diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/broadcasters/faye.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/broadcasters/faye.js.coffee
index f4ef716d..1807cdd4 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/broadcasters/faye.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/broadcasters/faye.js.coffee
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ class Kandan.Broadcasters.FayeBroadcaster
     @faye_client.addExtension(auth_extension)
     @faye_client.subscribe "/app/activities", (data)=>
       console.log "activities", data
+      $(document).data('active_users', data.data.active_users)
+      console.log "sets active users", $(document).data('active_users')
       Kandan.Helpers.Channels.add_activity({
         user: data.data.user,
         action: data.event.split("#")[1]
@@ -24,5 +26,6 @@ class Kandan.Broadcasters.FayeBroadcaster
     console.log "Subscribing to #{channel}"
     subscription = @faye_client.subscribe channel, (data)=>
       Kandan.Helpers.Channels.add_activity(data)
-    subscription.errback ()->
-      console.log "Oops! could not connect to the server"
+    subscription.errback(()->
+      alert "Oops! could not connect to the server"
+    )
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/kandan.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/kandan.js.coffee
index b80f8f34..f18e0fc7 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/kandan.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/kandan.js.coffee
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ window.Kandan =
   Helpers:      {}
   Broadcasters: {}
   Data:         {}
+  Plugins:      {}
 
   init: ->
     channels = new Kandan.Collections.Channels()
@@ -29,9 +30,12 @@ window.Kandan =
       # TODO move broadcast subscription to a helper
       # TODO change this to use the broadcaster from the settings
       # TODO set as global to debug. remove later.
+      # TODO use wildcard channel names
       window.broadcaster = new Kandan.Broadcasters.FayeBroadcaster()
       for channel in channels.models
         window.broadcaster.subscribe "/channels/#{channel.get('id')}"
+
+      console.log "plugins", Kandan.Plugins.all()
     })
 
 
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/plugins.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/plugins.js.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b64be56c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/plugins.js.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+class Kandan.Plugins
+  @plugins: []
+
+  @register: (plugin)->
+    @plugins.push(plugin)
+
+  @all: ()->
+    @plugins
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/plugins/user_list.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/plugins/user_list.js.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..375f244f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/plugins/user_list.js.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+class Kandan.Plugins.UserList
+  @active_users: ()->
+    console.log "active users", $(document).data("active_users")
+    $(document).data("active_users") || []
+
+
+  @render: ()->
+    users = []
+    for user in @active_users()
+      users.push user.first_name
+    $(".user_list").html(users.join ", ")
+
+  @init: ()->
+    console.log "user list plugin started"
+    $('body').prepend($("<div class='user_list'></div>"))
+    @render()
+    $(document).bind 'changeData', (event, name, value)=>
+      @render() if name == "active_users"
+
+
+Kandan.Plugins.register "Kandan.Plugins.UserList"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/post_init.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/post_init.js.coffee
index 07dcc321..37e9bbeb 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/post_init.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/backbone/post_init.js.coffee
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
-
-$(document).ready ->
-  $(document).bind "changeData", (event, name, value)->
-    if name == "active_users"
-      for callback in Kandan.Helpers.ActiveUsers.callbacks
-        callback()
\ No newline at end of file
+# $(document).ready ->
+#   $(document).bind "changeData", (event, name, value)->
+#     if name == "active_users"
+#       for callback in Kandan.Helpers.ActiveUsers.callbacks
+#         callback()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/views/layouts/application.html.erb b/app/views/layouts/application.html.erb
index 73bf19b3..e676e986 100644
--- a/app/views/layouts/application.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/layouts/application.html.erb
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
   <%- Kandan::Config.broadcaster.assets.each do |asset| %>
     <%= javascript_include_tag asset %>
   <%- end %>
-
+  
   <%= javascript_include_tag "application" %>
   <%= javascript_tag do %>
     <%- if user_signed_in? %>
@@ -22,6 +22,18 @@
     <%- end %>
   <%- end %>
 
+  <%= javascript_tag do %>
+    
+  <%- end %>
+  
+  <%= javascript_tag do %>
+    $(document).ready(function(){
+      $.each(Kandan.Plugins.all(), function(index, plugin){
+        eval(plugin).init()
+      })
+    })
+  <%- end %>
+
   <%= csrf_meta_tags %>
 </head>
 <body>