diff --git a/app/controllers/plans_controller.rb b/app/controllers/plans_controller.rb
index 1408264..d4dc86c 100644
--- a/app/controllers/plans_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/plans_controller.rb
@@ -21,45 +21,65 @@
     authorize @plan
     @funders = Org.funders.all 
 
+    no_org = Org.new()
+    no_org.id = -1
+    no_org.name = "No Funder"
+    @funders.unshift(no_org)
+
+
     respond_to do |format|
       format.html # new.html.erb
     end
   end
 
 
+  # we get here either from selecting a funder or if if the first selection
+  # results in multiple templates, from a template selection screen
   def create
     @plan = Plan.new
     authorize @plan
     @plan.save
 
+    message = ""
+
+    # if we have a template_id we've been selcting between templates, otherwise funders
     if params[:template_id]
       @templates = [ Template.find(params[:template_id] ) ]
     else
+      funder_id = params[:plan][:funder_id].to_i
 
-      funder_id = params[:plan][:funder_id]
-      if !funder_id.blank?
+      if funder_id.present? && funder_id != -1
+        @templates = []
+
         # get all funder @templates
         funder = Org.find(params[:plan][:funder_id])
-        @templates = get_most_recent( funder.templates.where("published = ?", true).all )
+        funder_templates = get_most_recent( funder.templates.where(published: true).all )
 
-        orgtemplates = current_user.org.templates.all
-        replacements = []
+        # get org templates and index by customization id
+        orgtemplates = get_most_recent( current_user.org.templates.all )
 
-        # replace any that are customised by the org
-        orgtemplates.each do |orgt|
-          base_template = orgt.customization_of 
-          @templates.delete(base_template)
-          replacements << orgt
+        orgt_by_customization = orgtemplates.collect{|t| [t.customization_of, t]}.to_h
+
+        # go through funder templates and replace with org cusomizations if needed
+        funder_templates.each do |ft|
+          if orgt_by_customization.has_key?(ft.dmptemplate_id)
+            message = _(" - using template customised by your institution")
+            @templates << orgt_by_customization[ft.dmptemplate_id]
+          else
+            @templates << ft
+          end
         end
-        @templates + replacements
+      else # either didn't select funder or selected "No Funder"
 
-      else
         # get all org @templates which are not customisations
-        @templates = current_user.org.templates.where(customization_of: nil)
+        @templates = get_most_recent( current_user.org.templates.where(customization_of: nil) )
 
-        # if none of these get the basic dcc template
+        message = _(" - choosing default template for your institution")
+
+        # if none of these get the default template
         if @templates.blank?
-          @templates = Template.find_by_is_default(true)
+          @templates = get_most_recent( Template.where(is_default: true, customization_of: nil) )
+          message = _(" - no funder or institution template, choosing default template")
         end
       end
     end
@@ -69,11 +89,18 @@
     # to choose otherwise just create the plan
     # and go to the plan/show template
     if @templates.length > 1 
+      message += _(" - there are more than one to choose from")
+      flash.notice = message
+      respond_to do |format|
+        format.html
+      end
       return
     end
 
     @plan.template = @templates[0]
 
+    @based_on = @plan.base_template()
+
     @plan.principal_investigator = current_user.name
 
     @plan.title = _('My plan')+' ('+@plan.template.title+')'  # We should use interpolated string since the order of the words from this message could vary among languages
@@ -84,10 +111,11 @@
 
     @selected_guidance_groups = @plan.guidance_groups.map{ |pgg| [pgg.name, pgg.id, :checked => false] }
     @selected_guidance_groups.sort!
-    
+
     respond_to do |format|
       if @plan.save
-        format.html { redirect_to({:action => "show", :id => @plan.id, :editing => true }, {:notice => _('Plan was successfully created.')}) }
+        flash.notice = _('Plan was successfully created.') + message
+        format.html { redirect_to({:action => "show", :id => @plan.id, :editing => true }) }
       else
         flash[:notice] = failed_create_error(@plan, _('plan'))
         format.html { render action: "new" }
@@ -106,6 +134,8 @@
     all_guidance_groups = @plan.plan_guidance_groups
     @selected_guidance_groups = all_guidance_groups.map{ |pgg| [ pgg.guidance_group.name, pgg.guidance_group.id, :checked => pgg.selected ] }
     @selected_guidance_groups.sort!
+    @based_on = @plan.base_template
+
     respond_to :html
   end
 
