diff --git a/src/autocomplete/Autocompleter.js b/src/autocomplete/Autocompleter.js
index 6fadf53a61..7a64fb154c 100644
--- a/src/autocomplete/Autocompleter.js
+++ b/src/autocomplete/Autocompleter.js
@@ -34,12 +34,9 @@ export type Completion = {
     component: ?Component,
     range: SelectionRange,
     command: ?string,
-    // An entity applied during the replacement (using draftjs@0.8.1 Entity.create)
-    entity: ? {
-        type: string,
-        mutability: string,
-        data: ?Object,
-    },
+    // If provided, apply a LINK entity to the completion with the
+    // data = { url: href }.
+    href: ?string,
 };
 
 const PROVIDERS = [
diff --git a/src/components/structures/GroupView.js b/src/components/structures/GroupView.js
index 30d67202e7..5f7866773d 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/GroupView.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/GroupView.js
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ import dis from '../../dispatcher';
 import { sanitizedHtmlNode } from '../../HtmlUtils';
 import { _t } from '../../languageHandler';
 import AccessibleButton from '../views/elements/AccessibleButton';
+import Modal from '../../Modal';
+import classnames from 'classnames';
 
 const RoomSummaryType = PropTypes.shape({
     room_id: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
@@ -179,10 +181,13 @@ export default React.createClass({
             summary: null,
             error: null,
             editing: false,
+            saving: false,
+            uploadingAvatar: false,
         };
     },
 
     componentWillMount: function() {
+        this._changeAvatarComponent = null;
         this._loadGroupFromServer(this.props.groupId);
     },
 
@@ -211,8 +216,83 @@ export default React.createClass({
         });
     },
 
-    _onSettingsClick: function() {
-        this.setState({editing: true});
+    _onEditClick: function() {
+        this.setState({
+            editing: true,
+            profileForm: Object.assign({}, this.state.summary.profile),
+        });
+    },
+
+    _onCancelClick: function() {
+        this.setState({
+            editing: false,
+            profileForm: null,
+        });
+    },
+
+    _onNameChange: function(e) {
+        const newProfileForm = Object.assign(this.state.profileForm, { name: e.target.value });
+        this.setState({
+            profileForm: newProfileForm,
+        });
+    },
+
+    _onShortDescChange: function(e) {
+        const newProfileForm = Object.assign(this.state.profileForm, { short_description: e.target.value });
+        this.setState({
+            profileForm: newProfileForm,
+        });
+    },
+
+    _onLongDescChange: function(e) {
+        const newProfileForm = Object.assign(this.state.profileForm, { long_description: e.target.value });
+        this.setState({
+            profileForm: newProfileForm,
+        });
+    },
+
+    _onAvatarSelected: function(ev) {
+        const file = ev.target.files[0];
+        if (!file) return;
+
+        this.setState({uploadingAvatar: true});
+        MatrixClientPeg.get().uploadContent(file).then((url) => {
+            const newProfileForm = Object.assign(this.state.profileForm, { avatar_url: url });
+            this.setState({
+                uploadingAvatar: false,
+                profileForm: newProfileForm,
+            });
+        }).catch((e) => {
+            this.setState({uploadingAvatar: false});
+            const ErrorDialog = sdk.getComponent("dialogs.ErrorDialog");
+            console.error("Failed to upload avatar image", e);
+            Modal.createDialog(ErrorDialog, {
+                title: _t('Error'),
+                description: _t('Failed to upload image'),
+            });
+        }).done();
+    },
+
+    _onSaveClick: function() {
+        this.setState({saving: true});
+        MatrixClientPeg.get().setGroupProfile(this.props.groupId, this.state.profileForm).then((result) => {
+            this.setState({
+                saving: false,
+                editing: false,
+                summary: null,
+            });
+            this._loadGroupFromServer(this.props.groupId);
+        }).catch((e) => {
+            this.setState({
+                saving: false,
+            });
+            const ErrorDialog = sdk.getComponent("dialogs.ErrorDialog");
+            console.error("Failed to save group profile", e);
+            Modal.createDialog(ErrorDialog, {
+                title: _t('Error'),
+                description: _t('Failed to update group'),
+            });
+        }).done();
     },
 
     _getFeaturedRoomsNode() {
@@ -296,60 +376,129 @@ export default React.createClass({
         const Loader = sdk.getComponent("elements.Spinner");
         const TintableSvg = sdk.getComponent("elements.TintableSvg");
 
