diff --git a/code/bin/update_plugins.php b/code/bin/update_plugins.php
index 0dfdee4..91239f1 100644
--- a/code/bin/update_plugins.php
+++ b/code/bin/update_plugins.php
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     exit;
 }
 
-// changes directory to current script, so the rel patchs work, independently of the user's current directory
+// changes directory to current script, so the relative paths work, independently of the user's current directory
 chdir(dirname(__FILE__));
 
 require_once "../lib/functions.php";
@@ -17,18 +17,15 @@
 require_once "../lib/db/submit.php";
 
 
-if ($argv[1]) {
+if ($argv[1]) { // if the user provided a specific github URL to update
 
     $githubUrl = $argv[1];
     savePlugin($githubUrl, true);
     
-} else {
+} else { // else we run for all plugins
 
     // build the query
-    $query = "SELECT `plugins`.`id`,`plugins`.`name`,`plugins`.`owner`,`users`.`username` ";
-    $query .= "FROM `plugins` ";
-    $query .= "LEFT JOIN `users` ";
-    $query .= "ON `plugins`.`owner` = `users`.`id`;";
+    $query = "SELECT `plugins`.`url` FROM `plugins`";
 
     // get plugins
     $stmt_plugins = $pdo->prepare($query); 
@@ -36,8 +33,6 @@
     $plugins_array = $stmt_plugins->fetchAll();
 
     foreach ($plugins_array as $row_plugins) {
-        // builds the github URL
-        $githubUrl = "https://github.com/" . $row_plugins['username'] . "/" . $row_plugins['name'];
-        savePlugin($githubUrl, true);
+        savePlugin($row_plugins['url'], true);
     }
 }
diff --git a/code/features/home/home.php b/code/features/home/home.php
index 02a514f..07e02ec 100644
--- a/code/features/home/home.php
+++ b/code/features/home/home.php
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@
 // if a plugin was submitted
 if (isset($_POST['githubUrl'])) {
     $githubUrl = filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'githubUrl', FILTER_SANITIZE_URL);
-    savePlugin($githubUrl);
-    die();
+    die(savePlugin($githubUrl));
 }
 
 $nav['active'] = 'home';
diff --git a/code/lib/db/submit.php b/code/lib/db/submit.php
index 4b83609..50dbf12 100644
--- a/code/lib/db/submit.php
+++ b/code/lib/db/submit.php
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ function savePlugin($githubUrl, $skipDate = false)
     $result = array();
     $result['status'] = 'error';
     $result['message'] = 'URL is not valid';
-    die(json_encode($result));
+    return json_encode($result);
   }
 
   // puts array into variables so we can use them below:
@@ -115,6 +115,16 @@ function savePlugin($githubUrl, $skipDate = false)
 
   // debug($result, 'Raw GitHub API result');
 
+  // If Git|Hub returns an error, we return before trying to mess with the database
+  if (isset($result['errors'])) {
+    header('Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8');
+    $result = array();
+    $result['status'] = 'error';
+    $result['message'] = 'GitHub link not found. Are you sure the URL is correct and the repo is public?';
+
+    return json_encode($result);
+  }
+
   // converts the timestamp
   $updatedAt =  date("U", strtotime($result['data']['repository']['updatedAt']));
   $submittedAt = time();
@@ -223,7 +233,7 @@ function savePlugin($githubUrl, $skipDate = false)
       $result['message'] .= $e;
     }
 
-    die(json_encode($result));
+    return json_encode($result);
   }
 
 
@@ -252,7 +262,7 @@ function savePlugin($githubUrl, $skipDate = false)
     $result = array();
     $result['status'] = 'error';
     $result['message'] = 'Error when adding user';
-    die(json_encode($result));
+    return json_encode($result);
   }
 
 
@@ -278,7 +288,7 @@ function savePlugin($githubUrl, $skipDate = false)
       $result = array();
       $result['status'] = 'error';
       $result['message'] = 'Error when adding tags';
-      die(json_encode($result));
+      return json_encode($result);
     }
   }
 
@@ -292,9 +302,10 @@ function savePlugin($githubUrl, $skipDate = false)
   $result['message'] = 'success';
   $result['redirect'] = $redirect;
   header('Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8');
-  echo json_encode($result, true);
 
   // debugging code
   debug($url, "URL Debugging");
   debug( json_encode($result), "RESULT");
+
+  return json_encode($result, true);
 }