diff --git a/pwiki/page.js b/pwiki/page.js
index 560dc3d..5355b59 100755
--- a/pwiki/page.js
+++ b/pwiki/page.js
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ var relProxy =
 function(name){
 	var func = function(path='.', ...args){
 		return this.store[name](
-			pwpath.relative(this.location, path), 
+			pwpath.relative(this.path, path), 
 			...args) } 
 	Object.defineProperty(func, 'name', {value: name})
 	return func } 
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ function(name){
 			strict = path
 			path = '.' }
 		return this.store[name](
-			pwpath.relative(this.location, path), 
+			pwpath.relative(this.path, path), 
 			strict) } 
 	Object.defineProperty(func, 'name', {value: name})
 	return func }
@@ -136,32 +136,37 @@ object.Constructor('BasePage', {
 	// .path is a proxy to .location
 	// XXX do we need this???
 	get path(){
-		return this.location },
+		return pwpath.splitArgs(this.location).path },
 	set path(value){
 		this.location = value },
 
+	get args(){
+		return pwpath.splitArgs(this.location).args },
+	set args(args){
+		this.location = this.path +':'+ pwpath.obj2args(args) },
+
 	// XXX do we need this...
 	get resolvedPath(){
 		return this.match() },
 
 	// XXX should these be writable???
 	get name(){
-		return pwpath.basename(this.location) },
+		return pwpath.basename(this.path) },
 	//set name(value){ },
 	get dir(){
-		return pwpath.dirname(this.location) },
+		return pwpath.dirname(this.path) },
 	//set dir(value){ },
 	get isPattern(){
-		return this.location.includes('*') },
+		return this.path.includes('*') },
 	
 	// store interface...
 	//
 	// XXX we are only doing modifiers here...
 	// 		...these ar mainly used to disable writing in .ro(..)
 	__update__: function(data){
-		return this.store.update(this.location, data) },
+		return this.store.update(this.path, data) },
 	__delete__: function(path='.'){
-		return this.store.delete(pwpath.relative(this.location, path)) },
+		return this.store.delete(pwpath.relative(this.path, path)) },
 
 	// page data...
 	//
@@ -180,7 +185,7 @@ object.Constructor('BasePage', {
 					return page.data }) }
 		// single page...
 		// XXX ENERGETIC...
-		var res = await this.store.get(this.location, !!this.strict, !!this.energetic)
+		var res = await this.store.get(this.path, !!this.strict, !!this.energetic)
 		return typeof(res) == 'function' ?
 			res.bind(this)
 			: res }).call(this) },
@@ -192,7 +197,7 @@ object.Constructor('BasePage', {
 	// NOTE: in the general case this is the same as .data but in also allows
 	// 		storing of data (metadata) for pattern paths...
 	get metadata(){
-		return this.store.metadata(this.location) },
+		return this.store.metadata(this.path) },
 	set metadata(value){
 		this.__update__(value) },
 
@@ -206,7 +211,7 @@ object.Constructor('BasePage', {
 	// number of matching pages...
 	// NOTE: this can be both sync and async...
 	get length(){
-		var p = this.resolve(this.location)
+		var p = this.resolve(this.path)
 		return p instanceof Array ?
 				p.length
 			: p instanceof Promise ?
@@ -225,7 +230,7 @@ object.Constructor('BasePage', {
 		if(path === true || path === false){
 			strict = path
 			path = '.' }
-		path = pwpath.relative(this.location, path)
+		path = pwpath.relative(this.path, path)
 		var res = await this.store.match(path, strict) 
 		return res.length == 0 ?
 			// XXX are we going outside of match semantics here???
@@ -273,7 +278,7 @@ object.Constructor('BasePage', {
 			strict = path
 			path = '.' }
 		return this.store.find(
-			pwpath.relative(this.location, path), strict) },
+			pwpath.relative(this.path, path), strict) },
 
 	//
 	// 	.get(<path>[, <data>])
@@ -288,7 +293,7 @@ object.Constructor('BasePage', {
 				location: path, 
 				...data,
 				referrer: data.referrer 
-					//?? this.location,
+					//?? this.path,
 					?? this.referrer,
 				strict,
 			}) },
@@ -614,6 +619,18 @@ object.Constructor('Page', BasePage, {
 	// XXX ASYNC make these support async page getters...
 	macros: {
 		//
+		//	@arg(<name>[ <default>][ local])
+		//	@arg(name=<name>[ default=<value>][ local])
+		//
+		arg: Macro(
+			['name', 'default', ['local']],
+			function(args){
+				return this.args[args.name] 
+					|| (!args.local 
+						&& this.root
+						&& this.root.args[args.name])
+					|| args.default }),
+		//
 		// 	@filter(<filter-spec>)
 		// 	<filter <filter-spec>/>
 		//
diff --git a/pwiki/path.js b/pwiki/path.js
index 8d63a2d..61fdbba 100755
--- a/pwiki/path.js
+++ b/pwiki/path.js
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ module = {
 
