diff --git a/recline.js b/recline.js
index 8a4ee686..596ebcf8 100644
--- a/recline.js
+++ b/recline.js
@@ -78,16 +78,19 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
           alert('Not supported: sync on BackendMemory with method ' + method + ' and model ' + model);
         }
       },
-      getDocuments: function(model, numRows, start) {
-        if (start === undefined) {
-          start = 0;
-        }
-        if (numRows === undefined) {
-          numRows = 10;
-        }
+      query: function(model, queryObj) {
+        var numRows = queryObj.size;
+        var start = queryObj.offset;
         var dfd = $.Deferred();
-        rows = model.backendConfig.data.rows;
-        var results = rows.slice(start, start+numRows);
+        results = model.backendConfig.data.rows;
+        // not complete sorting!
+        _.each(queryObj.sort, function(item) {
+          results = _.sortBy(results, function(row) {
+            var _out = row[item[0]];
+            return (item[1] == 'asc') ? _out : -1*_out;
+          });
+        });
+        var results = results.slice(start, start+numRows);
         dfd.resolve(results);
         return dfd.promise();
       }
@@ -133,19 +136,18 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
         }
       }
     },
-    getDocuments: function(model, numRows, start) {
-      if (start === undefined) {
-        start = 0;
-      }
-      if (numRows === undefined) {
-        numRows = 10;
-      }
+    query: function(model, queryObj) {
       var base = model.backendConfig.url;
+      var data = {
+        _limit:  queryObj.size
+        , _offset: queryObj.offset
+      };
       var jqxhr = $.ajax({
-        url: base + '.json?_limit=' + numRows,
-          dataType: 'jsonp',
-          jsonp: '_callback',
-          cache: true
+        url: base + '.json',
+        data: data,
+        dataType: 'jsonp',
+        jsonp: '_callback',
+        cache: true
       });
       var dfd = $.Deferred();
       jqxhr.then(function(results) {
@@ -206,17 +208,11 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
         alert('This backend only supports read operations');
       }
     },
-    getDocuments: function(dataset, numRows, start) {
-      if (start === undefined) {
-        start = 0;
-      }
-      if (numRows === undefined) {
-        numRows = 10;
-      }
+    query: function(dataset, queryObj) {
       var base = my.backends['dataproxy'].get('dataproxy');
       var data = {
         url: dataset.backendConfig.url
-        , 'max-results':  numRows
+        , 'max-results':  queryObj.size
         , type: dataset.backendConfig.format
       };
       var jqxhr = $.ajax({
@@ -260,7 +256,7 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
         return dfd.promise(); }
     },
 
-    getDocuments: function(dataset, start, numRows) { 
+    query: function(dataset, queryObj) { 
       var dfd = $.Deferred();
       var fields = dataset.get('headers');
 
@@ -581,6 +577,11 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
       this.currentDocuments = new my.DocumentList();
       this.docCount = null;
       this.backend = null;
+      this.defaultQuery = {
+        size: 100
+        , offset: 0
+      };
+      // this.queryState = {};
     },
 
