diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/Application.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/Application.java
index 04552ed611..f4fea404b6 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/Application.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/Application.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public class Application
    
    public static final String MESSAGE_BUNDLE = "alfresco.messages.webclient";
    
-   private static ThreadLocal<Boolean> inPortalServer = new ThreadLocal<Boolean>();
+   private static boolean inPortalServer = false;
    private static StoreRef repoStoreRef;
    private static String rootPath;
    private static String companyRootId;
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public class Application
     */
    public static void setInPortalServer(boolean inPortal)
    {
-      inPortalServer.set(inPortal);
+      inPortalServer = inPortal;
    }
    
    /**
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public class Application
     */
    public static boolean inPortalServer()
    {
-      return (inPortalServer.get() != null ? inPortalServer.get() : false);
+      return inPortalServer;
    }
    
    /**
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/ContextListener.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/ContextListener.java
index 12b2d6e245..948f3d9305 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/ContextListener.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/ContextListener.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
  */
 package org.alfresco.web.app;
 
+import java.util.Enumeration;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
@@ -35,7 +36,6 @@ import org.alfresco.service.cmr.search.SearchService;
 import org.alfresco.service.cmr.security.AuthenticationService;
 import org.alfresco.service.namespace.NamespaceService;
 import org.alfresco.service.transaction.TransactionService;
-import org.alfresco.web.app.portlet.AlfrescoFacesPortlet;
 import org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.AuthenticationHelper;
 import org.alfresco.web.bean.repository.Repository;
 import org.alfresco.web.bean.repository.User;
@@ -164,7 +164,8 @@ public class ContextListener implements ServletContextListener, HttpSessionListe
     */
    public void sessionCreated(HttpSessionEvent event)
    {
-      if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) logger.debug("HTTP session created: " + event.getSession().getId());
+      if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+         logger.debug("HTTP session created: " + event.getSession().getId());
    }
 
    /**
@@ -172,27 +173,42 @@ public class ContextListener implements ServletContextListener, HttpSessionListe
     */
    public void sessionDestroyed(HttpSessionEvent event)
    {
-      if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) logger.debug("HTTP session destroyed: " + event.getSession().getId());
-
-      String userKey;
+      if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+         logger.debug("HTTP session destroyed: " + event.getSession().getId());
+      
+      String userKey = null;
       if (Application.inPortalServer() == false)
       {
          userKey = AuthenticationHelper.AUTHENTICATION_USER;
       }
       else
       {
-         userKey = AlfrescoFacesPortlet.MANAGED_BEAN_PREFIX + AuthenticationHelper.AUTHENTICATION_USER;
+         // search for the user object in the portlet wrapped session keys
+         // each vendor uses a different naming scheme so we search by hand
+         String userKeyPostfix = "?" + AuthenticationHelper.AUTHENTICATION_USER; 
+         Enumeration enumNames = event.getSession().getAttributeNames();
+         while (enumNames.hasMoreElements())
+         {
+            String name = (String)enumNames.nextElement();
+            if (name.endsWith(userKeyPostfix))
+            {
+               userKey = name;
+               break;
+            }
+         }
       }
-      
-      User user = (User)event.getSession().getAttribute(userKey);
-      if (user != null)
+      if (userKey != null)
       {
-         // invalidate ticket and clear the Security context for this thread
-         WebApplicationContext ctx = WebApplicationContextUtils.getRequiredWebApplicationContext(servletContext);
-         AuthenticationService authService = (AuthenticationService)ctx.getBean("authenticationService");
-         authService.invalidateTicket(user.getTicket());
-         authService.clearCurrentSecurityContext();
-         event.getSession().removeAttribute(userKey);
+         User user = (User)event.getSession().getAttribute(userKey);
+         if (user != null)
+         {
+            // invalidate ticket and clear the Security context for this thread
+            WebApplicationContext ctx = WebApplicationContextUtils.getRequiredWebApplicationContext(servletContext);
+            AuthenticationService authService = (AuthenticationService)ctx.getBean("authenticationService");
+            authService.invalidateTicket(user.getTicket());
+            authService.clearCurrentSecurityContext();
+            event.getSession().removeAttribute(userKey);
+         }
       }
    }
 }
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/portlet/AlfrescoFacesPortlet.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/portlet/AlfrescoFacesPortlet.java
index c559ecb9e9..afc5984f07 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/portlet/AlfrescoFacesPortlet.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/portlet/AlfrescoFacesPortlet.java
@@ -63,8 +63,6 @@ import org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext;
 public class AlfrescoFacesPortlet extends MyFacesGenericPortlet
 {
    private static final String PREF_ALF_USERNAME = "_alfUserName";
-   public static final String INSTANCE_NAME = "AlfrescoClientInstance";
-   public static final String MANAGED_BEAN_PREFIX = "javax.portlet.p." + INSTANCE_NAME + "?";
    
