diff --git a/ctl b/ctl
index da1dcd63..1b93c214 100755
--- a/ctl
+++ b/ctl
@@ -9,33 +9,37 @@ fi
 if [ "$action" = "init" ]; then
     cd "`dirname "$0"`"
     BASE=`pwd`
-    python3 -m venv --system-site-packages .
-
+    SUDO=""
+    PANDORA_USER=`ls -l update.py | cut -f3 -d" "`
+    if [ `whoami` != $PANDORA_USER ]; then
+        SUDO="sudo -H -u $PANDORA_USER"
+    fi
+    $SUDO python3 -m venv --system-site-packages .
     branch=`cat .git/HEAD  | sed 's@/@\n@g' | tail -n1`
 
     # Work around broken venv module in Ubuntu 16.04 / Debian 9
     if [ ! -e bin/pip ]; then
-        bin/python3 -m pip install -U --ignore-installed "pip<9"
+        $SUDO bin/python3 -m pip install -U --ignore-installed "pip<9"
     fi
     if [ ! -d static/oxjs ]; then
-        git clone --depth 1 -b $branch https://git.0x2620.org/oxjs.git static/oxjs
+        $SUDO git clone --depth 1 -b $branch https://git.0x2620.org/oxjs.git static/oxjs
     fi
-    mkdir -p src
+    $SUDO mkdir -p src
     if [ ! -d src/oxtimelines ]; then
-        git clone --depth 1 -b $branch https://git.0x2620.org/oxtimelines.git src/oxtimelines
+        $SUDO git clone --depth 1 -b $branch https://git.0x2620.org/oxtimelines.git src/oxtimelines
     fi
     for package in oxtimelines python-ox; do
         cd ${BASE}
         if [ ! -d src/${package} ]; then
-            git clone --depth 1 -b $branch https://git.0x2620.org/${package}.git src/${package}
+            $SUDO git clone --depth 1 -b $branch https://git.0x2620.org/${package}.git src/${package}
         fi
         cd ${BASE}/src/${package}
-        ${BASE}/bin/python setup.py develop
+        $SUDO ${BASE}/bin/python setup.py develop
     done
     cd ${BASE}
-    ./bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
+    $SUDO ./bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
     if [ ! -e pandora/gunicorn_config.py ]; then
-        cp pandora/gunicorn_config.py.in pandora/gunicorn_config.py
+        $SUDO cp pandora/gunicorn_config.py.in pandora/gunicorn_config.py
     fi
     exit 0
 fi
diff --git a/pandora/app/config.py b/pandora/app/config.py
index b20686c3..8b5b98f7 100644
--- a/pandora/app/config.py
+++ b/pandora/app/config.py
@@ -86,6 +86,21 @@ def load_config(init=False):
 
         # enable default filters if needed
         default_filters = [f['id'] for f in config['user']['ui']['filters']]
+        available_filters = [key['id'] for key in config['itemKeys'] if key.get('filter')]
+        unknown_ids = set(default_filters) - set(available_filters)
+        if unknown_ids:
+            sys.stderr.write('WARNING: unknown item keys in default filters: %s.\n' % list(unknown_ids))
+            unused_filters = [key for key in available_filters if key not in default_filters]
+            if len(unused_filters) < len(unknown_ids):
+                sys.stderr.write('you need at least 5 item filters')
+            else:
+                auto_filters = unused_filters[:len(unknown_ids)]
+                default_filters += auto_filters
+                for key in auto_filters:
+                    config['user']['ui']['filters'].append({
+                        "id": key, "sort": [{"key": "items", "operator": "-"}]
+                    })
+                sys.stderr.write('         using the following document filters instead: %s.\n' % auto_filters)
         for key in config['itemKeys']:
             if key['id'] in default_filters and not key.get('filter'):
                 key['filter'] = True
@@ -93,6 +108,22 @@ def load_config(init=False):
 
         # enable default document filters if needed
         default_filters = [f['id'] for f in config['user']['ui']['documentFilters']]
+        available_filters = [key['id'] for key in config['documentKeys'] if key.get('filter')]
+        unknown_ids = set(default_filters) - set(available_filters)
+        if unknown_ids:
+            sys.stderr.write('WARNING: unknown document keys in default filters: %s.\n' % list(unknown_ids))
+            unused_filters = [key for key in available_filters if key not in default_filters]
+            if len(unused_filters) < len(unknown_ids):
+                sys.stderr.write('you need at least 5 item filters')
+            else:
+                auto_filters = unused_filters[:len(unknown_ids)]
+                default_filters += auto_filters
+                for key in auto_filters:
+                    config['user']['ui']['documentFilters'].append({
+                        "id": key, "sort": [{"key": "items", "operator": "-"}]
+                    })
+                sys.stderr.write('         using the following document filters instead: %s.\n' % auto_filters)
+
         for key in config['documentKeys']:
             if key['id'] in default_filters and not key.get('filter'):
                 key['filter'] = True
diff --git a/pandora/item/management/commands/sync_itemsort.py b/pandora/item/management/commands/sync_itemsort.py
index d70889ac..8af5e14a 100644
--- a/pandora/item/management/commands/sync_itemsort.py
+++ b/pandora/item/management/commands/sync_itemsort.py
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
                     print(sql)
                 cursor.execute(sql)
             transaction.commit()
+            for i in models.Item.objects.filter(sort=None):
+                i.save()
             if rebuild:
                 print("Updating sort values...")
                 ids = [i['id'] for i in models.Item.objects.all().values('id')]
@@ -115,3 +117,5 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
                     if options['debug']:
                         print(i)
                     i.update_sort()
+        for i in models.Item.objects.filter(sort=None):
+            i.save()
diff --git a/vm/pandora_install.sh b/vm/pandora_install.sh
index 1c635773..5f957bb2 100755
--- a/vm/pandora_install.sh
+++ b/vm/pandora_install.sh
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ fi
 git clone https://git.0x2620.org/pandora.git /srv/pandora
 cd /srv/pandora
 git checkout $BRANCH
+chown -R $PANDORA:$PANDORA /srv/pandora
 ./ctl init
 
 # create config.jsonc from templates in git