diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
index 166be53..94b8107 100644
--- a/.vscode/settings.json
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {
   "liveServer.settings.root": "front-end/",
-  "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "backend/.venv/bin/python"
+  "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "backend/.venv/bin/python",
+  "python-envs.defaultEnvManager": "ms-python.python:system"
 }
diff --git a/backend/.gitignore b/backend/.gitignore
index 30a3427..ac6bb9d 100644
--- a/backend/.gitignore
+++ b/backend/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 /.env
-/.venv/
+/venv/
 *.pyc
diff --git a/backend/data/blooms.py b/backend/data/blooms.py
index 7e280cf..d9082e5 100644
--- a/backend/data/blooms.py
+++ b/backend/data/blooms.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class Bloom:
 def add_bloom(*, sender: User, content: str) -> Bloom:
     hashtags = [word[1:] for word in content.split(" ") if word.startswith("#")]
 
-    now = datetime.datetime.now(tz=datetime.UTC)
+    now = datetime.datetime.now(tz=datetime.timezone.utc)
     bloom_id = int(now.timestamp() * 1000000)
     with db_cursor() as cur:
         cur.execute(
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def add_bloom(*, sender: User, content: str) -> Bloom:
                 bloom_id=bloom_id,
                 sender_id=sender.id,
                 content=content,
-                timestamp=datetime.datetime.now(datetime.UTC),
+                timestamp=datetime.datetime.now(datetime.timezone.utc),
             ),
         )
         for hashtag in hashtags:
diff --git a/front-end/components/login.mjs b/front-end/components/login.mjs
index 165b16a..93911b5 100644
--- a/front-end/components/login.mjs
+++ b/front-end/components/login.mjs
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ async function handleLogin(event) {
     const password = formData.get("password");
 
     await apiService.login(username, password);
+    //the browser refreshes on that exact same URL
+    window.location.reload();
   } catch (error) {
     throw error;
   } finally {
diff --git a/front-end/components/logout.mjs b/front-end/components/logout.mjs
index 2c5ebe9..fd395d2 100644
--- a/front-end/components/logout.mjs
+++ b/front-end/components/logout.mjs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ function createLogout(template, isLoggedIn) {
 async function handleLogout(event) {
   try {
     apiService.logout();
+    window.location.href = "/";
   } catch (error) {
     throw error;
   }
diff --git a/front-end/views/hashtag.mjs b/front-end/views/hashtag.mjs
index 7b7e996..d5dec39 100644
--- a/front-end/views/hashtag.mjs
+++ b/front-end/views/hashtag.mjs
@@ -14,10 +14,13 @@ import {createHeading} from "../components/heading.mjs";
 
 // Hashtag view: show all tweets containing this tag
 
-function hashtagView(hashtag) {
+async function hashtagView(hashtag) {
   destroy();
 
-  apiService.getBloomsByHashtag(hashtag);
+  const normalizedHashtag = hashtag.startsWith("#") ? hashtag : `#${hashtag}`;
+  if (state.currentHashtag !== normalizedHashtag) {
+    await apiService.getBloomsByHashtag(hashtag);
+  }
 
   renderOne(
     state.isLoggedIn,