diff --git a/classes/api.php b/classes/api.php
index 802a7ae96..7125e52aa 100755
--- a/classes/api.php
+++ b/classes/api.php
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class API extends Handler {
 				$unread = getFeedUnread($cat_id, true);
 
 				if ($unread || !$unread_only) {
-					array_push($cats, array("id" => (int) $cat_id,
+					array_push($cats, array("id" => $cat_id,
 						"title" => Feeds::getCategoryTitle($cat_id),
 						"unread" => (int) $unread));
 				}
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ class API extends Handler {
 
 		$field = "";
 		$set_to = "";
+		$additional_fields = "";
 
 		switch ($field_raw) {
 			case 0:
@@ -842,14 +843,8 @@ class API extends Handler {
 		$_REQUEST['mode'] = 2;
 		$_REQUEST['force_show_empty'] = $include_empty;
 
-		if ($pf){
-			$data = $pf->makefeedtree();
-			$this->wrap(self::STATUS_OK, array("categories" => $data));
-		} else {
-			$this->wrap(self::STATUS_ERR, array("error" =>
-				'UNABLE_TO_INSTANTIATE_OBJECT'));
-		}
-
+		$this->wrap(self::STATUS_OK,
+			array("categories" => $pf->makefeedtree()));
 	}
 
 	// only works for labels or uncategorized for the time being
diff --git a/classes/article.php b/classes/article.php
index ff8778096..ff7f11180 100755
--- a/classes/article.php
+++ b/classes/article.php
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ class Article extends Handler_Protected {
 
 		$sth->execute(array_merge([$score], $ids, [$_SESSION['uid']]));
 
-		print json_encode(["id" => $ids, "score" => (int)$score]);
+		print json_encode(["id" => $ids, "score" => $score]);
 	}
 
 	function getScore() {
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ class Article extends Handler_Protected {
 		$this->pdo->commit();
 
 		$tags = self::get_article_tags($id);
-		$tags_str = $this->format_tags_string($tags, $id);
+		$tags_str = $this->format_tags_string($tags);
 		$tags_str_full = join(", ", $tags);
 
 		if (!$tags_str_full) $tags_str_full = __("no tags");
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ class Article extends Handler_Protected {
 							$retval = $plugin->hook_render_enclosure($entry, $hide_images);
 
 
-						if ($retval) {
+						if (!empty($retval)) {
 							$rv .= $retval;
 						} else {
 
@@ -584,8 +584,6 @@ class Article extends Handler_Protected {
 			<i class='material-icons'>note</i>
 			<div $onclick class='body'>$note</div>
 			</div>";
-
-		return $str;
 	}
 
 	static function get_article_enclosures($id) {
@@ -778,7 +776,7 @@ class Article extends Handler_Protected {
 			if ($article_image) {
 				$article_image = rewrite_relative_url($site_url, $article_image);
 
-				if (!$article_kind && (count($enclosures) > 1 || $elems->length > 1))
+				if (!$article_kind && (count($enclosures) > 1 || (isset($elems) && $elems->length > 1)))
 					$article_kind = ARTICLE_KIND_ALBUM;
 			}
 
diff --git a/classes/backend.php b/classes/backend.php
index 16c20660a..6e0fa191e 100644
--- a/classes/backend.php
+++ b/classes/backend.php
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class Backend extends Handler_Protected {
 
 				foreach ($hotkeys as $action => $description) {
 
-					if (is_array($omap[$action])) {
+					if (!empty($omap[$action])) {
 						foreach ($omap[$action] as $sequence) {
 							if (strpos($sequence, "|") !== false) {
 								$sequence = substr($sequence,
diff --git a/classes/counters.php b/classes/counters.php
index be634c52a..59605df18 100644
--- a/classes/counters.php
+++ b/classes/counters.php
@@ -120,7 +120,8 @@ class Counters {
 				$has_img = false;
 			}
 
-			if (date('Y') - date('Y', strtotime($line['last_updated'])) > 2)
+			// hide default un-updated timestamp i.e. 1980-01-01 (?) -fox
+			if ((int)date('Y') - (int)date('Y', strtotime($line['last_updated'])) > 2)
 				$last_updated = '';
 
 			$cv = [