diff --git a/cms/static/sass/_unit.scss b/cms/static/sass/_unit.scss
index 5edce2419c..d8ca1117e9 100644
--- a/cms/static/sass/_unit.scss
+++ b/cms/static/sass/_unit.scss
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
   }
 
   .components {
+
     > li {
       position: relative;
       z-index: 10;
@@ -118,6 +119,24 @@
           }
         }
 
+        .new-component-templates {
+          display: none;
+          padding: 20px;
+          @include clearfix;
+
+          .cancel-button {
+            @include white-button;
+          }
+
+          // specific menu types
+          &.new-component-problem {
+
+            .ss-icon, .editor-indicator {
+              display: inline-block;
+            }
+          }
+        }
+
         .new-component-type,
         .new-component-template {
           @include clearfix;
@@ -177,7 +196,11 @@
               position: relative;
               top: 3px;
               font-size: 12px;
-              opacity: 0.1;
+              opacity: 0.3;
+            }
+
+            .ss-icon, .editor-indicator {
+              display: none;
             }
 
             &:hover {
@@ -214,16 +237,6 @@
           }
           
         }
-        
-        .new-component-templates {
-          display: none;
-          padding: 20px;
-          @include clearfix;
-
-          .cancel-button {
-            @include white-button;
-          }
-        }
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee
index 2902f4d1c9..dfb197e204 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ class @HTMLEditingDescriptor
 
     $(@advanced_editor.getWrapperElement()).addClass(HTMLEditingDescriptor.isInactiveClass)
 
+#   This is a workaround for the fact that tinyMCE's baseURL property is not getting correctly set on AWS
+#   instances (like sandbox). It is not necessary to explicitly set baseURL when running locally.
+    tinyMCE.baseURL = '/static/js/vendor/tiny_mce'
     @tiny_mce_textarea = $(".tiny-mce", @element).tinymce({
       script_url : '/static/js/vendor/tiny_mce/tiny_mce.js',
       theme : "advanced",
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/templates/discussion/default.yaml b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/templates/discussion/default.yaml
index fa6dcbff54..d34e6378e6 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/templates/discussion/default.yaml
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/templates/discussion/default.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 ---
 metadata:
     display_name: Discussion Tag
+    for: Topic-Level Student-Visible Label 
+    id: 6002x_group_discussion_by_this 
+    discussion_category: Week 1
 data: |
   <discussion for="Topic-Level Student-Visible Label" id="6002x_group_discussion_by_this" discussion_category="Week 1" />
 children: []
diff --git a/jenkins/test.sh b/jenkins/test.sh
index 3ea1b40c55..7651fcd917 100755
--- a/jenkins/test.sh
+++ b/jenkins/test.sh
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ git submodule foreach 'git reset --hard HEAD'
 export PYTHONIOENCODING=UTF-8
 
 GIT_BRANCH=${GIT_BRANCH/HEAD/master}
-
 if [ ! -d /mnt/virtualenvs/"$JOB_NAME" ]; then
     mkdir -p /mnt/virtualenvs/"$JOB_NAME"
     virtualenv /mnt/virtualenvs/"$JOB_NAME"
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py b/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
index 1f39ebfcfd..3094367491 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from collections import defaultdict
 import logging
 import time
 import urllib
+from datetime import datetime
 
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
@@ -63,22 +64,19 @@ def get_discussion_id_map(course):
         return a dict of the form {category: modules}
     """
     global _DISCUSSIONINFO
-    if not _DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id]:
-        initialize_discussion_info(course)
+    initialize_discussion_info(course)
     return _DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id]['id_map']
 
 def get_discussion_title(course, discussion_id):
     global _DISCUSSIONINFO
-    if not _DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id]:
-        initialize_discussion_info(course)
+    initialize_discussion_info(course)
     title = _DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id]['id_map'].get(discussion_id, {}).get('title', '(no title)')
     return title
 
 def get_discussion_category_map(course):
 
     global _DISCUSSIONINFO
-    if not _DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id]:
-        initialize_discussion_info(course)
+    initialize_discussion_info(course)
     return filter_unstarted_categories(_DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id]['category_map'])
 
 def filter_unstarted_categories(category_map):
@@ -131,8 +129,18 @@ def sort_map_entries(category_map):
 def initialize_discussion_info(course):
 
     global _DISCUSSIONINFO
+
+    # only cache in-memory discussion information for 10 minutes
+    # this is because we need a short-term hack fix for
+    # mongo-backed courseware whereby new discussion modules can be added
+    # without LMS service restart
+
     if _DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id]:
-        return
+        timestamp = _DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id].get('timestamp', datetime.now())
+        age = datetime.now() - timestamp
+        # expire every 5 minutes
+        if age.seconds < 300:
+            return
 
     course_id = course.id
 
@@ -209,6 +217,7 @@ def initialize_discussion_info(course):
 
     _DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id]['id_map'] = discussion_id_map
     _DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id]['category_map'] = category_map
+    _DISCUSSIONINFO[course.id]['timestamp'] = datetime.now()
 
 class JsonResponse(HttpResponse):
     def __init__(self, data=None):