     // ### getDocuments
@@ -595,11 +596,14 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
     //
     // this does not fit very well with Backbone setup. Backbone really expects you to know the ids of objects your are fetching (which you do in classic RESTful ajax-y world). But this paradigm does not fill well with data set up we have here.
     // This also illustrates the limitations of separating the Dataset and the Backend
-    getDocuments: function(numRows, start) {
+    query: function(queryObj) {
+      this.queryState = queryObj || this.defaultQuery;
+      this.queryState = _.extend({size: 100, offset: 0}, this.queryState);
+
       var self = this;
       var backend = my.backends[this.backendConfig.type];
       var dfd = $.Deferred();
-      backend.getDocuments(this, numRows, start).then(function(rows) {
+      backend.query(this, this.queryState).then(function(rows) {
         var docs = _.map(rows, function(row) {
           var _doc = new my.Document(row);
           _doc.backendConfig = self.backendConfig;
@@ -637,10 +641,17 @@ var util = function() {
   var templates = {
     transformActions: '<li><a data-action="transform" class="menuAction" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Global transform...</a></li>'
     , columnActions: ' \
-      <li><a data-action="bulkEdit" class="menuAction" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Transform...</a></li> \
-      <li><a data-action="deleteColumn" class="menuAction" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Delete this column</a></li> \
+      <li class="write-op"><a data-action="bulkEdit" class="menuAction" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Transform...</a></li> \
+      <li class="write-op"><a data-action="deleteColumn" class="menuAction" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Delete this column</a></li> \
+      <li><a data-action="sortAsc" class="menuAction" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Sort ascending</a></li> \
+      <li><a data-action="sortDesc" class="menuAction" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Sort descending</a></li> \
+      <li><a data-action="hideColumn" class="menuAction" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Hide this column</a></li> \
     '
-    , rowActions: '<li><a data-action="deleteRow" class="menuAction" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Delete this row</a></li>'
+    , rowActions: '<li><a data-action="deleteRow" class="menuAction write-op" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Delete this row</a></li>'
+    , rootActions: ' \
+        {{#columns}} \
+        <li><a data-action="showColumn" data-column="{{.}}" class="menuAction" href="JavaScript:void(0);">Add column: {{.}}</a></li> \
+        {{/columns}}'
     , cellEditor: ' \
       <div class="menu-container data-table-cell-editor"> \
         <textarea class="data-table-cell-editor-editor" bind="textarea">{{value}}</textarea> \
@@ -698,14 +709,6 @@ var util = function() {
     return o;
   };
 
-  function inURL(url, str) {
-    var exists = false;
-    if ( url.indexOf( str ) > -1 ) {
-      exists = true;
-    }
-    return exists;
-  }
-  
   function registerEmitter() {
     var Emitter = function(obj) {
       this.emit = function(obj, channel) { 
@@ -810,256 +813,7 @@ var util = function() {
     }
   }
   