-        if (this.state.summary === null && this.state.error === null) {
+        if (this.state.summary === null && this.state.error === null || this.state.saving) {
             return <Loader />;
-        } else if (this.state.editing) {
-            return <div />;
         } else if (this.state.summary) {
             const summary = this.state.summary;
-            let description = null;
-            if (summary.profile && summary.profile.long_description) {
-                description = sanitizedHtmlNode(summary.profile.long_description);
-            }
-
-            const roomBody = <div>
-                <div className="mx_GroupView_groupDesc">{description}</div>
-                {this._getFeaturedRoomsNode()}
-                {this._getFeaturedUsersNode()}
-            </div>;
 
+            let avatarNode;
             let nameNode;
-            if (summary.profile && summary.profile.name) {
-                nameNode = <div className="mx_RoomHeader_name">
-                    <span>{summary.profile.name}</span>
-                    <span className="mx_GroupView_header_groupid">
-                        ({this.props.groupId})
-                    </span>
+            let shortDescNode;
+            let rightButtons;
+            let roomBody;
+            const headerClasses = {
+                mx_GroupView_header: true,
+            };
+            if (this.state.editing) {
+                let avatarImage;
+                if (this.state.uploadingAvatar) {
+                    avatarImage = <Loader />;
+                } else {
+                    const GroupAvatar = sdk.getComponent('avatars.GroupAvatar');
+                    avatarImage = <GroupAvatar groupId={this.props.groupId}
+                        groupAvatarUrl={this.state.profileForm.avatar_url}
+                        width={48} height={48} resizeMethod='crop'
+                    />;
+                }
+
+                avatarNode = (
+                    <div className="mx_GroupView_avatarPicker">
+                        <label htmlFor="avatarInput" className="mx_GroupView_avatarPicker_label">
+                            {avatarImage}
+                        </label>
+                        <div className="mx_GroupView_avatarPicker_edit">
+                            <label htmlFor="avatarInput" className="mx_GroupView_avatarPicker_label">
+                                <img src="img/camera.svg"
+                                    alt={ _t("Upload avatar") } title={ _t("Upload avatar") }
+                                    width="17" height="15" />
+                            </label>
+                            <input id="avatarInput" className="mx_GroupView_uploadInput" type="file" onChange={this._onAvatarSelected}/>
+                        </div>
+                    </div>
+                );
+                nameNode = <input type="text"
+                    value={this.state.profileForm.name}
+                    onChange={this._onNameChange}
+                    placeholder={_t('Group Name')}
+                    tabIndex="1"
+                />;
+                shortDescNode = <input type="text"
+                    value={this.state.profileForm.short_description}
+                    onChange={this._onShortDescChange}
+                    placeholder={_t('Description')}
+                    tabIndex="2"
+                />;
+                rightButtons = <span>
+                    <AccessibleButton className="mx_GroupView_saveButton mx_RoomHeader_textButton" onClick={this._onSaveClick}>
+                        {_t('Save')}
+                    </AccessibleButton>
+                    <AccessibleButton className='mx_GroupView_cancelButton' onClick={this._onCancelClick}>
+                        <img src="img/cancel.svg" className='mx_filterFlipColor'
+                            width="18" height="18" alt={_t("Cancel")}/>
+                    </AccessibleButton>
+                </span>;
+                roomBody = <div>
+                    <textarea className="mx_GroupView_editLongDesc" value={this.state.profileForm.long_description}
+                        onChange={this._onLongDescChange}
+                        tabIndex="3"
+                    />
                 </div>;
             } else {
-                nameNode = <div className="mx_RoomHeader_name">
-                    <span>{this.props.groupId}</span>
+                const groupAvatarUrl = summary.profile ? summary.profile.avatar_url : null;
+                avatarNode = <GroupAvatar
+                    groupId={this.props.groupId}
+                    groupAvatarUrl={groupAvatarUrl}
+                    width={48} height={48}
+                />;
+                if (summary.profile && summary.profile.name) {
+                    nameNode = <div>
+                        <span>{summary.profile.name}</span>
+                        <span className="mx_GroupView_header_groupid">
+                            ({this.props.groupId})
+                        </span>
+                    </div>;
+                } else {
+                    nameNode = <span>{this.props.groupId}</span>;
+                }
+                shortDescNode = <span>{summary.profile.short_description}</span>;
+
+                let description = null;
+                if (summary.profile && summary.profile.long_description) {
+                    description = sanitizedHtmlNode(summary.profile.long_description);
+                }
+                roomBody = <div>
+                    <div className="mx_GroupView_groupDesc">{description}</div>
+                    {this._getFeaturedRoomsNode()}
+                    {this._getFeaturedUsersNode()}
                 </div>;
+                // disabled until editing works
+                rightButtons = <AccessibleButton className="mx_GroupHeader_button"
+                    onClick={this._onEditClick} title={_t("Edit Group")}
+                >
+                    <TintableSvg src="img/icons-settings-room.svg" width="16" height="16"/>
+                </AccessibleButton>;
+
+                headerClasses.mx_GroupView_header_view = true;
             }
 