@@ -358,12 +388,15 @@
   private
 
 
+  # different versions of the same template have the same dmptemplate_id
+  # but different version numbers so for each set of templates with the
+  # same dmptemplate_id choose the highest version number.
   def get_most_recent( templates )
     groups = Hash.new
     templates.each do |t|
       k = t.dmptemplate_id
       if !groups.has_key?(k)
-        groups[k] =t
+        groups[k] = t
       else
         other = groups[k]
         if other.version < t.version
diff --git a/app/models/plan.rb b/app/models/plan.rb
index 30ce215..436a851 100644
--- a/app/models/plan.rb
+++ b/app/models/plan.rb
@@ -85,6 +85,17 @@
 
 
 
+  def base_template
+    base = nil
+    t = self.template
+    if t.customization_of.present?
+      base = Template.where("dmptemplate_id = ? and created_at < ?", t.customization_of, self.created_at).order(version: :desc).first
+    end
+    return base
+  end
+
+
+
   ##
   # returns the most recent answer to the given question id
   # optionally can create an answer if none exists
@@ -909,98 +920,6 @@
   
 
 
-  ##
-  #
-  # The following method is to help optimise data access.
-  # Even using includes or joins the data access gets performed lazily
-  # and the caching appears to be forgotten at times over view/partial boundaries
-  # To get round it we can pull everything out into a hash and use that
-  # which guarantees no further DB accesses.
-  #
-  # The serializable_hash method only pulls in one level but this includes
-  # attributes which are "through" other attributes. So we do a basic 
-  # conversion to hash and then a "fixup" which knits the pieces together into
-  # the structure which we really want.
-  #
-  def to_hash
-    plan_data = self.serializable_hash(
-        include: [ :template, :phases, :sections,
-                   :answers, :notes, :roles, :users, :questions, 
-                   :plan_guidance_groups, :guidance_groups]
-      )
-
-    # serializable_hash only works over one level so we still need to go and extract
-    # the deeper levels and knit them in.
-    #
-    # want hash of questions by id to add in suggested answers and question_formats
-    question_hash = {}
-
-    plan_data["questions"].each do |q|
-      question_hash[q["id"]] = q
-    end
-
-    question_ids = question_hash.keys
-
-    # pull out suggested answers
-    suggested_answers = SuggestedAnswer.where(question_id: question_ids).where.not(text: '')
-    suggested_answers.each do |sa|
-      question_hash[sa.question_id]["suggested_answer"] = sa.serializable_hash
-    end
-
-    # pull out question_formats
-    qf_hash = {}
-    QuestionFormat.all.each do |qf|
-      qf_hash[qf.id] = qf.serializable_hash
-    end
-    # add question _formats to questions
-    question_hash.values.each do |q|
-      q["question_format"] = qf_hash[q["question_format_id"]]
-    end
-
-    # get the ids of the dynamically selected guidance groups
-    # and keep a map of them so we can extract the name later
-    gg_ids = plan_data["plan_guidance_groups"].select{|pgg| pgg["selected"]}.map{|pgg| pgg["guidance_group_id"]}
-    gg_hash = {}
-    ggs = GuidanceGroup.find(gg_ids).each do |gg|
-       gg_hash[gg.id] = gg.serializable_hash
-    end
-
-    # create a map from theme to array of guidances
-    theme_guidance = {} 
-    guidances = Guidance.joins(:themes)
-                        .select('guidances.guidance_group_id, guidances.text, themes.title')
-                        .where(guidance_group: gg_ids)
-                        .to_a
-
-    guidances.each do |g|
-      title = g.title
-      if !theme_guidance.has_key?(title)
-        theme_guidance[title] = Array.new
-      end
-      theme_guidance[title] << {
-        "text" => g.text,
-        "org" => gg_hash[g.guidance_group_id]["name"]
-      }
-    end
-
-    # link the guidance to the questions
-    plan_data["questions"].each do |q|
-      qg = {}
-      if q.has_key?("themes")
-        q["themes"].each do |t|
-          title = t["title"]
-          qg[title] = theme_guidance[title] if theme_guidance.has_key?(title)
-        end
-        q["theme_guidance"] = qg
-      end
-    end
-
-    fixup_hash(plan_data)
-
-    return plan_data
-  end
-
-
   # the following two methods are for eager loading. One gets used for the plan/show
   # page and the oter for the plan/edit. The difference is just that one pulls in more than
   # the other.
diff --git a/app/views/plans/_dropdowns_new_plan.html.erb b/app/views/plans/_dropdowns_new_plan.html.erb
index 1fb8708..c7e9d7e 100644
--- a/app/views/plans/_dropdowns_new_plan.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/plans/_dropdowns_new_plan.html.erb
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 <!-- Dropdown funder menu and 'create plan' button -->
 
