diff --git a/siglican.py b/siglican.py
index 07dc76a..dbcc023 100644
--- a/siglican.py
+++ b/siglican.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ _DEFAULT_SIGAL_SETTINGS = {
     'SIGAL_ORIG_LINK': False,
 #    'PLUGINS': [],
 #    'PLUGIN_PATHS': [],
-    'SIGAL_SOURCE': 'sigal',
+    'SIGAL_SOURCE': 'siglican',
     'SIGAL_THEME': 'colorbox',
     'SIGAL_THUMB_DIR': 'thumbs',
     'SIGAL_THUMB_FIT': True,
@@ -244,8 +244,8 @@ class SigalGalleryGenerator(Generator):
             self.theme = self.settings['SIGAL_THEME']
             default_themes = os.path.normpath(os.path.join(
                              os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)), 'themes'))
-            logger.debug("siglican: custom theme: %s", self.theme)
-            logger.debug("siglican: default themedir: %s", default_themes)
+            #logger.debug("siglican: custom theme: %s", self.theme)
+            #logger.debug("siglican: default themedir: %s", default_themes)
             if not os.path.exists(self.theme):
                 self.theme = os.path.join(default_themes, os.path.basename(self.theme))
                 if not os.path.exists(self.theme):
@@ -253,7 +253,6 @@ class SigalGalleryGenerator(Generator):
                                      os.path.basename(self.theme))
         
             logger.info("siglican theme: %s", self.theme)
-            theme_relpath = os.path.join(self.theme, 'templates')
             
             ## note 1: it's impossible to add additional templates to jinja
             ## after the initial init, which means we either need to put plugin
diff --git a/writer.py b/writer.py
index 8762037..c9f0a9c 100644
--- a/writer.py
+++ b/writer.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ from .utils import url_from_path
 class Writer(object):
     """Generate html pages for each directory of images."""
     
-    def __init__(self, settings, theme=None, index_title=''):
+    def __init__(self, settings, theme, index_title=''):
         self.settings = settings
         self.output_dir = settings['SIGAL_DESTINATION']
         self.index_title = index_title
@@ -51,21 +51,11 @@ class Writer(object):
         
         # check for a custom theme in ./sigal/themes, if not found, look for a
         # default in the sigal_theme/themes plugin directory
-        self.theme = settings['SIGAL_THEME']
-        default_themes = os.path.normpath(os.path.join(
-                         os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)), 'themes'))
-        self.logger.debug("siglican: custom theme: %s", self.theme)
-        self.logger.debug("siglican: default themedir: %s", default_themes)
-        if not os.path.exists(self.theme):
-            self.theme = os.path.join(default_themes, os.path.basename(self.theme))
-            if not os.path.exists(self.theme):
-                raise Exception("siglican: unable to find theme: %s" %
-                                 os.path.basename(self.theme))
         
-        self.logger.info("siglican theme: %s", self.theme)
+        self.logger.info("siglican theme: %s", theme)
         
         # pelican theme path merged with siglican theme path 
-        theme_paths = [ os.path.join(self.theme, 'templates'),
+        theme_paths = [ os.path.join(theme, 'templates'),
                         os.path.join(self.settings['THEME'], 'templates') ]
         
         # setup jinja env