diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..208a599
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+vendor/*
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5656cc4..3ee8115 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ of the original MINI, made by [JaoNoctus](https://github.com/JaoNoctus). Big tha
 
 ## Requirements
 
-- PHP 5.6 or PHP 7.0
+- PHP 5.6 or PHP 7.x (PHP 8.0 should also work fine)
 - MySQL
 - mod_rewrite activated (see below for tutorials)
 - basic knowledge of Composer for sure
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ Vagrant-file (defines your Vagrant box) and a demo bootstrap.sh which automatica
 PHPMyAdmin, git and Composer, sets a chosen password in MySQL and PHPMyadmin and even inside the application code,
 downloads the Composer-dependencies, activates mod_rewrite and edits the Apache settings, downloads the code from GitHub
 and runs the demo SQL statements (for demo data). This is 100% automatic, you'll end up after +/- 5 minutes with a fully
-running installation of MINI3 inside an Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Vagrant box.
+running installation of MINI3 inside an Ubuntu 20.04 Vagrant box on PHP 7.4.x.
 
 To do so, put `Vagrantfile` and `bootstrap.sh` from `_vagrant` inside a folder (and nothing else).
-Do `vagrant box add ubuntu/trusty64` to add Ubuntu 14.04 LTS ("Trusty Thar") 64bit to Vagrant (unless you already have
+Do `vagrant box add ubuntu/focal64` to add Ubuntu 20.04 64bit to Vagrant (unless you already have
 it), then do `vagrant up` to run the box. When installation is finished you can directly use the fully installed demo
 app on `192.168.33.66`. As this just a quick demo environment the MySQL root password and the PHPMyAdmin root password
 are set to `12345678`, the project is installed in `/var/www/html/myproject`. You can change this for sure inside
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ server {
 
     location / {
         index index.php;
-        try_files /$uri /$uri/ /index.php?url=$uri;
+        try_files /$uri /$uri/ /index.php?url=$uri&$args;
     }
 
     location ~ \.(php)$ {
diff --git a/_vagrant/Vagrantfile b/_vagrant/Vagrantfile
index 0737289..42d9b39 100644
--- a/_vagrant/Vagrantfile
+++ b/_vagrant/Vagrantfile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION = "2"
 Vagrant.configure(VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION) do |config|
 
   # Every Vagrant virtual environment requires a box to build off of.
-  config.vm.box = "ubuntu/trusty64"
+  config.vm.box = "ubuntu/focal64"
 
   # Create a private network, which allows host-only access to the machine using a specific IP.
   config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.33.66"
diff --git a/_vagrant/bootstrap.sh b/_vagrant/bootstrap.sh
index c50878e..4b02af7 100644
--- a/_vagrant/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/_vagrant/bootstrap.sh
@@ -10,12 +10,12 @@ sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get -y upgrade
 
 sudo apt-get install -y apache2
-sudo apt-get install -y php5
+sudo apt-get install -y php
 
 sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "mysql-server mysql-server/root_password password $PASSWORD"
 sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "mysql-server mysql-server/root_password_again password $PASSWORD"
 sudo apt-get -y install mysql-server
-sudo apt-get install php5-mysql
+sudo apt-get install php-mysql
 
 sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "phpmyadmin phpmyadmin/dbconfig-install boolean true"
 sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "phpmyadmin phpmyadmin/app-password-confirm password $PASSWORD"
diff --git a/application/Controller/ErrorController.php b/application/Controller/ErrorController.php
index f87a7d5..3845a7d 100644
--- a/application/Controller/ErrorController.php
+++ b/application/Controller/ErrorController.php
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ class ErrorController
     public function index()
     {
         // load views
-        require APP . 'view/_templates/header.php';
-        require APP . 'view/error/index.php';
-        require APP . 'view/_templates/footer.php';
+        view('_templates/header.php');
+        view('error/index.php');
+        view('_templates/footer.php');
     }
 }
diff --git a/application/Controller/HomeController.php b/application/Controller/HomeController.php
index 0f3b0af..994e7a7 100644
--- a/application/Controller/HomeController.php
+++ b/application/Controller/HomeController.php
@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@ class HomeController
     public function index()
     {
         // load views
-        require APP . 'view/_templates/header.php';
-        require APP . 'view/home/index.php';
-        require APP . 'view/_templates/footer.php';
+        view('_templates/header.php');
+        view('home/index.php');
+        view('_templates/footer.php');
+
     }
 
     /**
@@ -33,9 +34,9 @@ public function index()
     public function exampleOne()
     {
         // load views
-        require APP . 'view/_templates/header.php';
-        require APP . 'view/home/example_one.php';
-        require APP . 'view/_templates/footer.php';
+        view('_templates/header.php');
+        view('home/example_one.php');
+        view('_templates/footer.php');
     }
 