-  function formatMetadata(data) {
-    out = '<dl>';
-    $.each(data, function(key, val) {
-      if (typeof(val) == 'string' && key[0] != '_') {
-        out = out + '<dt>' + key + '<dd>' + val;
-      } else if (typeof(val) == 'object' && key != "geometry" && val != null) {
-        if (key == 'properties') {
-          $.each(val, function(attr, value){
-            out = out + '<dt>' + attr + '<dd>' + value;
-          })
-        } else {
-          out = out + '<dt>' + key + '<dd>' + val.join(', ');
-        }
-      }
-    });
-    out = out + '</dl>';
-    return out;
-  }
-
-  function getBaseURL(url) {
-    var baseURL = "";
-    if ( inURL(url, '_design') ) {
-      if (inURL(url, '_rewrite')) {
-        var path = url.split("#")[0];
-        if (path[path.length - 1] === "/") {
-          baseURL = "";
-        } else {
-          baseURL = '_rewrite/';
-        }
-      } else {
-        baseURL = '_rewrite/';
-      }
-    }
-    return baseURL;
-  }
-  
-  var persist = {
-    restore: function() {
-      $('.persist').each(function(i, el) {
-        var inputId = $(el).attr('id');
-        if(localStorage.getItem(inputId)) $('#' + inputId).val(localStorage.getItem(inputId));
-      })
-    },
-    save: function(id) {
-      localStorage.setItem(id, $('#' + id).val());
-    },
-    clear: function() {
-      $('.persist').each(function(i, el) {
-        localStorage.removeItem($(el).attr('id'));
-      })
-    }
-  }
-  
-  // simple debounce adapted from underscore.js
-  function delay(func, wait) {
-    return function() {
-      var context = this, args = arguments;
-      var throttler = function() {
-        delete app.timeout;
-        func.apply(context, args);
-      };
-      if (!app.timeout) app.timeout = setTimeout(throttler, wait);      
-    };
-  };
-  
-  function resetForm(form) {
-    $(':input', form)
-     .not(':button, :submit, :reset, :hidden')
-     .val('')
-     .removeAttr('checked')
-     .removeAttr('selected');
-  }
-  
-  function largestWidth(selector, min) {
-    var min_width = min || 0;
-    $(selector).each(function(i, n){
-        var this_width = $(n).width();
-        if (this_width > min_width) {
-            min_width = this_width;
-        }
-    });
-    return min_width;
-  }
-  
-  function getType(obj) {
-    if (obj === null) {
-      return 'null';
-    }
-    if (typeof obj === 'object') {
-      if (obj.constructor.toString().indexOf("Array") !== -1) {
-        return 'array';
-      } else {
-        return 'object';
-      }
-    } else {
-      return typeof obj;
-    }
-  }
-  
-  function lookupPath(path) {
-    var docs = app.apiDocs;
-    try {
-      _.each(path, function(node) {
-        docs = docs[node];
-      })
-    } catch(e) {
-      util.notify("Error selecting documents" + e);
-      docs = [];
-    }
-    return docs;
-  }
-  
-  function nodePath(docField) {
-    if (docField.children('.object-key').length > 0) return docField.children('.object-key').text();
-    if (docField.children('.array-key').length > 0) return docField.children('.array-key').text();
-    if (docField.children('.doc-key').length > 0) return docField.children('.doc-key').text();
-    return "";
-  }
-  
-  function selectedTreePath() {
-    var nodes = []
-      , parent = $('.chosen');
-    while (parent.length > 0) {
-      nodes.push(nodePath(parent));
-      parent = parent.parents('.doc-field:first');
-    }
-    return _.compact(nodes).reverse();
-  }
-  
-  // TODO refactor handlers so that they dont stack up as the tree gets bigger
-  function handleTreeClick(e) {
-    var clicked = $(e.target);
-    if(clicked.hasClass('expand')) return;
-    if (clicked.children('.array').length > 0) {
-      var field = clicked;
-    } else if (clicked.siblings('.array').length > 0) {
-      var field = clicked.parents('.doc-field:first');
-    } else {
-      var field = clicked.parents('.array').parents('.doc-field:first');
-    }
-    $('.chosen').removeClass('chosen');
-    field.addClass('chosen');
-    return false;
-  }
-  
-  var createTreeNode = {
-    "string": function (obj, key) {
-      var val = $('<div class="doc-value string-type"></div>');
-      if (obj[key].length > 45) {
-        val.append($('<span class="string-type"></span>')
-        .text(obj[key].slice(0, 45)))
-        .append(
-          $('<span class="expand">...</span>')
-          .click(function () {
-            val.html('')
-            .append($('<span class="string-type"></span>')
-              .text(obj[key].length ? obj[key] : "   ")
-            )
-          })
-        )
-      }
-      else {
