diff --git a/connect.py b/connect.py
index 7bf2f16..bfa108a 100644
--- a/connect.py
+++ b/connect.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ class connect:
     def request(self, resource, host, itemtype, port=70):
         #connects to server and returns list with response type and body
         socket_conn = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+        socket_conn.settimeout(5.0)
 
         try:
             socket_conn.connect((host, port))
@@ -17,15 +18,20 @@ class connect:
                 response = socket_conn.makefile(mode = 'rb', errors = 'ignore')
             else:
                 response = socket_conn.makefile(mode = 'r', errors = 'ignore')
-        except:
+        except socket.timeout:
+            print('Socket timeout')
             socket_conn.close()
-            return False
+            return {'type': '3', 'body': '3ERROR: Server request timed out\tfalse\tnull.host\t1'}
+        except Exception as e:
+            print('Misc socket error: ', e)
+            socket_conn.close()
+            return {'type': '3', 'body': '3ERROR: Unable to communicate with remote server\tfalse\tnull.host\t1'}
 
         try:
             self.raw_response = response.read()
             self.filetype = itemtype
         except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            self.raw_response = '3Error decoding server response\tfalse\tnull.host\t1'
+            self.raw_response = '3ERROR: Unable to decode server response\tfalse\tnull.host\t1'
             self.filetype = '3'
 
         socket_conn.close()
diff --git a/gui.py b/gui.py
index 40431d4..e05367d 100644
--- a/gui.py
+++ b/gui.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 
 import tkinter as tk
+import tkinter.simpledialog as dialog
 from connect import connect as conn
 from parser import parser
 import time
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ class GUI:
         self.site_display.bind("<Button-1>", lambda event: self.site_display.focus_set())
         self.entry_url.bind("<Button-1>", lambda event: self.entry_url.focus_set())
         self.root.protocol('WM_DELETE_WINDOW', self.close_window)
+        self.btn_favorite.bind("<Button-1>", self.add_to_favorites)
 
 
     def pack_geometry(self):
@@ -220,6 +222,7 @@ class GUI:
         self.entry_url.insert(tk.END, 'home')
         if event:
             self.add_to_history('home')
+        data += self.load_favorites()
         self.send_to_screen(data, '1')
 
 
@@ -241,13 +244,31 @@ class GUI:
         self.handle_request(False, href, False)
 
 
+    def add_to_favorites(self, event):
+        favorite_name = dialog.askstring("Add to favorites", "What would you like to title this favorite?")
+        url = self.entry_url.get()
+        if not favorite_name or not url:
+            return False
+        favorite = {"url": url, "name": favorite_name}
+        self.config["favorites"].append(favorite)
+        self.write_config(self.config)
+
+
+
     #-------------Start view methods----------------
 
 
     def load_favorites(self):
-        header = 'i#############\tfalse\tnull.host\t1\r\ni  manually edit in go.config.json\tfalse\tnull.host\t1\r\n or add using the favorites button\tfalse\tnull.host\t1\r\ni\tfalse\tnull.host\t1\r\n'
+        header = ''
         #soon add code to load in favorites here
-        self.send_to_screen(data=header, clear=False)
+        for x in self.config["favorites"]:
+            url = self.parser.parse_url(x["url"])
+            if not url:
+                continue
+            entry = '{}{}\t{}\t{}\t{}\n'.format(url['type'], x['name'], url['resource'], url['host'], url['port'])
+            header += entry
+        return header
+        # self.send_to_screen(data=header, clear=False)
 
     def show_search(self):
         text1 = ' __   ___       __   __\n/__` |__   /\  |__) /  ` |__|\n.__/ |___ /~~\ |  \ \__, |  |\n\n\nPlease enter your search terms and press the enter key:\n\n'
@@ -303,7 +324,6 @@ class GUI:
             elif x['type'] == '3':
                 self.site_display.insert(tk.END,'        \t\t{}\n'.format(x['description']))
             elif x['type'] in types:
-
                 # adapted from:
                 # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27760561/tkinter-and-hyperlinks
                 if x['port'] and x['port'][0] != ':':
@@ -334,9 +354,11 @@ class GUI:
 
 
     def show_text(self, data):
+        if data[-2:] == '\n.':
+            data = data[:-2]
         self.site_display.config(state=tk.NORMAL)
         self.site_display.delete(1.0, tk.END)
-        self.site_display.insert(tk.END, data[:-2])
+        self.site_display.insert(tk.END, data)
         self.site_display.config(state=tk.DISABLED)
 
 
diff --git a/parser.py b/parser.py
index b6f8bc4..5fb6210 100644
--- a/parser.py
+++ b/parser.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ class parser:
 
     def parse_url(self, url):
         # Take in a URL and output a dict of the url parts
+        if url == 'home':
+            return False
 
         regex = r'^(?P<protocol>(?:(gopher|http):\/\/)?)?(?P<host>[\w\.\d]+)(?P<port>(?::\d+)?)?(?P<type>(?:\/[\dgIp])?)?(?P<resource>(?:\/.*)?)?$'
 
@@ -23,13 +25,13 @@ class parser:
         if not match:
             return False
 
-        protocol = match.group('protocol')
-        itemtype = match.group('type')
-        host = match.group('host')
-        port = match.group('port')
-        resource = match.group('resource')
-
-        if not host:
+        try:
+            protocol = match.group('protocol')
+            itemtype = match.group('type')
+            host = match.group('host')
+            port = match.group('port')
+            resource = match.group('resource')
+        except:
             return False
 
         if not resource: