diff --git a/py/apigen/htmlgen.py b/py/apigen/htmlgen.py
index 3e67b6e06..7b86fd99f 100644
--- a/py/apigen/htmlgen.py
+++ b/py/apigen/htmlgen.py
@@ -361,12 +361,12 @@ class ApiPageBuilder(AbstractPageBuilder):
                             H.a('source: %s' % (sourcefile,),
                                 href=self.linker.get_lazyhref(sourcefile)),
                             H.br(),
-                            H.SourceDef(H.pre(callable_source)))
+                            H.SourceDef(H.pre(unicode(callable_source, 'UTF-8'))))
         elif not is_in_pkg and sourcefile and callable_source:
             csource = H.div(H.br(),
                             H.em('source: %s' % (sourcefile,)),
                             H.br(),
-                            H.SourceDef(H.pre(callable_source)))
+                            H.SourceDef(H.pre(unicode(callable_source, 'UTF-8'))))
         else:
             csource = H.SourceDef('could not get source file')
 
@@ -460,6 +460,8 @@ class ApiPageBuilder(AbstractPageBuilder):
             H.Docstring(docstring or '*no docstring available*')
         )
         for dotted_name in sorted(item_dotted_names):
+            if dotted_name.startswith('_'):
+                continue
             itemname = dotted_name.split('.')[-1]
             if is_private(itemname):
                 continue
@@ -586,7 +588,7 @@ class ApiPageBuilder(AbstractPageBuilder):
                     elif lastlevel and build_children:
                         # XXX hack
                         navitems += build_nav_level('%s.' % (dotted_name,),
-                                                    depth+2)
+                                                    depth+1)
 
             return navitems
 
@@ -698,9 +700,9 @@ class ApiPageBuilder(AbstractPageBuilder):
             mangled = []
             for i, sline in enumerate(str(source).split('\n')):
                 if i == lineno:
-                    l = '-> %s' % (sline,)
+                    l = '-> %s' % (unicode(sline, 'UTF-8'),)
                 else:
-                    l = '   %s' % (sline,)
+                    l = '   %s' % (unicode(sline, 'UTF-8'),)
                 mangled.append(l)
             if sourcefile:
                 linktext = '%s - line %s' % (sourcefile, line.lineno + 1)
diff --git a/py/apigen/source/html.py b/py/apigen/source/html.py
index c02941084..79d34e092 100644
--- a/py/apigen/source/html.py
+++ b/py/apigen/source/html.py
@@ -2,14 +2,13 @@
 """ html - generating ad-hoc html out of source browser
 """
 
+import py
 from py.xml import html, raw
 from compiler import ast
 import time
 from py.__.apigen.source.color import Tokenizer, PythonSchema
 
 class HtmlEnchanter(object):
-    reserved_words = ['if', 'for', 'return', 'yield']
-
     def __init__(self, mod):
         self.mod = mod
         self.create_caches()
@@ -37,8 +36,30 @@ class HtmlEnchanter(object):
         except KeyError:
             return [row] # no more info
 
+def prepare_line(text, tokenizer, encoding):
+    """ adds html formatting to text items (list)
+
+        only processes items if they're of a string type (or unicode)
+    """
+    ret = []
+    for item in text:
+        if type(item) in [str, unicode]:
+            tokens = tokenizer.tokenize(item)
+            for t in tokens:
+                data = unicode(t.data, encoding)
+                if t.type in ['keyword', 'alt_keyword', 'number',
+                              'string', 'comment']:
+                    ret.append(html.span(data, class_=t.type))
+                else:
+                    ret.append(data)
+        else:
+            ret.append(item)
+    return ret
+
 class HTMLDocument(object):
-    def __init__(self, tokenizer=None):
+    def __init__(self, encoding, tokenizer=None):
+        self.encoding = encoding
+
         self.html = root = html.html()
         self.head = head = self.create_head()
         root.append(head)
@@ -119,30 +140,11 @@ class HTMLDocument(object):
         table.append(tbody)
         return table, tbody
 
-    def prepare_line(self, text):
-        """ adds html formatting to text items (list)
-
-            only processes items if they're of a string type (or unicode)
-        """
-        ret = []
-        for item in text:
-            if type(item) in [str, unicode]:
-                tokens = self.tokenizer.tokenize(item)
-                for t in tokens:
-                    if t.type in ['keyword', 'alt_keyword', 'number',
-                                  'string', 'comment']:
-                        ret.append(html.span(t.data, class_=t.type))
-                    else:
-                        ret.append(t.data)
-            else:
-                ret.append(item)
-        return ret
-
     def add_row(self, lineno, text):
         if text == ['']:
             text = [raw(' ')]
         else:
-            text = self.prepare_line(text)
+            text = prepare_line(text, self.tokenizer, self.encoding)
         self.tbody.append(html.tr(html.td(str(lineno), class_='lineno'),
                                   html.td(class_='code', *text)))
 