-        var val = $('<div class="doc-value string-type"></div>');
-        val.append(
-          $('<span class="string-type"></span>')
-          .text(obj[key].length ? obj[key] : "   ")
-        )
-      }
-      return val;
-    }
-    , "number": function (obj, key) {
-      var val = $('<div class="doc-value number"></div>')
-      val.append($('<span class="number-type">' + obj[key] + '</span>'))
-      return val;
-    }
-    , "null": function (obj, key) {
-      var val = $('<div class="doc-value null"></div>')
-      val.append($('<span class="null-type">' + obj[key] + '</span>'))
-      return val;
-    }
-    , "boolean": function (obj, key) {
-      var val = $('<div class="fue null"></div>')
-      val.append($('<span class="null-type">' + obj[key] + '</span>'))
-      return val;
-    }
-    , "array": function (obj, key, indent) {
-       if (!indent) indent = 1;
-        var val = $('<div class="doc-value array"></div>')
-        $('<span class="array-type">[</span><span class="expand" style="float:left">...</span><span class="array-type">]</span>')
-          .click(function (e) {
-            var n = $(this).parent();
-            var cls = 'sub-'+key+'-'+indent
-            n.html('')
-            n.append('<span style="padding-left:'+((indent - 1) * 10)+'px" class="array-type">[</span>')
-            for (i in obj[key]) {
-              var field = $('<div class="doc-field"></div>').click(handleTreeClick);
-              n.append(
-                field
-                  .append('<div class="array-key '+cls+'" >'+i+'</div>')
-                  .append(createTreeNode[getType(obj[key][i])](obj[key], i, indent + 1))
-                )
-            }
-            n.append('<span style="padding-left:'+((indent - 1) * 10)+'px" class="array-type">]</span>')
-            $('div.'+cls).width(largestWidth('div.'+cls))
-          })
-          .appendTo($('<div class="array-type"></div>').appendTo(val))
-        return val;
-    }
-    , "object": function (obj, key, indent) {
-      if (!indent) indent = 1;
-      var val = $('<div class="doc-value object"></div>')
-      $('<span class="object-type">{</span><span class="expand" style="float:left">...</span><span class="object-type">}</span>')
-        .click(function (e) {
-          var n = $(this).parent();
-          n.html('')
-          n.append('<span style="padding-left:'+((indent - 1) * 10)+'px" class="object-type">{</span>')
-          for (i in obj[key]) {
-            var field = $('<div class="doc-field"></div>').click(handleTreeClick);
-            var p = $('<div class="id-space" style="margin-left:'+(indent * 10)+'px"/>');
-            var di = $('<div class="object-key">'+i+'</div>')
-            field.append(p)
-              .append(di)
-              .append(createTreeNode[getType(obj[key][i])](obj[key], i, indent + 1))
-            n.append(field)
-          }
-
-          n.append('<span style="padding-left:'+((indent - 1) * 10)+'px" class="object-type">}</span>')
-          di.width(largestWidth('div.object-key'))
-        })
-        .appendTo($('<div class="object-type"></div>').appendTo(val))
-      return val;
-    }
-  }
-
-  function renderTree(doc) {
-    var d = $('div#document-editor');
-    for (i in doc) {
-      var field = $('<div class="doc-field"></div>').click(handleTreeClick);
-      $('<div class="id-space" />').appendTo(field);    
-      field.append('<div class="doc-key doc-key-base">'+i+'</div>')
-      field.append(createTreeNode[getType(doc[i])](doc, i));
-      d.append(field);
-    }
-
-    $('div.doc-key-base').width(largestWidth('div.doc-key-base'))
-  }
-  
-  
   return {
-    inURL: inURL,
     registerEmitter: registerEmitter,
     listenFor: listenFor,
     show: show,
@@ -1067,15 +821,7 @@ var util = function() {
     position: position,
     render: render,
     notify: notify,
-    observeExit: observeExit,
-    formatMetadata:formatMetadata,
-    getBaseURL:getBaseURL,
-    resetForm: resetForm,
-    delay: delay,
-    persist: persist,
-    lookupPath: lookupPath,
-    selectedTreePath: selectedTreePath,
-    renderTree: renderTree
+    observeExit: observeExit
   };
 }();
 this.recline = this.recline || {};
@@ -1184,14 +930,20 @@ my.DataExplorer = Backbone.View.extend({
     this.model.fetch().then(function(dataset) {
       self.el.find('.doc-count').text(self.model.docCount || 'Unknown');
       // initialize of dataTable calls render
-      self.model.getDocuments(self.config.displayCount);
+      var queryObj = {
+        size: self.config.displayCount
+      };
+      self.model.query(queryObj);
     });
   },
 
