diff --git a/app/controllers/choices_controller.rb b/app/controllers/choices_controller.rb
index 7c30dff..25c1c9a 100644
--- a/app/controllers/choices_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/choices_controller.rb
@@ -52,8 +52,11 @@ class ChoicesController < InheritedResources::Base
     respond_to do |format|
       if @choice = current_user.create_choice(params['params']['data'], @question, {:data => params['params']['data'], :local_identifier => params['params']['local_identifier']})
         saved_choice_id = Proc.new { |options| options[:builder].tag!('saved_choice_id', @choice.id) }
+        choice_status = Proc.new { |options| 
+          the_status = @choice.active? ? 'active' : 'inactive'
+          options[:builder].tag!('choice_status', the_status) }
         logger.info "successfully saved the choice #{@choice.inspect}"
-        format.xml { render :xml => @question.picked_prompt.to_xml(:methods => [:left_choice_text, :right_choice_text], :procs => [saved_choice_id]), :status => :ok }
+        format.xml { render :xml => @question.picked_prompt.to_xml(:methods => [:left_choice_text, :right_choice_text], :procs => [saved_choice_id, choice_status]), :status => :ok }
         format.json { render :json => @question.picked_prompt.to_json, :status => :ok }
       else
         format.xml { render :xml => @choice.errors, :status => :unprocessable_entity }
@@ -81,19 +84,19 @@ class ChoicesController < InheritedResources::Base
   end
   
   def activate
-      authenticate
-      @question = current_user.questions.find(params[:question_id])
-      @choice = @question.choices.find(params[:id])
-      respond_to do |format|
-        if @choice.activate!
-          format.xml { render :xml => @choice.to_xml, :status => :created }
-          format.json { render :json => @choice.to_json, :status => :created }
-        else
-          format.xml { render :xml => @choice.errors, :status => :unprocessable_entity }
-          format.json { render :json => @choice.to_json }
-        end
+    authenticate
+    @question = current_user.questions.find(params[:question_id])
+    @choice = @question.choices.find(params[:id])
+    respond_to do |format|
+      if @choice.activate!
+        format.xml { render :xml => @choice.to_xml, :status => :created }
+        format.json { render :json => @choice.to_json, :status => :created }
+      else
+        format.xml { render :xml => @choice.errors, :status => :unprocessable_entity }
+        format.json { render :json => @choice.to_json }
       end
     end
+  end
 
 
     def suspend
diff --git a/app/controllers/questions_controller.rb b/app/controllers/questions_controller.rb
index 43def3d..1d3f433 100644
--- a/app/controllers/questions_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/questions_controller.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class QuestionsController < InheritedResources::Base
   def create
     authenticate
     logger.info "vi is #{params['question']['visitor_identifier']} and local are #{params['question']['local_identifier']}.  all params are #{params.inspect}"
-    if @question = current_user.create_question(params['question']['visitor_identifier'], :name => params['question']['name'], :local_identifier => params['question']['local_identifier'], :ideas => begin (params['question']['ideas'].lines.to_a) rescue [] end)
+    if @question = current_user.create_question(params['question']['visitor_identifier'], :name => params['question']['name'], :local_identifier => params['question']['local_identifier'], :ideas => begin (params['question']['ideas'].lines.to_a.delete_if? {|i| i.blank?}) rescue [] end)
       respond_to do |format|
         format.xml { render :xml => @question.to_xml}
       end
diff --git a/app/models/choice.rb b/app/models/choice.rb
index 2977eba..ef43d6a 100644
--- a/app/models/choice.rb
+++ b/app/models/choice.rb
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ class Choice < ActiveRecord::Base
   
   validates_presence_of :creator, :on => :create, :message => "can't be blank"
   validates_presence_of :question, :on => :create, :message => "can't be blank"
+  #validates_length_of :item, :maximum => 140
   
   has_many :votes, :as => :voteable 
   has_many :prompts_on_the_left, :class_name => "Prompt", :foreign_key => "left_choice_id"
@@ -51,6 +52,9 @@ class Choice < ActiveRecord::Base
     unless self.score
       self.score = 0.0
     end
+    unless self.active?
+      question.should_autoactivate_ideas? ? self.active = true : self.active = false
+    end
     return true #so active record will save
   end
   
diff --git a/app/models/question.rb b/app/models/question.rb
index 911b3b6..9c8230b 100644
--- a/app/models/question.rb
+++ b/app/models/question.rb
@@ -24,23 +24,27 @@ class Question < ActiveRecord::Base
     choices_count
   end
    
-   #TODO: generalize for prompts of rank > 2
-   #TODO: add index for rapid finding
-   def picked_prompt(rank = 2)
-     raise NotImplementedError.new("Sorry, we currently only support pairwise prompts.  Rank of the prompt must be 2.") unless rank == 2
+ #TODO: generalize for prompts of rank > 2
+ #TODO: add index for rapid finding
+ def picked_prompt(rank = 2)
+   raise NotImplementedError.new("Sorry, we currently only support pairwise prompts.  Rank of the prompt must be 2.") unless rank == 2
+   begin
      choice_id_array = distinct_array_of_choice_ids(rank)
      @p ||= prompts.find_or_create_by_left_choice_id_and_right_choice_id(choice_id_array[0], choice_id_array[1], :include => [{ :left_choice => :item }, { :right_choice => :item }])
-   end
-   memoize :picked_prompt
+   end until @p.active?
+   return @p
+ end
+ memoize :picked_prompt
    
    def distinct_array_of_choice_ids(rank = 2, only_active = true)
      @choice_ids = choice_ids
      @s = @choice_ids.size
      begin
-       @the_choice_ids = Set.new(@choice_ids.values_at(rand(@s), rand(@s)))
+       first_one, second_one = rand(@s), rand(@s)
+       @the_choice_ids = Set.new(@choice_ids.values_at(first_one, second_one))
        # @the_choice_ids << choices.active.first(:order => 'RAND()', :select => 'id').id
        # @the_choice_ids << choices.active.last(:order => 'RAND()', :select => 'id').id
-     end until @the_choice_ids.size == rank
+     end until (@the_choice_ids.size == rank) 
      logger.info "set populated and looks like #{@the_choice_ids.inspect}"
      return @the_choice_ids.to_a
    end
@@ -65,6 +69,9 @@ class Question < ActiveRecord::Base
      u.questions_voted_on.include? self
    end
    
+   def should_autoactivate_ideas?
+     it_should_autoactivate_ideas?
+   end
   
   validates_presence_of :site, :on => :create, :message => "can't be blank"
   validates_presence_of :creator, :on => :create, :message => "can't be blank"
diff --git a/db/migrate/20100107200151_add_flag_for_idea_activation_to_questions.rb b/db/migrate/20100107200151_add_flag_for_idea_activation_to_questions.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c17e25a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20100107200151_add_flag_for_idea_activation_to_questions.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+class AddFlagForIdeaActivationToQuestions < ActiveRecord::Migration
+  def self.up
+    add_column :questions, :it_should_autoactivate_ideas, :boolean, :default => false
+  end
+
+  def self.down
+    remove_column :questions, :it_should_autoactivate_ideas
+  end
+end
--
libgit2 0.21.2