diff --git a/migrate.py b/migrate.py
index b4228ba4..6133c65d 100644
--- a/migrate.py
+++ b/migrate.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from migration.tables.users import migrate as migrateUser
 from migration.tables.content_items import get_metadata, migrate as migrateShout
 from migration.tables.content_item_categories import migrate as migrateCategory
 from migration.tables.tags import migrate as migrateTag
+from migration.tables.comments import migrate as migrateComment
 from migration.utils import DateTimeEncoder
 from orm import Community
 
@@ -53,8 +54,7 @@ def users():
         del user['email']
         export_data[user['slug']] = user
         counter += 1
-    export_list = sorted(export_data.items(),
-                        key=lambda item: item[1]['rating'])[-10:]
+    export_list = sorted(export_data.items(), key=lambda item: item[1]['rating'])[-10:]
     open('migration/data/users.dict.json', 'w').write(json.dumps(newdata, cls=DateTimeEncoder))  # NOTE: by old_id
     open('../src/data/authors.json', 'w').write(json.dumps(dict(export_list),
                                                             cls=DateTimeEncoder,
@@ -143,19 +143,35 @@ def shouts():
     
 def comments():
     ''' migrating comments on content items one by one '''
-    comments_data = json.loads(open('migration/data/comments.json').read())
+    content_data = json.loads(open('migration/data/content_items.json').read()) # old content
+    content_dict = { x['_id']: x for x in content_data } # by slug
+    shouts_dict = json.loads(open('migration/data/shouts.dict.json', 'r').read()) # all shouts by slug
+    print(str(len(shouts_dict.keys())) + ' migrated shouts loaded')
+    shouts_old = { x['old_id']: x for slug, x in shouts_dict.items() } # shouts by old_id
+    print(str(len(content_data)) + ' content items loaded')
+    comments_data = json.loads(open('migration/data/comments.json').read()) # by slug
     print(str(len(comments_data)) + ' comments loaded')
     comments_by_post = {}
-    for comment in comments_data:
-        p = comment['contentItem']
-        comments_by_post[p] = comments_by_post.get(p, [])
-        comments_by_post[p].append(comment)
+    # sort comments by old posts ids
+    for old_comment in comments_data:
+        cid = old_comment['contentItem']
+        comments_by_post[cid] = comments_by_post.get(cid, [])
+        comments_by_post[cid].append(old_comment)
+    # migrate comments
+    comments_by_shoutslug = {}
+    for content_item in content_data:
+        old_id = content_item['_id']
+        if content_item.get('commentedAt', False):
+            comments = [ migrateComment(c) for c in comments_by_post.get(old_id, []) ]
+            if comments.length > 0:
+                shout = shouts_old.get(old_id, { 'slug': 'abandoned-comments' })
+                comments_by_shoutslug[shout['slug']] = comments
     export_articles = json.loads(open('../src/data/articles.json').read())
     print(str(len(export_articles.items())) + ' articles were exported')
     export_comments = {}
     c = 0
     for slug, article in export_articles.items():
-        comments = comments_by_post.get(slug, [])
+        comments = comments_by_shoutslug.get(slug, [])
         if len(comments) > 0:
             export_comments[slug] = comments
             c += len(comments)
@@ -171,13 +187,15 @@ def comments():
 
 def export_shouts(limit):
     print('reading json...')
-    newdata = json.loads(open('migration/data/shouts.dict.json', 'r').read())
-    print(str(len(newdata.keys())) + ' shouts loaded')
     content_data = json.loads(open('migration/data/content_items.json').read())
     content_dict = { x['_id']:x for x in content_data }
+    print(str(len(content_data)) + ' content items loaded')
+    newdata = json.loads(open('migration/data/shouts.dict.json', 'r').read())
+    print(str(len(newdata.keys())) + ' migrated shouts loaded')
     users_old = json.loads(open('migration/data/users.dict.json').read())
+    print(str(len(newdata.keys())) + ' migrated users loaded')
     export_authors = json.loads(open('../src/data/authors.json').read())
-    print(str(len(export_authors.items())) + ' pre-exported authors loaded')
+    print(str(len(export_authors.items())) + ' exported authors loaded')
     users_slug = { u['slug']: u for old_id, u in users_old.items()}
     print(str(len(users_slug.items())) + ' users loaded')
 
