diff --git a/src/_h5ai/client/js/inc/main/info.js b/src/_h5ai/client/js/inc/main/info.js
index b2332dcd..8a3df2c4 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/client/js/inc/main/info.js
+++ b/src/_h5ai/client/js/inc/main/info.js
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ modulejs.define('main/info', ['$', 'config'], function ($, config) {
 
         addTest(
             'PHP version', 'PHP version >= ' + setup.MIN_PHP_VERSION,
-            setup.HAS_PHP_VERSION, setup.PHP_VERSION
+            setup.HAS_MIN_PHP_VERSION, setup.PHP_VERSION
         );
 
         addTest(
diff --git a/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-api.php b/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-api.php
index 56469ce9..17890093 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-api.php
+++ b/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-api.php
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ class Api {
 
     private function on_getThumbHref() {
 
-        Util::json_fail(Util::RC_DISABLED, "thumbnails disabled", !$this->options["thumbnails"]["enabled"]);
+        Util::json_fail(Util::RC_DISABLED, "thumbnails disabled", !$this->get_option("thumbnails.enabled", false));
         Util::json_fail(Util::RC_UNSUPPORTED, "thumbnails not supported", !HAS_PHP_JPG);
 
         $type = Util::get_request_param("type");
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ class Api {
 
     private function on_download() {
 
-        Util::json_fail(Util::RC_DISABLED, "downloads disabled", !$this->options["download"]["enabled"]);
+        Util::json_fail(Util::RC_DISABLED, "downloads disabled", !$this->get_option("download.enabled", false));
 
         $as = Util::get_request_param("as");
         $type = Util::get_request_param("type");
diff --git a/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-app.php b/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-app.php
index e094fbfc..2e4061a8 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-app.php
+++ b/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-app.php
@@ -22,6 +22,21 @@ class App {
     }
 
 
+    public function get_option($keypath, $default) {
+
+        $value = $this->options;
+        $keys = array_filter(explode(".", $keypath));
+        foreach ($keys as $key) {
+            if (array_key_exists($key, $value)) {
+                $value = $value[$key];
+            } else {
+                return $default;
+            }
+        }
+        return $value;
+    }
+
+
     public function get_setup() {
 
         $consts = get_defined_constants(true);
@@ -53,7 +68,7 @@ class App {
 
     public function get_theme() {
 
-        $theme = $this->options["view"]["theme"];
+        $theme = $this->get_option("view.theme", "-NONE-");
         $theme_path = APP_PATH . "/client/images/themes/${theme}";
 
         $icons = array();
@@ -103,7 +118,7 @@ class App {
             return true;
         }
 
-        foreach ($this->options["view"]["hidden"] as $re) {
+        foreach ($this->get_option("view.hidden", array()) as $re) {
             $re = App::$RE_DELIMITER . str_replace(App::$RE_DELIMITER, '\\' . App::$RE_DELIMITER, $re) . App::$RE_DELIMITER;
             if (preg_match($re, $name)) {
                 return true;
@@ -122,7 +137,7 @@ class App {
                 if (
                     $this->is_hidden($name)
                     || $this->is_hidden($this->to_url($path) . $name)
-                    || (!is_readable($path .'/'. $name) && $this->options["view"]["hideIf403"])
+                    || (!is_readable($path .'/'. $name) && $this->get_option("view.hideIf403", false))
                 ) {
                     continue;
                 }
@@ -149,7 +164,7 @@ class App {
             return false;
         }
 
-        foreach ($this->options["view"]["unmanaged"] as $name) {
+        foreach ($this->get_option("view.unmanaged", array()) as $name) {
             if (file_exists($path . "/" . $name)) {
                 return false;
             }
@@ -351,7 +366,7 @@ class App {
 
     public function get_customizations($url) {
 
-        if (!$this->options["custom"]["enabled"]) {
+        if (!$this->get_option("custom.enabled", false)) {
             return array(
                 "header" => null,
                 "header_type" => null,
diff --git a/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-bootstrap.php b/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-bootstrap.php
index ee89c8eb..40d3b36f 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-bootstrap.php
+++ b/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-bootstrap.php
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ class Bootstrap {
 
         // PHP
         define("MIN_PHP_VERSION", "5.4.0");
-        define("HAS_PHP_VERSION", version_compare(PHP_VERSION, MIN_PHP_VERSION) >= 0);
+        define("HAS_MIN_PHP_VERSION", version_compare(PHP_VERSION, MIN_PHP_VERSION) >= 0);
         define("HAS_PHP_EXIF", function_exists("exif_thumbnail"));
         $has_php_jpg = false;
         if (function_exists("gd_info")) {
diff --git a/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-item.php b/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-item.php
index 9ede561d..6c251aec 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-item.php
+++ b/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-item.php
@@ -50,18 +50,6 @@ class Item {
         $this->date = @filemtime($this->path);
         $this->size = Util::filesize($app, $this->path);
         $this->is_content_fetched = false;
-
-        // $options = $app->get_options();
-        // if (!$this->is_folder && $options["hashes"]["enabled"]) {
-        if (!$this->is_folder) {
-            // $this->md5 = md5_file($this->path);
-            // $this->sha1 = sha1_file($this->path);
-            $this->md5 = null;
-            $this->sha1 = null;
-        } else {
-            $this->md5 = null;
-            $this->sha1 = null;
-        }
     }
 
 
diff --git a/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-util.php b/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-util.php
index 9717ae7a..5a3b4309 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-util.php
+++ b/src/_h5ai/server/php/inc/class-util.php
@@ -171,8 +171,8 @@ class Util {
         } else if (is_dir($path)) {
 
             $options = $app->get_options();
-            if ($options["foldersize"]["enabled"]) {
-                if (HAS_CMD_DU && $options["foldersize"]["type"] === "shell-du") {
+            if ($app->get_option("foldersize.enabled", false)) {
+                if (HAS_CMD_DU && $app->get_option("foldersize.type", null) === "shell-du") {
                     $cmdv = array("du", "-sk", $path);
                     $size = intval(preg_replace("#\s.*$#", "", Util::exec_cmdv($cmdv)), 10) * 1024;
                 } else {