    private static final String ERROR_PAGE_PARAM = "error-page";
    private static final String ERROR_OCCURRED = "error-occurred";
@@ -165,11 +163,9 @@ public class AlfrescoFacesPortlet extends MyFacesGenericPortlet
                   LoginBean loginBean = (LoginBean)request.getPortletSession().getAttribute(AuthenticationHelper.LOGIN_BEAN);
                   if (loginBean != null)
                   {
-                     //
-                     // TODO: Need to login to JBoss Portal to get a user here to store prefs against
+                     // TODO: Need to login to the Portal to get a user here to store prefs against
                      //       so not really a suitable solution as they get thrown away at present!
                      //       Also would need to store prefs PER user - so auto login for each...?
-                     //
                      String oldValue = request.getPreferences().getValue(PREF_ALF_USERNAME, null);
                      if (oldValue == null || oldValue.equals(loginBean.getUsernameInternal()) == false)
                      {
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/AuthenticationHelper.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/AuthenticationHelper.java
index d0806c80bf..7238435bf0 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/AuthenticationHelper.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/AuthenticationHelper.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package org.alfresco.web.app.servlet;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Enumeration;
 
 import javax.portlet.PortletSession;
 import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
@@ -39,7 +40,6 @@ import org.alfresco.service.cmr.security.AuthenticationService;
 import org.alfresco.service.cmr.security.PermissionService;
 import org.alfresco.service.cmr.security.PersonService;
 import org.alfresco.web.app.Application;
-import org.alfresco.web.app.portlet.AlfrescoFacesPortlet;
 import org.alfresco.web.bean.LoginBean;
 import org.alfresco.web.bean.repository.User;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ public final class AuthenticationHelper
    /** cookie names */
    private static final String COOKIE_ALFUSER = "alfUser";
    
+   /** portal mode key name */
+   private static ThreadLocal<String> portalUserKeyName = new ThreadLocal<String>();
+   
    private static Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(AuthenticationHelper.class);
    
    
@@ -98,7 +101,7 @@ public final class AuthenticationHelper
       HttpSession session = httpRequest.getSession();
       
       // examine the appropriate session for our User object
-      User user;
+      User user = null;
       LoginBean loginBean = null;
       if (Application.inPortalServer() == false)
       {
@@ -107,9 +110,28 @@ public final class AuthenticationHelper
       }
       else
       {
-         // TODO: this prefix is not consistent between JSR-168 vendors!
-         //       we need a solution for each vendor?
-         user = (User)session.getAttribute(AlfrescoFacesPortlet.MANAGED_BEAN_PREFIX + AUTHENTICATION_USER);
+         // naff solution as we need to enumerate all session keys until we find the one that
+         // should match our User objects - this is weak but we don't know how the underlying
+         // Portal vendor has decided to encode the objects in the session
+         if (portalUserKeyName.get() == null)
+         {
+            String userKeyPostfix = "?" + AUTHENTICATION_USER; 
+            Enumeration enumNames = session.getAttributeNames();
+            while (enumNames.hasMoreElements())
+            {
+               String name = (String)enumNames.nextElement();
+               if (name.endsWith(userKeyPostfix))
+               {
+                  // cache the key value once found!
+                  portalUserKeyName.set(name);
+                  break;
+               }
+            }
+         }
+         if (portalUserKeyName.get() != null)
+         {
+            user = (User)session.getAttribute(portalUserKeyName.get());
+         }
       }
       
       // setup the authentication context
diff --git a/source/web/jsp/content/add-content-dialog.jsp b/source/web/jsp/content/add-content-dialog.jsp
index 4d4987bc79..b4d66e0ed9 100644
--- a/source/web/jsp/content/add-content-dialog.jsp
+++ b/source/web/jsp/content/add-content-dialog.jsp
@@ -23,19 +23,14 @@
 <%@ page isELIgnored="false" %>
 <%@ page import="javax.faces.context.FacesContext" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.Application" %>
-<%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.portlet.AlfrescoFacesPortlet" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.bean.content.AddContentDialog" %>
+<%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.FacesHelper" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.ui.common.PanelGenerator" %>
 
 <%
 boolean fileUploaded = false;
 