-            const groupAvatarUrl = summary.profile ? summary.profile.avatar_url : null;
-
-            // settings button is display: none until settings is wired up
             return (
                 <div className="mx_GroupView">
-                    <div className="mx_RoomHeader">
-                        <div className="mx_RoomHeader_wrapper">
-                            <div className="mx_RoomHeader_avatar">
-                                <GroupAvatar
-                                    groupId={this.props.groupId}
-                                    groupAvatarUrl={groupAvatarUrl}
-                                    width={48} height={48}
-                                />
+                    <div className={classnames(headerClasses)}>
+                        <div className="mx_GroupView_header_leftCol">
+                            <div className="mx_GroupView_header_avatar">
+                                {avatarNode}
                             </div>
-                            <div className="mx_RoomHeader_info">
-                                {nameNode}
-                                <div className="mx_RoomHeader_topic">
-                                    {summary.profile.short_description}
+                            <div className="mx_GroupView_header_info">
+                                <div className="mx_GroupView_header_name">
+                                    {nameNode}
+                                </div>
+                                <div className="mx_GroupView_header_shortDesc">
+                                    {shortDescNode}
                                 </div>
                             </div>
-                            <AccessibleButton className="mx_RoomHeader_button" onClick={this._onSettingsClick} title={_t("Settings")} style={{display: 'none'}}>
-                                <TintableSvg src="img/icons-settings-room.svg" width="16" height="16"/>
-                            </AccessibleButton>
+                        </div>
+                        <div className="mx_GroupView_header_rightCol">
+                            {rightButtons}
                         </div>
                     </div>
                     {roomBody}
diff --git a/src/components/structures/LoggedInView.js b/src/components/structures/LoggedInView.js
index a051af5d08..093fae5d7b 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/LoggedInView.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/LoggedInView.js
@@ -307,6 +307,7 @@ export default React.createClass({
                 page_element = <GroupView
                     groupId={this.props.currentGroupId}
                 />;
+                //right_panel = <RightPanel userId={this.props.viewUserId} opacity={this.props.rightOpacity} />;
                 break;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/components/views/elements/AppTile.js b/src/components/views/elements/AppTile.js
index 2eabe373f8..9573b9fd9f 100644
--- a/src/components/views/elements/AppTile.js
+++ b/src/components/views/elements/AppTile.js
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ export default React.createClass({
             loading: false,
             widgetUrl: this.props.url,
             error: null,
+            deleting: false,
         };
     },
 
@@ -101,6 +102,7 @@ export default React.createClass({
 
     _onDeleteClick: function() {
         console.log("Delete widget %s", this.props.id);
+        this.setState({deleting: true});
         MatrixClientPeg.get().sendStateEvent(
             this.props.room.roomId,
             'im.vector.modular.widgets',
@@ -110,6 +112,7 @@ export default React.createClass({
             console.log('Deleted widget');
         }, (e) => {
             console.error('Failed to delete widget', e);
+            this.setState({deleting: false});
         });
     },
 