@@ -157,7 +159,8 @@ def create_html(mod):
     lines = mod.path.open().readlines()
     
     enchanter = HtmlEnchanter(mod)
-    doc = HTMLDocument()
+    enc = get_module_encoding(mod.path)
+    doc = HTMLDocument(enc)
     for i, row in enumerate(lines):
         row = enchanter.enchant_row(i + 1, row)
         doc.add_row(i + 1, row)
@@ -248,3 +251,16 @@ def create_unknown_html(path):
     )
     return h.unicode()
 
+_reg_enc = py.std.re.compile(r'coding[:=]\s*([-\w.]+)')
+def get_module_encoding(path):
+    if hasattr(path, 'strpath'):
+        path = path.strpath
+    if path[-1] in ['c', 'o']:
+        path = path[:-1]
+    fpath = py.path.local(path)
+    code = fpath.read()
+    match = _reg_enc.search(code)
+    if match:
+        return match.group(1)
+    return 'ISO-8859-1'
+
diff --git a/py/apigen/source/testing/test_html.py b/py/apigen/source/testing/test_html.py
index 7f008b3ea..1e62ef8fe 100644
--- a/py/apigen/source/testing/test_html.py
+++ b/py/apigen/source/testing/test_html.py
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
+# -*- coding: UTF-8 -*-
 
 """ test of html generation
 """
 
-from py.__.apigen.source.html import create_html, HTMLDocument
+from py.__.apigen.source.html import prepare_line, create_html, HTMLDocument, \
+                                     get_module_encoding
 from py.__.apigen.source.browser import parse_path
+from py.__.apigen.source.color import Tokenizer, PythonSchema
 from py.xml import html
 
 import py
@@ -49,7 +52,7 @@ def test_basic():
 
 class _HTMLDocument(HTMLDocument):
     def __init__(self):
-        pass
+        self.encoding = 'ascii'
 
 class TestHTMLDocument(object):
     def test_head(self):
@@ -73,51 +76,8 @@ class TestHTMLDocument(object):
         assert isinstance(tbody, html.tbody)
         assert tbody == table[0]
 
-    def prepare_line(self, line, doc=None):
-        if doc is None:
-            doc = HTMLDocument()
-        l = doc.prepare_line(line)
-        return ''.join([unicode(i) for i in l])
-
-    def test_prepare_line_basic(self):
-        result = self.prepare_line(['see if this works'])
-        assert result == 'see <span class="keyword">if</span> this works'
-        result = self.prepare_line(['see if this ',
-                                    html.a('works', name='works'),' too'])
-        assert result == ('see <span class="keyword">if</span> this '
-                          '<a name="works">works</a> too')
-        result = self.prepare_line(['see if something else works'])
-        assert result == ('see <span class="keyword">if</span> something '
-                          '<span class="keyword">else</span> works')
-        result = self.prepare_line(['see if something ',
-                                    html.a('else', name='else'), ' works too'])
-        assert result == ('see <span class="keyword">if</span> something '
-                          '<a name="else">else</a> works too')
-
-    def test_prepare_line_strings(self):
-        result = self.prepare_line(['foo = "bar"'])
-        assert result == 'foo = <span class="string">&quot;bar&quot;</span>'
-
-        result = self.prepare_line(['"spam"'])
-        assert result == '<span class="string">&quot;spam&quot;</span>'
-        
-        # test multiline strings
-        doc = HTMLDocument()
-        result = self.prepare_line(['"""start of multiline'], doc)
-        assert result == ('<span class="string">&quot;&quot;&quot;start of '
-                          'multiline</span>')
-        # doc should now be in 'string mode'
-        result = self.prepare_line(['see if it doesn\'t touch this'], doc)
-        assert result == ('<span class="string">see if it doesn&apos;t touch '
-                          'this</span>')
-        result = self.prepare_line(['"""'], doc)
-        assert result == '<span class="string">&quot;&quot;&quot;</span>'
-        result = self.prepare_line(['see if it colours this again'], doc)
-        assert result == ('see <span class="keyword">if</span> it colours '
-                          'this again')
-
     def test_add_row(self):
-        doc = HTMLDocument()
+        doc = HTMLDocument('ascii')
         doc.add_row(1, ['""" this is a foo implementation """'])
         doc.add_row(2, [''])
         doc.add_row(3, ['class ', html.a('Foo', name='Foo'), ':'])
@@ -141,9 +101,79 @@ class TestHTMLDocument(object):
                                         '</span></td>')
 
     def test_unicode(self):
-        doc = HTMLDocument()
+        doc = HTMLDocument('ascii')
         h = unicode(doc)
         print h
         assert py.std.re.match(r'<html>\s*<head>\s*<title>[^<]+</title>'
                                 '.*</body>\w*</html>$', h, py.std.re.S)
 
