diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/base.js b/ui (gen4)/features/base.js
index 5e629a1b..ea58014a 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/base.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/base.js	
@@ -235,18 +235,14 @@ actions.Actions({
 	// NOTE: for complete isolation it is best to completely copy the 
 	// 		.config...
 	clone: ['- File/',
-		function(full){
-			var res = actions.MetaActions.clone.call(this, full)
-
+		function(full){ return function(res){
 			if(this.data){
 				res.data = this.data.clone()
 			} 
 			if(this.images){
 				res.images = this.images.clone()
 			}
-
-			return res
-		}],
+		} }],
 
 	dataFromURLs: ['- File/',
 		function(lst, base){
@@ -613,6 +609,7 @@ core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 
 	tag: 'base',
 	depends: [
+		'serialization',
 	],
 	suggested: [
 		'edit',
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/collections.js b/ui (gen4)/features/collections.js
index 5ddcc763..7ca38b00 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/collections.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/collections.js	
@@ -464,8 +464,6 @@ var CollectionActions = actions.Actions({
 				.removeEmptyRibbons()
 		}],
 
-	// manage serialization and loading...
-	//
 	// NOTE: this will handle collection title and data only, the rest 
 	// 		is copied in as-is.
 	// 		It is the responsibility of the extending features to transform
@@ -577,10 +575,6 @@ var CollectionActions = actions.Actions({
 			})
 		}
 	} }],
-	// XXX
-	clone: [function(){
-		// XXX
-	}],
 	clear: [function(){
 		this.collection
 			&& this.collectionUnloaded('*')
@@ -588,6 +582,35 @@ var CollectionActions = actions.Actions({
 		delete this.__collection_order
 		delete this.location.collection
 	}],
+
+	clone: [function(full){
+		return function(res){
+			if(this.collections){
+				var cur = this.collections
+
+				if(this.collection){
+					res.location.collection = this.collection
+				}
+
+				collections = res.collections = {}
+				this.collection_order
+					.forEach(function(title){
+						var c = collections[title] = {
+							title: title,
+						}
+
+						if(cur[title].data){
+							c.data = cur[title].data.clone()
+						}
+
+						if(cur[title].crop_stack){
+							c.crop_stack = cur[title].crop_stack
+								.map(function(d){ return d.clone() })
+						}
+					})
+			}
+
+		} }],
 })
 
 
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/core.js b/ui (gen4)/features/core.js
index a19a2a7a..2274f84a 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/core.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/core.js	
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 * 	- introspection
 * 	- lifecycle
 * 		base life-cycle events (start/stop/..)
+*	- serialization
+*		base methods to handle loading, serialization and cloning...
 * 	- util
 * 	- journal
 * 		action journaling and undo/redo functionality
@@ -537,6 +539,29 @@ module.LifeCycle = ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 })
 
 
+//---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+var SerializationActions = actions.Actions({
+	clone: ['- System/',
+		function(full){ return actions.MetaActions.clone.call(this, full) }],
+	json: ['- System/',
+		function(){ return {} }],
+	load: ['- System/',
+		function(){ }],
+	clear: ['- Sustem/',
+		function(){ }],
+})
+
+var Serialization = 
+module.Serialization = ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
+	title: '',
+
+	tag: 'serialization',
+
+	actions: SerializationActions,
+})
+
+
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 var UtilActions = actions.Actions({
@@ -554,7 +579,6 @@ var UtilActions = actions.Actions({
 		}],
 })
 
-
 var Util = 
 module.Util = ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 	title: '',
@@ -798,6 +822,9 @@ module.Journal = ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 	title: 'Action Journal',
 
 	tag: 'journal',
+	depends: [
+		'serialization',
+	],
 
 	actions: JournalActions,
 
@@ -933,7 +960,9 @@ module.Changes = ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 	doc: '',
 
 	tag: 'changes',
-	depends: [ ],
+	depends: [
+		'serialization',
+	],
 
 	actions: ChangesActions,
 })
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/location.js b/ui (gen4)/features/location.js
index baf59aa6..f9943507 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/location.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/location.js	
@@ -345,12 +345,12 @@ var LocationActions = actions.Actions({
 			// 		.location too...
 			this.__location = data.location
 		}}],
-	clone: [
-		function(res){
+	clone: [function(){
+		return function(res){
 			if(this.location){
 				res.__location = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(this.__location))
 			}
-		}],
+		}}],
 	clear: [function(){ 
 		this.clearLoaction() }],
 })