@@ -124,6 +127,12 @@ export default React.createClass({
 
     render: function() {
         let appTileBody;
+
+        // Don't render widget if it is in the process of being deleted
+        if (this.state.deleting) {
+            return <div></div>;
+        }
+
         if (this.state.loading) {
             appTileBody = (
                 <div> Loading... </div>
diff --git a/src/components/views/elements/Pill.js b/src/components/views/elements/Pill.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fdd657470e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/views/elements/Pill.js
@@ -0,0 +1,191 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+import React from 'react';
+import sdk from '../../../index';
+import classNames from 'classnames';
+import { Room, RoomMember } from 'matrix-js-sdk';
+import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
+import MatrixClientPeg from '../../../MatrixClientPeg';
+import { MATRIXTO_URL_PATTERN } from '../../../linkify-matrix';
+import { getDisplayAliasForRoom } from '../../../Rooms';
+
+const REGEX_MATRIXTO = new RegExp(MATRIXTO_URL_PATTERN);
+
+// For URLs of matrix.to links in the timeline which have been reformatted by
+// HttpUtils transformTags to relative links
+const REGEX_LOCAL_MATRIXTO = /^#\/(?:user|room)\/(([\#\!\@\+]).*)$/;
+
+const Pill = React.createClass({
+    statics: {
+        isPillUrl: (url) => {
+            return !!REGEX_MATRIXTO.exec(url);
+        },
+        isMessagePillUrl: (url) => {
+            return !!REGEX_LOCAL_MATRIXTO.exec(url);
+        },
+        TYPE_USER_MENTION: 'TYPE_USER_MENTION',
+        TYPE_ROOM_MENTION: 'TYPE_ROOM_MENTION',
+    },
+
+    props: {
+        // The URL to pillify (no validation is done, see isPillUrl and isMessagePillUrl)
+        url: PropTypes.string,
+        // Whether the pill is in a message
+        inMessage: PropTypes.bool,
+        // The room in which this pill is being rendered
+        room: PropTypes.instanceOf(Room),
+    },
+
+    getInitialState() {
+        return {
+            // ID/alias of the room/user
+            resourceId: null,
+            // Type of pill
+            pillType: null,
+
+            // The member related to the user pill
+            member: null,
+            // The room related to the room pill
+            room: null,
+        };
+    },
+
+    componentWillMount() {
+        this._unmounted = false;
+        let regex = REGEX_MATRIXTO;
+        if (this.props.inMessage) {
+            regex = REGEX_LOCAL_MATRIXTO;
+        }
+
+        // Default to the empty array if no match for simplicity
+        // resource and prefix will be undefined instead of throwing
+        const matrixToMatch = regex.exec(this.props.url) || [];
+
+        const resourceId = matrixToMatch[1]; // The room/user ID
+        const prefix = matrixToMatch[2]; // The first character of prefix
+
+        const pillType = {
+            '@': Pill.TYPE_USER_MENTION,
+            '#': Pill.TYPE_ROOM_MENTION,
+            '!': Pill.TYPE_ROOM_MENTION,
+        }[prefix];
+
+        let member;
+        let room;
+        switch (pillType) {
+            case Pill.TYPE_USER_MENTION: {
+                const localMember = this.props.room.getMember(resourceId);
+                member = localMember;
+                if (!localMember) {
+                    member = new RoomMember(null, resourceId);
+                    this.doProfileLookup(resourceId, member);
+                }
+            }
+                break;
+            case Pill.TYPE_ROOM_MENTION: {
+                const localRoom = resourceId[0] === '#' ?
+                    MatrixClientPeg.get().getRooms().find((r) => {
+                        return r.getAliases().includes(resourceId);
+                    }) : MatrixClientPeg.get().getRoom(resourceId);
+                room = localRoom;
+                if (!localRoom) {
+                    // TODO: This would require a new API to resolve a room alias to
+                    // a room avatar and name.
+                    // this.doRoomProfileLookup(resourceId, member);
+                }
+            }
+                break;
+        }
+        this.setState({resourceId, pillType, member, room});
+    },
+
+    componentWillUnmount() {
+        this._unmounted = true;
+    },
+
+    doProfileLookup: function(userId, member) {
+        MatrixClientPeg.get().getProfileInfo(userId).then((resp) => {
+            if (this._unmounted) {
+                return;
+            }
+            member.name = resp.displayname;
+            member.rawDisplayName = resp.displayname;
+            member.events.member = {
+                getContent: () => {
+                    return {avatar_url: resp.avatar_url};
+                },
+            };
+            this.setState({member});
+        }).catch((err) => {
+            console.error('Could not retrieve profile data for ' + userId + ':', err);
+        });
+    },
+
+    render: function() {
+        const MemberAvatar = sdk.getComponent('avatars.MemberAvatar');
+        const RoomAvatar = sdk.getComponent('avatars.RoomAvatar');
+
+        const resource = this.state.resourceId;
+
+        let avatar = null;
+        let linkText = resource;
+        let pillClass;
+        let userId;
+        switch (this.state.pillType) {
+            case Pill.TYPE_USER_MENTION: {
+                    // If this user is not a member of this room, default to the empty member
+                    const member = this.state.member;
+                    if (member) {
+                        userId = member.userId;
+                        linkText = member.name;
+                        avatar = <MemberAvatar member={member} width={16} height={16}/>;
+                        pillClass = 'mx_UserPill';
+                    }
+            }
+                break;
+            case Pill.TYPE_ROOM_MENTION: {
+                const room = this.state.room;
+                if (room) {
+                    linkText = (room ? getDisplayAliasForRoom(room) : null) || resource;
+                    avatar = <RoomAvatar room={room} width={16} height={16}/>;
+                    pillClass = 'mx_RoomPill';
+                }
+            }
+                break;
+        }
+
+        const classes = classNames(pillClass, {
+            "mx_UserPill_me": userId === MatrixClientPeg.get().credentials.userId,
+        });
+
+        if (this.state.pillType) {
+            return this.props.inMessage ?
+                <a className={classes} href={this.props.url} title={resource} data-offset-key={this.props.offsetKey}>
+                    {avatar}
+                    {linkText}
+                </a> :
+                <span className={classes} title={resource} data-offset-key={this.props.offsetKey}>
+                    {avatar}
+                    {linkText}
+                </span>;
+        } else {
+            // Deliberately render nothing if the URL isn't recognised
+            return null;
+        }
+    },
+});
+
+export default Pill;
diff --git a/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js b/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
index 85cc85be49..6d4d01a196 100644
--- a/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
+++ b/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
@@ -170,56 +170,21 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
     },
 