+def prepare_line_helper(line, tokenizer=None, encoding='ascii'):
+    if tokenizer is None:
+        tokenizer = Tokenizer(PythonSchema)
+    l = prepare_line(line, tokenizer, encoding)
+    return ''.join([unicode(i) for i in l])
+
+def test_prepare_line_basic():
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['see if this works'])
+    assert result == 'see <span class="keyword">if</span> this works'
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['see if this ',
+                                html.a('works', name='works'),' too'])
+    assert result == ('see <span class="keyword">if</span> this '
+                      '<a name="works">works</a> too')
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['see if something else works'])
+    assert result == ('see <span class="keyword">if</span> something '
+                      '<span class="keyword">else</span> works')
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['see if something ',
+                                html.a('else', name='else'), ' works too'])
+    assert result == ('see <span class="keyword">if</span> something '
+                      '<a name="else">else</a> works too')
+
+def test_prepare_line_strings():
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['foo = "bar"'])
+    assert result == 'foo = <span class="string">&quot;bar&quot;</span>'
+
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['"spam"'])
+    assert result == '<span class="string">&quot;spam&quot;</span>'
+    
+def test_prepare_line_multiline_strings():
+    # test multiline strings
+    t = Tokenizer(PythonSchema)
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['"""start of multiline'], t)
+    assert result == ('<span class="string">&quot;&quot;&quot;start of '
+                      'multiline</span>')
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['see if it doesn\'t touch this'], t)
+    assert result == ('<span class="string">see if it doesn&apos;t touch '
+                      'this</span>')
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['"""'], t)
+    assert result == '<span class="string">&quot;&quot;&quot;</span>'
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['see if it colours this again'], t)
+    assert result == ('see <span class="keyword">if</span> it colours '
+                      'this again')
+
+def test_prepare_line_nonascii():
+    result = prepare_line_helper(['"föö"'], encoding='UTF-8')
+    assert (result ==
+            unicode('<span class="string">&quot;föö&quot;</span>', 'UTF-8'))
+
+def test_get_encoding_ascii():
+    temp = py.test.ensuretemp('test_get_encoding')
+    fpath = temp.join('ascii.py')
+    fpath.write(str(py.code.Source("""\
+        def foo():
+            return 'foo'
+    """)))
+    # XXX I think the specs say we have to assume latin-1 here...
+    assert get_module_encoding(fpath.strpath) == 'ISO-8859-1'
+
+def test_get_encoding_for_real():
+    temp = py.test.ensuretemp('test_get_encoding')
+    fpath = temp.join('utf-8.py')
+    fpath.write(str(py.code.Source("""\
+        #!/usr/bin/env python
+        # -*- coding: UTF-8 -*-
+
+        def foo():
+            return 'föö'
+    """)))
+    assert get_module_encoding(fpath.strpath) == 'UTF-8'
+
diff --git a/py/apigen/testing/test_apigen_functional.py b/py/apigen/testing/test_apigen_functional.py
index 3b48c9402..decf954b1 100644
--- a/py/apigen/testing/test_apigen_functional.py
+++ b/py/apigen/testing/test_apigen_functional.py
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ def setup_fs_project(name):
             return 'bar'
         def baz(qux):
             return qux
+        def _hidden():
+            return 'quux'
     """))
     temp.ensure("pak/__init__.py").write(py.code.Source("""\
         from py.initpkg import initpkg
@@ -77,6 +79,8 @@ def setup_fs_project(name):
             ''')
             c = compile(str(source), '<test>', 'exec')
             exec c in globals()
+
+            assert pak.somenamespace._hidden() == 'quux'
     """))
     return temp, 'pak'
 
diff --git a/py/apigen/todo-apigen.txt b/py/apigen/todo-apigen.txt
index b2f2a32ee..1c9836ba8 100644
--- a/py/apigen/todo-apigen.txt
+++ b/py/apigen/todo-apigen.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-* format docstrings more nicely (with tests) 
+* format docstrings more nicely (with tests) - DONE I guess
 
 * have the API function view be as informative as possible
   without having to go to the "single method" view
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@
   viewed.  method views (when navigating there through
   the class view) should also have the source there 
 
-* have class-level attributes be displayed 
+  DONE I guess (todo: add syntax coloring)
+
+* have class-level attributes be displayed
 
 * use "inherited" doc strings, i.e. for
     class A:
@@ -30,11 +32,11 @@
   be separately tested and the caller should not need
   to guess what it will get, i think) 
 
+  DONE
+
 * look out for and streamline all apigen/source-viewer
   documentation into one document 
 
-
-
 * consider automating dependencies: 
 
   e.g. something like: queue_render(page, fspath, linker, ...) 
@@ -61,8 +63,22 @@
                ... 
                raise ... 
 
+  NOT SURE if this is still required
+
 * also we might have a support function for tests that
   fills the linker with "dummy hrefs" for certain types
   like source links
+
+  KIND OF DONE, the tests now use a linker that just doesn't
+  barf on non-existing linkids anymore, which seems to be
+  good enough (we may want to add more sophisticated debugging
+  later, but for now this works)
        
-* XXX list more here 
+* add syntax coloring for Python source snippets
+
+* remove py.test/apigen cruft from stack traces
+
+* fix non-ascii source encoding support
+
+* XXX
+