diff --git a/.vscode/extensions.json b/.vscode/extensions.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9cb5fa0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/extensions.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  "recommendations": [
+    "kraih.mojolicious",
+    "aaron-bond.better-comments"
+  ]
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
index 0b963d1..8603b1b 100644
--- a/.vscode/settings.json
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -16,5 +16,54 @@
         "subf",
         "subforum",
         "subforums"
+    ],
+    "better-comments.highlightPlainText": true,
+    "better-comments.tags": [
+    
+        {
+            "tag": "!",
+            "color": "#FF2D00",
+            "strikethrough": false,
+            "underline": false,
+            "backgroundColor": "transparent",
+            "bold": false,
+            "italic": false
+        },
+        {
+            "tag": "?",
+            "color": "#3498DB",
+            "strikethrough": false,
+            "underline": false,
+            "backgroundColor": "transparent",
+            "bold": false,
+            "italic": false
+        },
+        {
+            "tag": "//",
+            "color": "#474747",
+            "strikethrough": true,
+            "underline": false,
+            "backgroundColor": "transparent",
+            "bold": false,
+            "italic": false
+        },
+        {
+            "tag": "todo",
+            "color": "#FF8C00",
+            "strikethrough": false,
+            "underline": false,
+            "backgroundColor": "transparent",
+            "bold": false,
+            "italic": false
+        },
+        {
+            "tag": "*",
+            "color": "#98C379",
+            "strikethrough": false,
+            "underline": false,
+            "backgroundColor": "transparent",
+            "bold": false,
+            "italic": false
+        }
     ]
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/database.sql b/database.sql
index 0579130..545ffe4 100644
--- a/database.sql
+++ b/database.sql
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 --
--- File generated with SQLiteStudio v3.4.4 on Sun. May 7 00:02:05 2023
+-- File generated with SQLiteStudio v3.4.4 on Sun. May 7 22:15:23 2023
 --
 -- Text encoding used: UTF-8
 --
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ DROP TABLE IF EXISTS sessions;
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS sessions (
     user_id        INTEGER        PRIMARY KEY
                                   REFERENCES users (user_id) 
-                                  UNIQUE
                                   NOT NULL,
     session_key    TEXT           NOT NULL
                                   UNIQUE,
diff --git a/lib/CharmBoard.pm b/lib/CharmBoard.pm
index 733f225..47698fc 100644
--- a/lib/CharmBoard.pm
+++ b/lib/CharmBoard.pm
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 package CharmBoard;
-use experimental 'smartmatch';
 use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious', -signatures;
 use CharmBoard::Schema;
 
diff --git a/lib/CharmBoard/Controller/Auth.pm b/lib/CharmBoard/Controller/Auth.pm
index 25c1e15..dd8a244 100644
--- a/lib/CharmBoard/Controller/Auth.pm
+++ b/lib/CharmBoard/Controller/Auth.pm
@@ -76,48 +76,42 @@ sub login_do ($app) {
   my $username = $app->param('username');
   my $password = $app->pepper . ':' . $app->param('password');
 
-  my $userInfoCheck = $app->schema->resultset('Users')->search({username => $username});
+  try {
+    # check to see if user by entered username exists
+    my $userInfo = $app->schema->resultset('Users')->search({username => $username});
+    $userInfo or die;
 
-  if ($userInfoCheck) {
-    my $passCheckStatus = passchk($userInfoCheck->get_column('salt')->first,
-        $userInfoCheck->get_column('password')->first, $password);
+    # now check password validity
+    my $passCheck = passchk($userInfo->get_column('salt')->first,
+      $userInfo->get_column('password')->first, $password);
+    $passCheck or die;
 
-    if ($passCheckStatus) {
-      my $userID = $userInfoCheck->get_column('user_id')->first;
+    # get user ID for session creation
+    my $userID = $userInfo->get_column('user_id')->first;
 
-      # delete old session from DB if exists
-      if ($app->schema->resultset('Session')->search({user_id => $userID})) {
-        $app->schema->resultset('Session')->search({user_id => $userID})->delete; };
+    # gen session key and set expiry time
+    my $sessionKey = seasoning(16);
+    my $sessionExpiry = time + 604800;
 
-      # gen session key and set expiry time
-      my $sessionKey = seasoning(16);
-      my $sessionExpiry = time + 604800;
-
-      # add session to database
-      $app->schema->resultset('Session')->create({
+    # add session to database
+    $app->schema->resultset('Session')->create({
       user_id        => $userID,
       session_key    => $sessionKey,
       session_expiry => $sessionExpiry,
       is_ip_bound    => 0,
       bound_ip       => undef });
-
-      # now create session cookie for user
-      $app->session(is_auth => 1);
-      $app->session(user_id => $userID);
-      $app->session(session_key => $sessionKey);
-      $app->session(expires => $sessionExpiry);
-
-      # redirect to index
-      $app->redirect_to('/')}
-
-    else {
-      $app->flash(error => 'Password incorrect');
-      $app->redirect_to('login')}}
-
-  else {
-    $app->flash(error => 'User ' . $username . ' does not exist.');
-    $app->redirect_to('login')};
-
-}
+    
+    # now create session cookie for user
+    $app->session(is_auth => 1);
+    $app->session(user_id => $userID);
+    $app->session(session_key => $sessionKey);
+    $app->session(expires => $sessionExpiry);
+    
+    # redirect to index upon success
+    $app->redirect_to('/')}
+  catch ($error) { # redir to login page on fail
+    print $error;
+    $app->flash(error => 'Username or password incorrect.');
+    $app->redirect_to('login')}};
 
 1;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/script/CharmBoard b/script/CharmBoard
index a9effff..b786670 100755
--- a/script/CharmBoard
+++ b/script/CharmBoard
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 use strict;
 use warnings;
 use utf8;
-use experimental 'smartmatch';
 
 use Mojo::File qw(curfile);
 use lib curfile->dirname->sibling('lib')->to_string;