     pillifyLinks: function(nodes) {
-        const MemberAvatar = sdk.getComponent('avatars.MemberAvatar');
-        const RoomAvatar = sdk.getComponent('avatars.RoomAvatar');
         for (let i = 0; i < nodes.length; i++) {
             const node = nodes[i];
             if (node.tagName === "A" && node.getAttribute("href")) {
                 const href = node.getAttribute("href");
-                // HtmlUtils transforms `matrix.to` links to local links, so match against
-                // user or room app links.
-                const match = /^#\/(user|room)\/(.*)$/.exec(href) || [];
-                const resourceType = match[1]; // "user" or "room"
-                const resourceId = match[2]; // user ID or room ID
-                if (match && resourceType && resourceId) {
-                    let avatar;
-                    let roomId;
-                    let room;
-                    let member;
-                    let userId;
-                    switch (resourceType) {
-                        case "user":
-                            roomId = this.props.mxEvent.getRoomId();
-                            room = MatrixClientPeg.get().getRoom(roomId);
-                            userId = resourceId;
-                            member = room.getMember(userId) ||
-                                new RoomMember(null, userId);
-                            avatar = <MemberAvatar member={member} width={16} height={16} name={userId}/>;
-                        break;
-                        case "room":
-                            room = resourceId[0] === '#' ?
-                                MatrixClientPeg.get().getRooms().find((r) => {
-                                    return r.getCanonicalAlias() === resourceId;
-                                }) : MatrixClientPeg.get().getRoom(resourceId);
-                            if (room) {
-                                avatar = <RoomAvatar room={room} width={16} height={16}/>;
-                            }
-                        break;
-                    }
-                    if (avatar) {
-                        const avatarContainer = document.createElement('span');
-                        node.className = classNames(
-                            "mx_MTextBody_pill",
-                            {
-                                "mx_UserPill": match[1] === "user",
-                                "mx_RoomPill": match[1] === "room",
-                                "mx_UserPill_me":
-                                    userId === MatrixClientPeg.get().credentials.userId,
-                            },
-                        );
-                        ReactDOM.render(avatar, avatarContainer);
-                        node.insertBefore(avatarContainer, node.firstChild);
-                    }
+
+                // If the link is a (localised) matrix.to link, replace it with a pill
+                const Pill = sdk.getComponent('elements.Pill');
+                if (Pill.isMessagePillUrl(href)) {
+                    const pillContainer = document.createElement('span');
+
+                    const room = MatrixClientPeg.get().getRoom(this.props.mxEvent.getRoomId());
+                    const pill = <Pill url={href} inMessage={true} room={room}/>;
+
+                    ReactDOM.render(pill, pillContainer);
+                    node.parentNode.replaceChild(pillContainer, node);
                 }
             } else if (node.children && node.children.length) {
                 this.pillifyLinks(node.children);
@@ -297,10 +262,9 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
 
     onEmoteSenderClick: function(event) {
         const mxEvent = this.props.mxEvent;
-        const name = mxEvent.sender ? mxEvent.sender.name : mxEvent.getSender();
         dis.dispatch({
-            action: 'insert_displayname',
-            displayname: name.replace(' (IRC)', ''),
+            action: 'insert_mention',
+            user_id: mxEvent.getSender(),
         });
     },
 
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/EventTile.js b/src/components/views/rooms/EventTile.js
index 68ef3a1f44..b3831a7d0d 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/EventTile.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/EventTile.js
@@ -357,10 +357,10 @@ module.exports = withMatrixClient(React.createClass({
     },
 
     onSenderProfileClick: function(event) {
-        var mxEvent = this.props.mxEvent;
+        const mxEvent = this.props.mxEvent;
         dis.dispatch({
-            action: 'insert_displayname',
-            displayname: (mxEvent.sender ? mxEvent.sender.name : mxEvent.getSender()).replace(' (IRC)', ''),
+            action: 'insert_mention',
+            user_id: mxEvent.getSender(),
         });
     },
 
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
index 06c854a69f..e19e5fb1b9 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput.js
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ import Promise from 'bluebird';
 
 import MatrixClientPeg from '../../../MatrixClientPeg';
 import type {MatrixClient} from 'matrix-js-sdk/lib/matrix';
-import {RoomMember} from 'matrix-js-sdk';
 import SlashCommands from '../../../SlashCommands';
 import KeyCode from '../../../KeyCode';
 import Modal from '../../../Modal';
@@ -43,10 +42,10 @@ import {Completion} from "../../../autocomplete/Autocompleter";
 import Markdown from '../../../Markdown';
 import ComposerHistoryManager from '../../../ComposerHistoryManager';
 import MessageComposerStore from '../../../stores/MessageComposerStore';
-import { getDisplayAliasForRoom } from '../../../Rooms';
 
