogFilter
+	</filter-class>
+	<init-param>
+		<param-name>test-param</param-name>
+		<param-value>This parameter is for testing.</param-value>
+	</init-param>
+</filter>
+<filter-mapping>
+	<filter-name>LogFilter</filter-name>
+	<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
+</filter-mapping>
+</web-app>
\ No newline at end of file