diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py
index 89825a8c46..78cda2e00c 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ from django import forms
 from django.shortcuts import redirect
 
 from xmodule.modulestore import Location
+from xmodule.modulestore.exceptions import ItemNotFoundError
 from xmodule.x_module import ModuleSystem
 from xmodule.error_module import ErrorDescriptor
 from xmodule.errortracker import exc_info_to_str
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ from mitxmako.shortcuts import render_to_response, render_to_string
 from xmodule.modulestore.django import modulestore
 from xmodule_modifiers import replace_static_urls, wrap_xmodule
 from xmodule.exceptions import NotFoundError
+from xmodule.timeparse import parse_time, stringify_time
 from functools import partial
 from itertools import groupby
 from operator import attrgetter
@@ -106,7 +108,7 @@ def index(request):
     courses = modulestore().get_items(['i4x', None, None, 'course', None])
 
     # filter out courses that we don't have access to
-    courses = filter(lambda course: has_access(request.user, course.location), courses)
+    courses = filter(lambda course: has_access(request.user, course.location) and course.location.course != 'templates', courses)
 
     return render_to_response('index.html', {
         'new_course_template' : Location('i4x', 'edx', 'templates', 'course', 'Empty'),
@@ -610,32 +612,7 @@ def unpublish_unit(request):
 
     return HttpResponse()
 
-@login_required
-@expect_json
-def create_new_course(request):
-    template = Location(request.POST['template'])
-    org = request.POST.get('org')   
-    number = request.POST.get('number')  
-    display_name = request.POST.get('display_name')   
 
-    dest_location = Location('i4x', org, number, 'course', Location.clean(display_name))
-
-    logging.debug(dest_location)
-    logging.debug(template)
-
-    new_course = modulestore('direct').clone_item(template, dest_location)
-
-    if display_name is not None:
-        new_course.metadata['display_name'] = display_name
-
-    # we need a 'data_dir' for legacy reasons
-    new_course.metadata['data_dir'] = uuid4().hex
-
-    modulestore('direct').update_metadata(new_course.location.url(), new_course.own_metadata)   
-
-    create_all_course_groups(request.user, new_course.location)
-
-    return HttpResponse(json.dumps({'id': new_course.location.url()}))
 
 @login_required
 @expect_json
@@ -889,6 +866,46 @@ def asset_index(request, org, course, name):
 def edge(request):
     return render_to_response('university_profiles/edge.html', {})
 
+@login_required
+@expect_json
+def create_new_course(request):
+    template = Location(request.POST['template'])
+    org = request.POST.get('org')   
+    number = request.POST.get('number')  
+    display_name = request.POST.get('display_name')   
+
+    dest_location = Location('i4x', org, number, 'course', Location.clean(display_name))
+
+    # see if the course already exists
+    existing_course = None
+    try:
+        existing_course = modulestore('direct').get_item(dest_location)
+    except ItemNotFoundError:
+        pass
+
+    if existing_course is not None:
+        return HttpResponse(json.dumps({'ErrMsg': 'There is already a course defined with this name.'}))
+
+    logging.debug(dest_location)
+    logging.debug(template)
+
+    new_course = modulestore('direct').clone_item(template, dest_location)
+
+    if display_name is not None:
+        new_course.metadata['display_name'] = display_name
+
+    # we need a 'data_dir' for legacy reasons
+    new_course.metadata['data_dir'] = uuid4().hex
+
+    # set a default start date to now
+    new_course.metadata['start'] = stringify_time(time.gmtime())
+
+    modulestore('direct').update_metadata(new_course.location.url(), new_course.own_metadata)   
+
+    create_all_course_groups(request.user, new_course.location)
+
+    return HttpResponse(json.dumps({'id': new_course.location.url()}))
+
 @ensure_csrf_cookie
 @login_required
 def import_course(request, org, course, name):
@@ -955,4 +972,8 @@ def import_course(request, org, course, name):
         return render_to_response('import.html', {
             'context_course': course_module,
             'active_tab': 'import',
+            'successful_import_redirect_url' : reverse('course_index', args=[
+                        course_module.location.org,
+                        course_module.location.course,
+                        course_module.location.name])
         })
diff --git a/cms/static/js/base.js b/cms/static/js/base.js
index 12f1a3ecc3..7448a0e151 100644
--- a/cms/static/js/base.js
+++ b/cms/static/js/base.js
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ function showImportSubmit(e) {
     $('.file-name-block').show();
     $('.import .choose-file-button').hide();
     $('.submit-button').show();
+    $('.progress').show();
 }
 
 function syncReleaseDate(e) {
@@ -452,6 +453,10 @@ function saveNewCourse(e) {
     number = $(this).prevAll('.new-course-number').val();
     display_name = $(this).prevAll('.new-course-name').val();
 
+    if (org == '' || number == '' || display_name == ''){
+        alert('You must specify all fields in order to create a new course.')
+    }
+
     $.post('/create_new_course',
        { 'template' : template,
            'org' : org,
@@ -460,7 +465,9 @@ function saveNewCourse(e) {
            },
        function(data) {
             if (data.id != undefined)
-               location.reload();
+               location.reload(); 
+            else if (data.ErrMsg != undefined)
+                alert(data.ErrMsg);
        });    
 }
 
diff --git a/cms/templates/base.html b/cms/templates/base.html
index f839cb9753..6b53666d3f 100644
--- a/cms/templates/base.html
+++ b/cms/templates/base.html
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
     <script src="${static.url('js/vendor/jquery.cookie.js')}"></script>
     <script src="${static.url('js/vendor/jquery.leanModal.min.js')}"></script>
     <script src="${static.url('js/vendor/jquery.tablednd.js')}"></script>
-    <script src="http://malsup.github.com/jquery.form.js"></script>
+    <script src="${static.url('js/vendor/jquery.form.js')}"></script>
     <script type="text/javascript">
       document.write('\x3Cscript type="text/javascript" src="' +
           document.location.protocol + '//www.youtube.com/player_api">\x3C/script>');
diff --git a/cms/templates/import.html b/cms/templates/import.html
index 7ef7bcb79a..42def2d512 100644
--- a/cms/templates/import.html
+++ b/cms/templates/import.html
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 <%inherit file="base.html" />
+<%namespace name='static' file='static_content.html'/>
+
 <%! from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse %>
 <%block name="title">Import</%block>
 <%block name="bodyclass">import</%block>
@@ -21,6 +23,10 @@
         <p class="file-name-block"><span class="file-name"></span><a href="#" class="choose-file-button-inline">change</a></p>
         <input type="file" name="course-data" class="file-input">
         <input type="submit" value="Replace my course with the one above" class="submit-button">
+        <div class="progress" style="position:relative; margin-top:5px; width:250px; height:15px; border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 1px; border-radius: 3px; display:none;">
+          <div class="bar" style="background-color: #B4F5B4; width:0%; height:10px; border-radius: 3px;"></div>
+          <div class="percent" style="margin-top:5px;">0%</div>
+        </div>
       </form>
     </article>
   </div>
@@ -28,7 +34,6 @@
 </%block>
 
 <%block name="jsextra">
-<script src="//malsup.github.com/jquery.form.js"></script>
 <script>
 (function() {
     
@@ -49,7 +54,12 @@ $('form').ajaxForm({
         percent.html(percentVal);
     },
     complete: function(xhr) {
-      status.html(xhr.responseText);
+      if (xhr.status == 200) {
+        alert('Your import has been successful.');
+        window.location = '${successful_import_redirect_url}';
+      }
+      else
+        alert('Your import has failed.\n\n' + xhr.responseText);
     }
   }); 
 })();