diff --git a/action.php b/action.php
index 26aeb6a..787c40a 100644
--- a/action.php
+++ b/action.php
@@ -55,9 +55,9 @@ class action_plugin_userhomepage extends DokuWiki_Action_Plugin{
                 $this->private_ns = cleanID($this->getConf('users_namespace').':'. $this->privateNamespace());
             }
             // private:simon:start.txt
-            $this->private_page= cleanID($this->private_ns . ':' . $this->privatePage());
+            $this->private_page = cleanID($this->private_ns . ':' . $this->privatePage());
             // user:simon.txt
-            $this->public_page= cleanID($this->getConf('public_pages_ns').':'. $_SERVER['REMOTE_USER']);
+            $this->public_page = cleanID($this->getConf('public_pages_ns').':'. $_SERVER['REMOTE_USER']);
             // if private page doesn't exists, create it (from template)
             if ($this->getConf('create_private_ns') && !page_exists($this->private_page) && !checklock($this->private_page) && !checkwordblock()) {
                 // set acl's if requested
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ class action_plugin_userhomepage extends DokuWiki_Action_Plugin{
             return $conf['start'];
         } else {
             return $this->homeNamespace();
-        };
+        }
     }
     function _template_private() {
         global $INFO;
diff --git a/helper.php b/helper.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8512ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helper.php
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Helper Component for the Userhomepage Plugin
+ *
+ * @author: Simon Delage <simon.geekitude@gmail.com>
+ * @license: CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>
+ */
+
+// must be run within Dokuwiki
+if(!defined('DOKU_INC')) die();
+
+class helper_plugin_userhomepage extends DokuWiki_Plugin {
+
+    function getPrivateNs() {
+        if ($this->getConf('group_by_name')) {
+            // private:s:simon
+            $this->private_ns = cleanID($this->getConf('users_namespace').':'.strtolower(substr($this->privateNamespace(), 0, 1)).':'. $this->privateNamespace());
+        } else {
+            // private:simon
+            $this->private_ns = cleanID($this->getConf('users_namespace').':'. $this->privateNamespace());
+        }
+        // private:simon:start.txt
+        return $this->private_page = cleanID($this->private_ns . ':' . $this->privatePage());
+
+    }
+
+    function getPublicPage() {
+        return $this->public_page = cleanID($this->getConf('public_pages_ns').':'. $_SERVER['REMOTE_USER']);
+    }
+
+    function privateNamespace() {
+        if ( $this->getConf('use_name_string')) {
+            global $INFO;
+            $raw_string = $INFO['userinfo']['name'];
+            // simon_delage
+            return $raw_string;
+        } else {
+            // simon
+            return strtolower($_SERVER['REMOTE_USER']);
+        }
+    }
+
+    function privatePage() {
+        if ( $this->getConf('use_start_page')) {
+            global $conf;
+            return $conf['start'];
+        } else {
+            return $this->homeNamespace();
+        }
+    }
+
+}