diff --git a/jssrc/appcommon.js b/jssrc/appcommon.js
index 2927c89..e1a9514 100644
--- a/jssrc/appcommon.js
+++ b/jssrc/appcommon.js
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ $.ready(function () {
     e.preventDefault()
   })
 
+  // populate the form errors box from GET arg ?err=...
+  // (a way to pass errors back from server via redirect)
   let errAt = location.search.indexOf('err=')
   if (errAt !== -1 && qs('.Box.errors')) {
     let errs = location.search.substr(errAt + 4).split(',')
@@ -108,18 +110,12 @@ $.ready(function () {
   }
 })
 
+// setup the ajax loader
 $._loader = function (vis) {
   $('#loader').toggleClass('show', vis)
 }
 
+// reveal content on load
 function showPage () {
   $('#content').addClass('load')
 }
-
-$.ready(function () {
-  if (window.noAutoShow !== true) {
-    setTimeout(function () {
-      showPage()
-    }, 1)
-  }
-})
diff --git a/jssrc/term.js b/jssrc/term.js
index dd2a51a..23e2133 100644
--- a/jssrc/term.js
+++ b/jssrc/term.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 /** Init the terminal sub-module - called from HTML */
-window.termInit = function () {
+window.termInit = function (labels, theme) {
   Conn.init()
   Input.init()
   TermUpl.init()
+  Screen.load(labels, theme) // populate labels
 }
diff --git a/pages/term.php b/pages/term.php
index f9dc768..77d7edd 100644
--- a/pages/term.php
+++ b/pages/term.php
@@ -71,9 +71,7 @@
 
 <script>
 	try {
-		window.noAutoShow = true;
-		termInit(); // the screen will be loaded via ajax
-		Screen.load('%j:labels_seq%', +'%theme%');
+		termInit('%j:labels_seq%', +'%theme%');
 	} catch(e) {
 		console.error(e);
 		<?php if (!DEBUG): ?>