@@ -204,23 +222,23 @@ def export_shouts(limit):
                                                             ensure_ascii=False))
     print(str(len(export_clean.items())) + ' articles exported')
     open('../src/data/authors.json', 'w').write(json.dumps(export_authors,
-                                                           cls=DateTimeEncoder,
-                                                           indent=4,
-                                                           sort_keys=True,
-                                                           ensure_ascii=False))
+                                                            cls=DateTimeEncoder,
+                                                            indent=4,
+                                                            sort_keys=True,
+                                                            ensure_ascii=False))
     comments()
     print(str(len(export_authors.items())) + ' total authors exported')
 
 def export_slug(slug):
     shouts_dict = json.loads(open('migration/data/shouts.dict.json').read())
-    print(str(len(shouts_dict.items())) + ' shouts loaded')
-    users_old = json.loads(open('migration/data/users.dict.json').read())
-    print(str(len(users_old.items())) + ' users loaded')
+    print(str(len(shouts_dict.items())) + ' migrated shouts loaded')
+    users_old = json.loads(open('migration/data/users.dict.json').read()) # NOTE: this exact file is by old_id
+    print(str(len(users_old.items())) + ' migrated users loaded')
     users_dict = { x[1]['slug']:x for x in users_old.items() }
     exported_authors = json.loads(open('../src/data/authors.json').read())
-    print(str(len(exported_authors.items())) + ' authors were exported before')
+    print(str(len(exported_authors.items())) + ' exported authors loaded')
     exported_articles = json.loads(open('../src/data/articles.json').read())
-    print(str(len(exported_articles.items())) + ' articles were exported before')
+    print(str(len(exported_articles.items())) + ' exported articles loaded')
     shout = shouts_dict.get(slug, False)
     if shout:
         author = users_dict.get(shout['authors'][0]['slug'], None)
@@ -239,7 +257,7 @@ def export_slug(slug):
                                                             ensure_ascii=False))
     else:
         print('no old id error!')
-        print(str(len(shouts_dict)) + ' shouts were migrated')
+        # print(str(len(shouts_dict)) + ' shouts were migrated')
         print(slug)
     comments()
     print('finished.')
@@ -252,8 +270,6 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
             users()
         elif sys.argv[1] == "topics":
             topics()
-        elif sys.argv[1] == "comments":
-            comments()
         elif sys.argv[1] == "shouts":
             try:
                 Community.create(**{
@@ -266,17 +282,20 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
             except Exception:
                 pass
             shouts()
+        elif sys.argv[1] == "comments":
+            comments()
         elif sys.argv[1] == "export_shouts":
-          limit = int(sys.argv[2]) if len(sys.argv) > 2 else None
-          export_shouts(limit)
+            limit = int(sys.argv[2]) if len(sys.argv) > 2 else None
+            export_shouts(limit)
         elif sys.argv[1] == "all":
             users()
             topics()
             shouts()
+            comments()
         elif sys.argv[1] == "bson":
             from migration import bson2json
             bson2json.json_tables()
         elif sys.argv[1] == 'slug':
             export_slug(sys.argv[2])
     else:
-        print('usage: python migrate.py <bson|slug|topics|users|shouts|export_shouts [num]|slug [str]|all>')
+        print('usage: python migrate.py bson\n.. \ttopics <limit>\n.. \tusers <limit>\n.. \tshouts <limit>\n.. \tcomments\n.. \texport_shouts <limit>\n.. \tslug <slug>\n.. \tall>')
diff --git a/migration/html2text.py b/migration/html2text.py
index 22fe1539..5a150b13 100644
--- a/migration/html2text.py
+++ b/migration/html2text.py
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ class HTML2Text(HTMLParser.HTMLParser):
             parent_style = {}
             if start:
                 if self.tag_stack:
-                  parent_style = self.tag_stack[-1][2]
+                    parent_style = self.tag_stack[-1][2]
                 tag_style = element_style(attrs, self.style_def, parent_style)
                 self.tag_stack.append((tag, attrs, tag_style))
             else:
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ class HTML2Text(HTMLParser.HTMLParser):
                     elif attrs['class'] == 'lead':
                         self.o('==') # NOTE: but CriticMarkup uses {== ==}
                         self.span_lead = True
-            elif self.:
+            else:
                 if self.span_hightlight:
                     self.o('`')
                     self.span_hightlight = False
@@ -600,7 +600,7 @@ class HTML2Text(HTMLParser.HTMLParser):
         # if self.google_doc:
         # prevent white space immediately after 'begin emphasis' marks ('**' and '_')
         lstripped_data = data.lstrip()
-        if self.drop_white_space and not (self.pre or self.code or self.span_hightlight or self.span_lead):
+        if self.drop_white_space and not (self.pre or self.code):
             data = lstripped_data   
             if puredata: # and not self.pre:
                 data = re.sub('\s+', ' ', data)
diff --git a/migration/tables/comments.py b/migration/tables/comments.py
index aa67278c..b27f5dea 100644
--- a/migration/tables/comments.py
+++ b/migration/tables/comments.py
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 from dateutil.parser import parse as date_parse
 import json
+import datetime
 from os.path import abspath
 from orm import Shout, Comment, CommentRating, User
 from orm.base import local_session
 from migration.html2text import html2text
 