 	// XXX EXPERIMENTAL...
 	//
-	//	.splitSrgs(<path>)
+	//	.splitArgs(<path>)
 	//		-> <spec>
 	//
 	// Format:
@@ -298,15 +298,27 @@ module = {
 	// 		or this scheme will not work...
 	splitArgs: function(path){
 		path = this.normalize(path, 'string')
-		var [path, ...args] = path.split(/:/g)
+		var [path, ...args] = path.split(/(?<!\\):/g)
 
 		return {
 			path,
 			args: args.reduce(function(res, arg){
-				var [name, value] = arg.split('=')
+				var [name, value] = arg.split(/=(.*)/)
 				res[name] = value ?? true
 				return res }, {}),
 		} },
+	obj2args: function(args){
+		return args instanceof Object ?
+			Object.entries(args)
+				.map(function([key, value]){
+					return value === true ?
+							key
+						//: value === false ?
+					   	//	[]	
+						: key +':'+ (value.toString().replace(/:/g, '\\:'))
+				})
+				.join(':') 
+			: args },
 }
 
 
diff --git a/pwiki2.html b/pwiki2.html
index ac67ffe..ac16dab 100755
--- a/pwiki2.html
+++ b/pwiki2.html
@@ -108,22 +108,22 @@ require(['./browser'], function(browser){
 		evt.preventDefault()
 		var [path, hash] = location.hash.slice(1).split('#')
 		path = path.trim() == '' ? 
-			pwiki.path
+			pwiki.location
 			//'/'
 			: path
 		// treat links as absolute unless explicitly relative...
 		path = /^\.\.?([\\\/].*)?$/.test(path) ?
 			path
 			: '/'+path
-		pwiki.path = [path, hash] })
+		pwiki.location = [path, hash] })
 	pwiki
 		.onNavigate(function(){
 			// NOTE: we do not need to directly update location.hash here as
 			//		that will push an extra history item...
 			history.replaceState(
-				{path: this.path}, 
+				{path: this.location}, 
 				this.title, 
-				'#'+this.path 
+				'#'+this.location 
 					+(this.hash ? 
 						'#'+this.hash 
 						: ''))
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ require(['./browser'], function(browser){
 	browser.setup.then(function(){
 
 		// show current page...
-		pwiki.path = location.hash.slice(1)
+		pwiki.location = location.hash.slice(1)
 
 	}) }) 
 
diff --git a/pwiki2.js b/pwiki2.js
index 213cf77..bb2e312 100755
--- a/pwiki2.js
+++ b/pwiki2.js
@@ -1,23 +1,6 @@
 /**********************************************************************
 * 
 *
-* XXX ENERGETIC: Q: do we need to make this a path syntax thing???
-* 		...i.e. 
-* 			/some/path/action/! (current) 
-* 		vs.
-* 			/some/path/!action
-* 			..."!" is removed before the <store>.__<name>__(..) calls...
-* XXX ENERGETIC revise naming...
-* XXX FEATURE tags and accompanying API...
-* 		- add tags to page -- macro/filter
-* 			<page>.text -> <page>.tags (cached on .update(..))
-* 		- a way to list tags -- folder like?
-* 		- tag cache <store>.tags
-* 		- tag-path filtering...
-* 			i.e. only show tags within a specific path/pattern...
-* 		- path integration...
-* 			i.e. a way to pass tags through path...
-* 				/some/path:tags=a,b,c
 * XXX FEATURE add a uniform way to track some state in links in pwiki 
 * 		for things like paging and the like with simple user/macro 
 * 		access (???)...
@@ -52,6 +35,16 @@
 * 				- session
 * 				- stored (config)
 * 		...css selector as path....
+* XXX FEATURE tags and accompanying API...
+* 		- add tags to page -- macro/filter
+* 			<page>.text -> <page>.tags (cached on .update(..))
+* 		- a way to list tags -- folder like?
+* 		- tag cache <store>.tags
+* 		- tag-path filtering...
+* 			i.e. only show tags within a specific path/pattern...
+* 		- path integration...
+* 			i.e. a way to pass tags through path...
+* 				/some/path:tags=a,b,c
 * XXX revise/update sort...
 * XXX fs store: metadata and cache...
 * XXX sub/nested store mixing... 
@@ -61,6 +54,13 @@
 * 			.delete(..)
 * 				XXX deleting something in .next will break stuff...
 * 			...
+* XXX ENERGETIC: Q: do we need to make this a path syntax thing???
+* 		...i.e. 
+* 			/some/path/action/! (current) 
+* 		vs.
+* 			/some/path/!action
+* 			..."!" is removed before the <store>.__<name>__(..) calls...
+* XXX ENERGETIC revise naming...
 * XXX OPTIMIZE page search: make things invariant via .names
 * 			- if a page is in a system path and there are no alternatives 
 * 				just return it and do not search.