-AddContentDialog dialog = (AddContentDialog)session.getAttribute(AlfrescoFacesPortlet.MANAGED_BEAN_PREFIX + "AddContentDialog");
-if (dialog == null)
-{
-   dialog = (AddContentDialog)session.getAttribute("AddContentDialog");
-}
-
+AddContentDialog dialog = (AddContentDialog)FacesHelper.getManagedBean(FacesContext.getCurrentInstance(), "AddContentDialog");
 if (dialog != null && dialog.getFileName() != null) 
 {
    fileUploaded = true;
diff --git a/source/web/jsp/dialog/checkin-file.jsp b/source/web/jsp/dialog/checkin-file.jsp
index 6a30defdb5..89b653ed38 100644
--- a/source/web/jsp/dialog/checkin-file.jsp
+++ b/source/web/jsp/dialog/checkin-file.jsp
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 <%@ page buffer="32kb" contentType="text/html;charset=UTF-8" %>
 <%@ page isELIgnored="false" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.ui.common.PanelGenerator" %>
-<%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.portlet.AlfrescoFacesPortlet" %>
+<%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.FacesHelper" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.bean.CheckinCheckoutBean" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.Application" %>
 <%@ page import="javax.faces.context.FacesContext" %>
@@ -192,11 +192,7 @@
                                     </td>
                                  </tr>
                                  <%
-                                 CheckinCheckoutBean bean = (CheckinCheckoutBean)session.getAttribute(AlfrescoFacesPortlet.MANAGED_BEAN_PREFIX + "CheckinCheckoutBean");
-                                 if (bean == null)
-                                 {
-                                    bean = (CheckinCheckoutBean)session.getAttribute("CheckinCheckoutBean");
-                                 }
+                                 CheckinCheckoutBean bean = (CheckinCheckoutBean)FacesHelper.getManagedBean(FacesContext.getCurrentInstance(), "CheckinCheckoutBean");
                                  if (bean != null && bean.getFileName() != null) {
                                  %>
                                     <tr><td class="paddingRow"></td></tr>
diff --git a/source/web/jsp/dialog/import.jsp b/source/web/jsp/dialog/import.jsp
index dcb291c822..744de2a57a 100644
--- a/source/web/jsp/dialog/import.jsp
+++ b/source/web/jsp/dialog/import.jsp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 <%@ page isELIgnored="false" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.ui.common.PanelGenerator" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.bean.ImportBean" %>
-<%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.portlet.AlfrescoFacesPortlet" %>
+<%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.FacesHelper" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.Application" %>
 <%@ page import="javax.faces.context.FacesContext" %>
 
@@ -129,11 +129,7 @@
                                  <h:form acceptCharset="UTF-8" id="import-upload-end">
                                  <tr><td class="paddingRow"></td></tr>
                                  <%
-                                 ImportBean bean = (ImportBean)session.getAttribute(AlfrescoFacesPortlet.MANAGED_BEAN_PREFIX + "ImportDialog");
-                                 if (bean == null)
-                                 {
-                                    bean = (ImportBean)session.getAttribute("ImportDialog");
-                                 }
+                                 ImportBean bean = (ImportBean)FacesHelper.getManagedBean(FacesContext.getCurrentInstance(), "ImportDialog");
                                  if (bean != null && bean.getFileName() != null) {
                                  %>
                                     <tr>
diff --git a/source/web/jsp/dialog/update-file.jsp b/source/web/jsp/dialog/update-file.jsp
index 7ca116868a..21ef674438 100644
--- a/source/web/jsp/dialog/update-file.jsp
+++ b/source/web/jsp/dialog/update-file.jsp
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 <%@ page buffer="32kb" contentType="text/html;charset=UTF-8" %>
 <%@ page isELIgnored="false" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.ui.common.PanelGenerator" %>
-<%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.portlet.AlfrescoFacesPortlet" %>
+<%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.FacesHelper" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.bean.CheckinCheckoutBean" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.Application" %>
 <%@ page import="javax.faces.context.FacesContext" %>
@@ -127,11 +127,7 @@
                                     </td>
                                  </tr>
                                  <%
-                                 CheckinCheckoutBean bean = (CheckinCheckoutBean)session.getAttribute(AlfrescoFacesPortlet.MANAGED_BEAN_PREFIX + "CheckinCheckoutBean");
-                                 if (bean == null)
-                                 {
-                                 	bean = (CheckinCheckoutBean)session.getAttribute("CheckinCheckoutBean");
-                                 }
+                                 CheckinCheckoutBean bean = (CheckinCheckoutBean)FacesHelper.getManagedBean(FacesContext.getCurrentInstance(), "CheckinCheckoutBean");
                                  if (bean != null && bean.getFileName() != null) {
                                  %>
                                     <tr>
diff --git a/source/web/jsp/wizard/add-content/upload.jsp b/source/web/jsp/wizard/add-content/upload.jsp
index 11c01eabfb..3dbb6aa678 100644
--- a/source/web/jsp/wizard/add-content/upload.jsp
+++ b/source/web/jsp/wizard/add-content/upload.jsp
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@
 <%@ page isELIgnored="false" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.ui.common.PanelGenerator" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.bean.wizard.AddContentWizard" %>
-<%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.portlet.AlfrescoFacesPortlet" %>
 <%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.Application" %>
+<%@ page import="org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.FacesHelper" %>
 <%@ page import="javax.faces.context.FacesContext" %>
 
 <r:page titleId="title_add_content_upload">
@@ -146,13 +146,9 @@
                                  </r:uploadForm>
                                  
                                  <h:form acceptCharset="UTF-8" id="add-content-upload-end">
-                                 <tr><td class="paddingRow"></td></tr>
+                                 <tr><td class="paddingRow">===TEST JSP===</td></tr>
                                  <%
-                                 AddContentWizard wiz = (AddContentWizard)session.getAttribute(AlfrescoFacesPortlet.MANAGED_BEAN_PREFIX + "AddContentWizard");
-                                 if (wiz == null)
-                                 {
-                                    wiz = (AddContentWizard)session.getAttribute("AddContentWizard");
-                                 }
+                                 AddContentWizard wiz = (AddContentWizard)FacesHelper.getManagedBean(FacesContext.getCurrentInstance(), "AddContentWizard");
                                  if (wiz != null && wiz.getFileName() != null) {
                                  %>
                                     <tr>