-users_dict = json.loads(open(abspath('migration/data/users.dict.json')).read())
-topics_dict = json.loads(open(abspath('migration/data/topics.dict.json')).read()) # old_id keyed
+# users_dict = json.loads(open(abspath('migration/data/users.dict.json')).read())
+# topics_dict = json.loads(open(abspath('migration/data/topics.dict.json')).read()) # old_id keyed
 
 def migrate(entry):
     '''
@@ -39,39 +40,46 @@ def migrate(entry):
         deletedAt: DateTime
         deletedBy: Int
         rating: Int
-        ratigns: [Rating]
+        ratigns: [CommentRating]
         views: Int
         old_id: String
+        old_thread: String
     }
     '''
     with local_session() as session:
-        shout_id = session.query(Shout).filter(Shout.old_id == entry['_id']).first()
-        author_dict = users_dict[entry['createdBy']]
-        print(author_dict)
-        author_id = author_dict['id']
+        shout = session.query(Shout).filter(Shout.old_id == entry['_id']).first()
+        if not shout: print(entry)
+        assert shout, '=== NO SHOUT IN COMMENT ERROR ==='
+        author = session.query(User).filter(User.old_id == entry['_id']).first()
         comment_dict = {
             'old_id': entry['_id'],
-            'author': author_id,
+            'author': author.id if author else 0,
             'createdAt': date_parse(entry['createdAt']),
             'body': html2text(entry['body']),
-            'shout': shout_id
+            'shout': shout
         }
         if 'rating' in entry:
           comment_dict['rating'] = entry['rating']
-        if 'deleted' in entry:
-          comment_dict['deleted'] = entry['deleted']
+        if entry.get('deleted'):
+          comment_dict['deletedAt'] = entry['updatedAt']
+          comment_dict['deletedBy'] = entry['updatedBy']
         if 'thread' in entry:
           comment_dict['old_thread'] = entry['thread']
-        print(entry.keys())
+        # print(entry.keys())
         comment = Comment.create(**comment_dict)
-        
         for comment_rating_old in entry.get('ratings',[]):
             rater_id = session.query(User).filter(User.old_id == comment_rating_old['createdBy']).first()
             comment_rating_dict = {
-                'value': cr['value'],
-                'createdBy': rater_id,
-                'createdAt': date_parse(comment_rating_old['createdAt']) or ts
+                'value': comment_rating_old['value'],
+                'createdBy': rater_id or 0,
+                'createdAt': comment_rating_old.get('createdAt', datetime.datetime.now()),
+                'comment_id': comment.id
             }
-            comment_rating = CommentRating.create(**comment_rating_dict)
-            comment['ratings'].append(comment_rating)
+            try:
+              comment_rating = CommentRating.create(**comment_rating_dict)
+              # TODO: comment rating append resolver
+              # comment['ratings'].append(comment_rating)
+            except Exception as e:
+              print(comment_rating)
+              pass # raise e
         return comment
diff --git a/migration/tables/content_item_categories.py b/migration/tables/content_item_categories.py
index 2271005a..88aeda28 100644
--- a/migration/tables/content_item_categories.py
+++ b/migration/tables/content_item_categories.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ def migrate(entry):
         children: [String] # and children
     }
     '''
-    return {
+    topic_dict = {
         'slug': entry['slug'],
         'createdBy': entry['createdBy'], # NOTE: uses an old user id
         'createdAt': entry['createdAt'],
@@ -17,4 +17,11 @@ def migrate(entry):
         'parents': [],
         'children': [],
         'old_id': entry['_id']
-    }
\ No newline at end of file
+    }
+    
+    with local_session() as session:
+        topic = session.query(Topic).filter(Topic.slug == topic_slug).first()
+        if not topic:
+            topic = Topic.create(**topic_dict)
+            topic_dict['id'] = topic.id
+        return topic_dict
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/migration/tables/content_items.py b/migration/tables/content_items.py
index 915b9f9c..5ac2f7fd 100644
--- a/migration/tables/content_items.py
+++ b/migration/tables/content_items.py
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ def migrate(entry):
     with local_session() as session:
         user = session.query(User).filter(User.slug == slug).first()
     r['authors'].append({
+        'id': user.id,
         'slug': slug,
         'name': name,
         'userpic': userpic
@@ -197,7 +198,7 @@ def migrate(entry):
     if entry['published']:
         ext = 'md'
         open('migration/content/' +
-             r['layout'] + '/' + r['slug'] + '.' + ext, 'w').write(content)
+            r['layout'] + '/' + r['slug'] + '.' + ext, 'w').write(content)
         try:
             shout_dict = r.copy()
             shout_dict['authors'] = [user, ]
@@ -211,21 +212,6 @@ def migrate(entry):
                 else:
                     shout_dict['publishedAt'] = ts
             del shout_dict['published']
-            
-            # shout comments
-            if entry.get('commentedAt', False):
-                try:
-                    old_comments = comments_by_post.get(shout_dict['old_id'], [])
-                    if len(old_comments) > 0:
-                        shout_dict['comments'] = []
-                        
-                        # migrate comments
-                        for entry in old_comments:
-                            comment = migrateComment(entry)
-                            shout_dict['comments'].append(comment)
-                except KeyError:
-                    print(shout_dict.keys())
-                    raise 'error'
 