-import {MATRIXTO_URL_PATTERN} from '../../../linkify-matrix';
+import {MATRIXTO_URL_PATTERN, MATRIXTO_MD_LINK_PATTERN} from '../../../linkify-matrix';
 const REGEX_MATRIXTO = new RegExp(MATRIXTO_URL_PATTERN);
+const REGEX_MATRIXTO_MARKDOWN_GLOBAL = new RegExp(MATRIXTO_MD_LINK_PATTERN, 'g');
 
 import {asciiRegexp, shortnameToUnicode, emojioneList, asciiList, mapUnicodeToShort} from 'emojione';
 const EMOJI_SHORTNAMES = Object.keys(emojioneList);
@@ -187,62 +186,16 @@ export default class MessageComposerInput extends React.Component {
                 RichText.getScopedMDDecorators(this.props);
         decorators.push({
             strategy: this.findLinkEntities.bind(this),
-            component: (props) => {
-                const MemberAvatar = sdk.getComponent('avatars.MemberAvatar');
-                const RoomAvatar = sdk.getComponent('avatars.RoomAvatar');
-                const {url} = Entity.get(props.entityKey).getData();
-
-                // Default to the empty array if no match for simplicity
-                // resource and prefix will be undefined instead of throwing
-                const matrixToMatch = REGEX_MATRIXTO.exec(url) || [];
-
-                const resource = matrixToMatch[1]; // The room/user ID
-                const prefix = matrixToMatch[2]; // The first character of prefix
-
-                // Default to the room/user ID
-                let linkText = resource;
-
-                const isUserPill = prefix === '@';
-                const isRoomPill = prefix === '#' || prefix === '!';
-
-                const classes = classNames({
-                    "mx_UserPill": isUserPill,
-                    "mx_RoomPill": isRoomPill,
-                });
-
-                let avatar = null;
-                if (isUserPill) {
-                    // If this user is not a member of this room, default to the empty
-                    // member. This could be improved by doing an async profile lookup.
-                    const member = this.props.room.getMember(resource) ||
-                        new RoomMember(null, resource);
-
-                    linkText = member.name;
-
-                    avatar = member ? <MemberAvatar member={member} width={16} height={16}/> : null;
-                } else if (isRoomPill) {
-                    const room = prefix === '#' ?
-                        MatrixClientPeg.get().getRooms().find((r) => {
-                            return r.getCanonicalAlias() === resource;
-                        }) : MatrixClientPeg.get().getRoom(resource);
-
-                    linkText = getDisplayAliasForRoom(room) || resource;
-
-                    avatar = room ? <RoomAvatar room={room} width={16} height={16}/> : null;
-                }
-
-                if (isUserPill || isRoomPill) {
-                    return (
-                        <span className={classes}>
-                            {avatar}
-                            {linkText}
-                        </span>
-                    );
+            component: (entityProps) => {
+                const Pill = sdk.getComponent('elements.Pill');
+                const {url} = Entity.get(entityProps.entityKey).getData();
+                if (Pill.isPillUrl(url)) {
+                    return <Pill url={url} room={this.props.room} offsetKey={entityProps.offsetKey}/>;
                 }
 
                 return (
-                    <a href={url}>
-                        {props.children}
+                    <a href={url} data-offset-key={entityProps.offsetKey}>
+                        {entityProps.children}
                     </a>
                 );
             },
@@ -285,22 +238,20 @@ export default class MessageComposerInput extends React.Component {
             case 'focus_composer':
                 editor.focus();
                 break;
-
-            // TODO change this so we insert a complete user alias
-
-            case 'insert_displayname': {
-                contentState = Modifier.replaceText(
-                    contentState,
-                    this.state.editorState.getSelection(),
-                    `${payload.displayname}: `,
-                );
-                let editorState = EditorState.push(this.state.editorState, contentState, 'insert-characters');
-                editorState = EditorState.forceSelection(editorState, contentState.getSelectionAfter());
-                this.onEditorContentChanged(editorState);
-                editor.focus();
+            case 'insert_mention': {
+                // Pretend that we've autocompleted this user because keeping two code
+                // paths for inserting a user pill is not fun
+                const selection = this.state.editorState.getSelection();
+                const member = this.props.room.getMember(payload.user_id);
+                const completion = member ? member.name.replace(' (IRC)', '') : payload.user_id;
+                this.setDisplayedCompletion({
+                    completion,
+                    selection,
+                    href: `https://matrix.to/#/${payload.user_id}`,
+                    suffix: selection.getStartOffset() === 0 ? ': ' : ' ',
+                });
             }
                 break;
-
             case 'quote': {
                 let {body, formatted_body} = payload.event.getContent();
                 formatted_body = formatted_body || escape(body);
@@ -775,6 +726,35 @@ export default class MessageComposerInput extends React.Component {
             sendTextFn = this.client.sendEmoteMessage;
         }
 