-<%= semantic_form_for @plan, :url => {:controller => :plans, :action => :create }, :html=>{:method=>:post} do |f| %>
+<%= semantic_form_for @plan, url: plans_path(@plan) do |f| %>
   <%= f.inputs do %>
     <%= hidden_field_tag :default_tag, "false" ,:id => "default_tag" %>
     <div class="createa-project">
 
       <h1> <%= _('Create a new plan') %> </h1>
       <div class="info-new-project">
-          <p><%= raw _("<p>Please select from the following drop-downs so we can determine what questions and guidance should be displayed in your plan.</p> <p>If you aren't responding to specific requirements from a funder or an institution, <a id='create-default-plan-button' data-toggle='modal' href='#default-template-confirmation-dialog'>select here to write a generic DMP</a> based on the most common themes.</p>")%></p>
+          <p><%= raw _("<p>Please select from the following drop-down so we can determine what questions and guidance should be displayed in your plan.</p>")%></p>
       </div>
 
       <!-- drop down selecting template, org etc -->
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
             <%= f.input :funder_id,
                 :as => :select,
                 :collection => @funders,
-                :label => _('If applying for funding, select your research funder.'),
+                :label => _('Select your research funder or no funder, as appropariate.'),
                 :input_html => { :multiple => false, :class => ["select2", "select2-container"] },
                 :include_blank =>  _('Select Funder') %>
 
diff --git a/app/views/plans/_plan_details.html.erb b/app/views/plans/_plan_details.html.erb
index 3099163..dde9a2f 100644
--- a/app/views/plans/_plan_details.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/plans/_plan_details.html.erb
@@ -204,9 +204,8 @@
 				<td><%= plan.template.org.name %></td>
 			</tr>
 		<%end%>
-    <%if plan.template.customization_of.present? %>
-      <% ctemplate = Template.find(plan.template.customization_of) %>
-      <%= " (Customised from " + ctemplate.org.name + ")" %>
+    <%if based_on.present? %>
+      <%= " (Customised from " + based_on.org.name + ")" %>
     <%end%>
 	</table>
 
diff --git a/app/views/plans/show.html.erb b/app/views/plans/show.html.erb
index ea6bcbe..61c37e8 100644
--- a/app/views/plans/show.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/plans/show.html.erb
@@ -7,4 +7,4 @@
 <%= render :partial => "plan_nav_tabs", locals: {plan: @plan, active: "details"} %>
 
 <!-- project details -->
-<%= render :partial => "plan_details", locals: {plan: @plan, selected_guidance_groups: @selected_guidance_groups} %>
+<%= render :partial => "plan_details", locals: {plan: @plan, based_on: @based_on, selected_guidance_groups: @selected_guidance_groups} %>