             try:
                 topic_slugs = shout_dict['topics']
@@ -248,18 +234,18 @@ def migrate(entry):
                         )
                         shout.ratings.append(shout_rating.id)
                     '''
-                
+                # adding topics to created shout
                 for topic_slug in topic_slugs:
-                    topic_dict = topics_dict.get(topic_slug)
-                    if topic_dict:
-                        topic = Topic.create(**topic_dict)
+                        if not topic: 
+                            topic_dict = topics_dict.get(topic_slug)
+                            if topic_dict:
+                                topic = Topic.create(**topic_dict)
                         shout.topics = [ topic, ]
                         shout.save()
-                    
             except Exception as e:
-              r['error'] = 'db error'
-              # pass
-              raise e
+                r['error'] = 'db error'
+                # pass
+                raise e
         except Exception as e:
             if not r['body']: r['body'] = 'body moved'
             raise e
diff --git a/migration/tables/users.py b/migration/tables/users.py
index 22917a92..8386c61d 100644
--- a/migration/tables/users.py
+++ b/migration/tables/users.py
@@ -81,8 +81,6 @@ def migrate(entry, limit=668):
       res['slug'] = res['email'].split('@')[0]
   else:
       old = res['old_id']
-      del res['old_id']
       user = User.create(**res.copy())
       res['id'] = user.id
-      res['old_id'] = old
       return res
diff --git a/orm/comment.py b/orm/comment.py
index 082a2751..1cbe90ec 100644
--- a/orm/comment.py
+++ b/orm/comment.py
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ class CommentRating(Base):
 	__tablename__ = "comment_rating"
 
 	id = None
-	rater_id = Column(ForeignKey('user.id'), primary_key = True)
 	comment_id = Column(ForeignKey('comment.id'), primary_key = True)
-	ts: str = Column(DateTime, nullable=False, default = datetime.now, comment="Timestamp")
+	createdBy = Column(ForeignKey('user.id'), primary_key = True)
+	createdAt: str = Column(DateTime, nullable=False, default = datetime.now, comment="Timestamp")
 	value = Column(Integer)
 
 class Comment(Base):
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class Comment(Base):
 	rating: int = Column(Integer, nullable=True, comment="Comment Rating")
 	ratings = relationship(CommentRating, foreign_keys=CommentRating.comment_id)
 	old_id: str = Column(String, nullable = True)
-	deleted: bool = Column(Boolean, nullable = True)
+	old_thread: str = Column(String, nullable = True)
 	
 
 	# TODO: work in progress, udpate this code
diff --git a/schema.graphql b/schema.graphql
index 7e1933f5..28ef01aa 100644
--- a/schema.graphql
+++ b/schema.graphql
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ type UserNotification {
 
 type User {
   id: Int!
-  username: String! # email
+  username: String! # to login, ex. email
   createdAt: DateTime!
   slug: String!
   name: String # to display
@@ -196,10 +196,18 @@ type Comment {
   deletedAt: DateTime
   deletedBy: Int
   rating: Int
-  ratigns: [Rating]
+  ratigns: [CommentRating]
   views: Int
   old_id: String
-  deleted: Boolean
+  old_thread: String
+}
+
+type CommentRating {
+  id: Int!
+  comment_id: Int!
+  createdBy: Int!
+  createdAt: DateTime!
+  value: Int!
 }
 
 # is publication