+        // Strip MD user (tab-completed) mentions to preserve plaintext mention behaviour
+        contentText = contentText.replace(REGEX_MATRIXTO_MARKDOWN_GLOBAL,
+        (markdownLink, text, resource, prefix, offset) => {
+            // Calculate the offset relative to the current block that the offset is in
+            let sum = 0;
+            const blocks = contentState.getBlocksAsArray();
+            let block;
+            for (let i = 0; i < blocks.length; i++) {
+                block = blocks[i];
+                sum += block.getLength();
+                if (sum > offset) {
+                    sum -= block.getLength();
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+            offset -= sum;
+
+            const entityKey = block.getEntityAt(offset);
+            const entity = entityKey ? Entity.get(entityKey) : null;
+            if (entity && entity.getData().isCompletion && prefix === '@') {
+                // This is a completed mention, so do not insert MD link, just text
+                return text;
+            } else {
+                // This is either a MD link that was typed into the composer or another
+                // type of pill (e.g. room pill)
+                return markdownLink;
+            }
+        });
+
         let sendMessagePromise;
         if (contentHTML) {
             sendMessagePromise = sendHtmlFn.call(
@@ -933,21 +913,32 @@ export default class MessageComposerInput extends React.Component {
             return false;
         }
 
-        const {range = {}, completion = '', href = null, suffix = ''} = displayedCompletion;
+        const {range = null, completion = '', href = null, suffix = ''} = displayedCompletion;
+
         let entityKey;
         let mdCompletion;
         if (href) {
-            entityKey = Entity.create('LINK', 'IMMUTABLE', {url: href});
+            entityKey = Entity.create('LINK', 'IMMUTABLE', {
+                url: href,
+                isCompletion: true,
+            });
             if (!this.state.isRichtextEnabled) {
                 mdCompletion = `[${completion}](${href})`;
             }
         }
 
+        let selection;
+        if (range) {
+            selection = RichText.textOffsetsToSelectionState(
+                range, activeEditorState.getCurrentContent().getBlocksAsArray(),
+            );
+        } else {
+            selection = activeEditorState.getSelection();
+        }
+
         let contentState = Modifier.replaceText(
             activeEditorState.getCurrentContent(),
-            RichText.textOffsetsToSelectionState(
-                range, activeEditorState.getCurrentContent().getBlocksAsArray(),
-            ),
+            selection,
             mdCompletion || completion,
             null,
             entityKey,
diff --git a/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json b/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json
index 4841f2f0de..c6c563ac5b 100644
--- a/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json
+++ b/src/i18n/strings/en_EN.json
@@ -956,5 +956,8 @@
     "Featured Rooms:": "Featured Rooms:",
     "Error whilst fetching joined groups": "Error whilst fetching joined groups",
     "Featured Users:": "Featured Users:",
-    "Automatically replace plain text Emoji": "Automatically replace plain text Emoji"
+    "Edit Group": "Edit Group",
+    "Automatically replace plain text Emoji": "Automatically replace plain text Emoji",
+    "Failed to upload image": "Failed to upload image",
+    "Failed to update group": "Failed to update group"
 }
diff --git a/src/linkify-matrix.js b/src/linkify-matrix.js
index 01512a771a..e395b7986e 100644
--- a/src/linkify-matrix.js
+++ b/src/linkify-matrix.js
@@ -168,6 +168,8 @@ matrixLinkify.VECTOR_URL_PATTERN = "^(?:https?:\/\/)?(?:"
     + ")(#.*)";
 
 matrixLinkify.MATRIXTO_URL_PATTERN = "^(?:https?:\/\/)?(?:www\\.)?matrix\\.to/#/((#|@|!).*)";
+matrixLinkify.MATRIXTO_MD_LINK_PATTERN =
+    '\\[([^\\]]*)\\]\\((?:https?:\/\/)?(?:www\\.)?matrix\\.to/#/((#|@|!)[^\\)]*)\\)';
 matrixLinkify.MATRIXTO_BASE_URL= "https://matrix.to";
 
 matrixLinkify.options = {
diff --git a/test/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput-test.js b/test/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput-test.js
index fe379afcff..e5d98e26c6 100644
--- a/test/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput-test.js
+++ b/test/components/views/rooms/MessageComposerInput-test.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import sdk from 'matrix-react-sdk';
 import UserSettingsStore from '../../../../src/UserSettingsStore';
 const MessageComposerInput = sdk.getComponent('views.rooms.MessageComposerInput');
 import MatrixClientPeg from '../../../../src/MatrixClientPeg';
+import RoomMember from 'matrix-js-sdk';
 