   onDisplayCountUpdate: function(e) {
     e.preventDefault();
     this.config.displayCount = parseInt(this.el.find('input[name="displayCount"]').val());
-    this.model.getDocuments(this.config.displayCount);
+    var queryObj = {
+      size: this.config.displayCount
+    };
+    this.model.query(queryObj);
   },
 
   setReadOnly: function() {
@@ -1260,11 +1012,13 @@ my.DataTable = Backbone.View.extend({
     this.model.currentDocuments.bind('reset', this.render);
     this.model.currentDocuments.bind('remove', this.render);
     this.state = {};
+    this.hiddenHeaders = [];
   },
 
   events: {
     'click .column-header-menu': 'onColumnHeaderClick'
     , 'click .row-header-menu': 'onRowHeaderClick'
+    , 'click .root-header-menu': 'onRootHeaderClick'
     , 'click .data-table-menu li a': 'onMenuClick'
   },
 
@@ -1294,6 +1048,11 @@ my.DataTable = Backbone.View.extend({
     util.position('data-table-menu', e);
     util.render('rowActions', 'data-table-menu');
   },
+  
+  onRootHeaderClick: function(e) {
+    util.position('data-table-menu', e);
+    util.render('rootActions', 'data-table-menu', {'columns': this.hiddenHeaders});
+  },
 
   onMenuClick: function(e) {
     var self = this;
@@ -1301,6 +1060,10 @@ my.DataTable = Backbone.View.extend({
     var actions = {
       bulkEdit: function() { self.showTransformColumnDialog('bulkEdit', {name: self.state.currentColumn}) },
       transform: function() { self.showTransformDialog('transform') },
+      sortAsc: function() { self.setColumnSort('asc') },
+      sortDesc: function() { self.setColumnSort('desc') },
+      hideColumn: function() { self.hideColumn() },
+      showColumn: function() { self.showColumn(e) },
       // TODO: Delete or re-implement ...
       csv: function() { window.location.href = app.csvUrl },
       json: function() { window.location.href = "_rewrite/api/json" },
@@ -1364,6 +1127,20 @@ my.DataTable = Backbone.View.extend({
     $('.dialog').draggable({ handle: '.dialog-header', cursor: 'move' });
   },
 
+  setColumnSort: function(order) {
+    var query = _.extend(this.model.queryState, {sort: [[this.state.currentColumn, order]]});
+    this.model.query(query);
+  },
+  
+  hideColumn: function() {
+    this.hiddenHeaders.push(this.state.currentColumn);
+    this.render();
+  },
+  
+  showColumn: function(e) {
+    this.hiddenHeaders = _.without(this.hiddenHeaders, $(e.target).data('column'));
+    this.render();
+  },
 
   // ======================================================
   // Core Templating
@@ -1373,7 +1150,14 @@ my.DataTable = Backbone.View.extend({
     <table class="data-table" cellspacing="0"> \
       <thead> \
         <tr> \
-          {{#notEmpty}}<th class="column-header"></th>{{/notEmpty}} \
+          {{#notEmpty}} \
+            <th class="column-header"> \
+              <div class="column-header-title"> \
+                <a class="root-header-menu"></a> \
+                <span class="column-header-name"></span> \
+              </div> \
+            </th> \
+          {{/notEmpty}} \
           {{#headers}} \
             <th class="column-header"> \
               <div class="column-header-title"> \
@@ -1391,11 +1175,15 @@ my.DataTable = Backbone.View.extend({
 
   toTemplateJSON: function() {
     var modelData = this.model.toJSON()
-    modelData.notEmpty = ( modelData.headers.length > 0 )
+    modelData.notEmpty = ( this.headers.length > 0 )
+    modelData.headers = this.headers;
     return modelData;
   },
   render: function() {
     var self = this;
+    this.headers = _.filter(this.model.get('headers'), function(header) {
+      return _.indexOf(self.hiddenHeaders, header) == -1;
+    });
     var htmls = $.mustache(this.template, this.toTemplateJSON());
     this.el.html(htmls);
     this.model.currentDocuments.forEach(function(doc) {
@@ -1404,10 +1192,11 @@ my.DataTable = Backbone.View.extend({
       var newView = new my.DataTableRow({
           model: doc,
           el: tr,
-          headers: self.model.get('headers')
+          headers: self.headers,
         });
       newView.render();
     });
+    $(".root-header-menu").toggle((self.hiddenHeaders.length > 0));
     return this;
   }
 });
@@ -1423,6 +1212,7 @@ my.DataTableRow = Backbone.View.extend({
     this.el = $(this.el);
     this.model.bind('change', this.render);
   },
+
   template: ' \
       <td><a class="row-header-menu"></a></td> \
       {{#cells}} \