 function addTextToDraft(text) {
     const components = document.getElementsByClassName('public-DraftEditor-content');
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ describe('MessageComposerInput', () => {
         testUtils.beforeEach(this);
         sandbox = testUtils.stubClient(sandbox);
         client = MatrixClientPeg.get();
+        client.credentials = {userId: '@me:domain.com'};
 
         parentDiv = document.createElement('div');
         document.body.appendChild(parentDiv);
@@ -236,4 +238,68 @@ describe('MessageComposerInput', () => {
         expect(spy.calledOnce).toEqual(true);
         expect(spy.args[0][1]).toEqual('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.\n\nFusce congue sapien sed neque molestie volutpat.');
     });
+
+    it('should strip tab-completed mentions so that only the display name is sent in the plain body in Markdown mode', () => {
+        // Sending a HTML message because we have entities in the composer (because of completions)
+        const spy = sinon.spy(client, 'sendHtmlMessage');
+        mci.enableRichtext(false);
+        mci.setDisplayedCompletion({
+            completion: 'Some Member',
+            selection: mci.state.editorState.getSelection(),
+            href: `https://matrix.to/#/@some_member:domain.bla`,
+        });
+
+        mci.handleReturn(sinon.stub());
+
+        expect(spy.args[0][1]).toEqual(
+            'Some Member',
+            'the plaintext body should only include the display name',
+        );
+        expect(spy.args[0][2]).toEqual(
+            '<a href="https://matrix.to/#/@some_member:domain.bla">Some Member</a>',
+            'the html body should contain an anchor tag with a matrix.to href and display name text',
+        );
+    });
+
+    it('should strip tab-completed mentions so that only the display name is sent in the plain body in RTE mode', () => {
+        // Sending a HTML message because we have entities in the composer (because of completions)
+        const spy = sinon.spy(client, 'sendHtmlMessage');
+        mci.enableRichtext(true);
+        mci.setDisplayedCompletion({
+            completion: 'Some Member',
+            selection: mci.state.editorState.getSelection(),
+            href: `https://matrix.to/#/@some_member:domain.bla`,
+        });
+
+        mci.handleReturn(sinon.stub());
+
+        expect(spy.args[0][1]).toEqual('Some Member');
+        expect(spy.args[0][2]).toEqual('<a href="https://matrix.to/#/@some_member:domain.bla">Some Member</a>');
+    });
+
+    it('should not strip non-tab-completed mentions when manually typing MD', () => {
+        // Sending a HTML message because we have entities in the composer (because of completions)
+        const spy = sinon.spy(client, 'sendHtmlMessage');
+        // Markdown mode enabled
+        mci.enableRichtext(false);
+        addTextToDraft('[My Not-Tab-Completed Mention](https://matrix.to/#/@some_member:domain.bla)');
+
+        mci.handleReturn(sinon.stub());
+
+        expect(spy.args[0][1]).toEqual('[My Not-Tab-Completed Mention](https://matrix.to/#/@some_member:domain.bla)');
+        expect(spy.args[0][2]).toEqual('<a href="https://matrix.to/#/@some_member:domain.bla">My Not-Tab-Completed Mention</a>');
+    });
+
+    it('should not strip arbitrary typed (i.e. not tab-completed) MD links', () => {
+        // Sending a HTML message because we have entities in the composer (because of completions)
+        const spy = sinon.spy(client, 'sendHtmlMessage');
+        // Markdown mode enabled
+        mci.enableRichtext(false);
+        addTextToDraft('[Click here](https://some.lovely.url)');
+
+        mci.handleReturn(sinon.stub());
+
+        expect(spy.args[0][1]).toEqual('[Click here](https://some.lovely.url)');
+        expect(spy.args[0][2]).toEqual('<a href="https://some.lovely.url">Click here</a>');
+    });
 });
diff --git a/test/test-utils.js b/test/test-utils.js
index 23f16a2e4c..06d3c03c49 100644
--- a/test/test-utils.js
+++ b/test/test-utils.js
@@ -238,7 +238,12 @@ export function mkStubRoom(roomId = null) {
     return {
         roomId,
         getReceiptsForEvent: sinon.stub().returns([]),
-        getMember: sinon.stub().returns({}),
+        getMember: sinon.stub().returns({
+            userId: '@member:domain.bla',
+            name: 'Member',
+            roomId: roomId,
+            getAvatarUrl: () => 'mxc://avatar.url/image.png',
+        }),
         getJoinedMembers: sinon.stub().returns([]),
         getPendingEvents: () => [],
         getLiveTimeline: () => stubTimeline,