     /**
@@ -46,8 +47,8 @@ public function exampleOne()
     public function exampleTwo()
     {
         // load views
-        require APP . 'view/_templates/header.php';
-        require APP . 'view/home/example_two.php';
-        require APP . 'view/_templates/footer.php';
+        view('_templates/header.php');
+        view('home/example_two.php');
+        view('_templates/footer.php');
     }
 }
diff --git a/application/Controller/SongsController.php b/application/Controller/SongsController.php
index f572577..1e10e3d 100644
--- a/application/Controller/SongsController.php
+++ b/application/Controller/SongsController.php
@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ public function index()
         $songs = $Song->getAllSongs();
         $amount_of_songs = $Song->getAmountOfSongs();
 
-       // load views. within the views we can echo out $songs and $amount_of_songs easily
-        require APP . 'view/_templates/header.php';
-        require APP . 'view/songs/index.php';
-        require APP . 'view/_templates/footer.php';
+        // load views. within the views we can echo out $songs and $amount_of_songs easily
+        view('_templates/header.php');
+        view('songs/index.php', ["songs" => $songs]);
+        view('_templates/footer.php');
     }
 
     /**
@@ -51,11 +51,11 @@ public function addSong()
             // Instance new Model (Song)
             $Song = new Song();
             // do addSong() in model/model.php
-            $Song->addSong($_POST["artist"], $_POST["track"],  $_POST["link"]);
+            $Song->addSong($_POST["artist"], $_POST["track"], $_POST["link"]);
         }
 
         // where to go after song has been added
-        header('location: ' . URL . 'songs/index');
+       redirect('songs/index');
     }
 
     /**
@@ -78,10 +78,10 @@ public function deleteSong($song_id)
         }
 
         // where to go after song has been deleted
-        header('location: ' . URL . 'songs/index');
+       redirect('songs/index');
     }
 
-     /**
+    /**
      * ACTION: editSong
      * This method handles what happens when you move to http://yourproject/songs/editsong
      * @param int $song_id Id of the to-edit song
@@ -95,16 +95,19 @@ public function editSong($song_id)
             // do getSong() in model/model.php
             $song = $Song->getSong($song_id);
 
-            // in a real application we would also check if this db entry exists and therefore show the result or
-            // redirect the user to an error page or similar
-
-            // load views. within the views we can echo out $song easily
-            require APP . 'view/_templates/header.php';
-            require APP . 'view/songs/edit.php';
-            require APP . 'view/_templates/footer.php';
+            // If the song wasn't found, then it would have returned false, and we need to display the error page
+            if ($song === false) {
+                $page = new \Mini\Controller\ErrorController();
+                $page->index();
+            } else {
+                // load views. within the views we can echo out $song easily
+                view('_templates/header.php');
+                view('songs/edit.php', ["song" => $song]);
+                view('_templates/footer.php');
+            }
         } else {
             // redirect user to songs index page (as we don't have a song_id)
-            header('location: ' . URL . 'songs/index');
+           redirect('songs/index');
         }
     }
 
@@ -123,11 +126,11 @@ public function updateSong()
             // Instance new Model (Song)
             $Song = new Song();
             // do updateSong() from model/model.php
-            $Song->updateSong($_POST["artist"], $_POST["track"],  $_POST["link"], $_POST['song_id']);
+            $Song->updateSong($_POST["artist"], $_POST["track"], $_POST["link"], $_POST['song_id']);
         }
 
         // where to go after song has been added
-        header('location: ' . URL . 'songs/index');
+       redirect('songs/index');
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/application/Core/Application.php b/application/Core/Application.php
index f6976ed..ed42bff 100644
--- a/application/Core/Application.php
+++ b/application/Core/Application.php
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 /** For more info about namespaces plase @see http://php.net/manual/en/language.namespaces.importing.php */
 namespace Mini\Core;
 
+require APP . 'core/CoreFunctions.php';
+
 class Application
 {
     /** @var null The controller */
@@ -37,7 +39,8 @@ public function __construct()
             $this->url_controller = new $controller();
 
             // check for method: does such a method exist in the controller ?
-            if (method_exists($this->url_controller, $this->url_action)) {
+            if (method_exists($this->url_controller, $this->url_action) &&
+                is_callable(array($this->url_controller, $this->url_action))) {
 
                 if (!empty($this->url_params)) {
                     // Call the method and pass arguments to it
@@ -52,11 +55,13 @@ public function __construct()
                     // no action defined: call the default index() method of a selected controller
                     $this->url_controller->index();
                 } else {
-                    header('location: ' . URL . 'error');
+                    $page = new \Mini\Controller\ErrorController();
+                    $page->index();
                 }
             }
         } else {
-            header('location: ' . URL . 'error');
+            $page = new \Mini\Controller\ErrorController();
+            $page->index();
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/application/Core/CoreFunctions.php b/application/Core/CoreFunctions.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4caccf1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/application/Core/CoreFunctions.php
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Mini\Controller;
+
+function view($path, $data = [])
+{
+    foreach ($data as $k => $v) {
+        $$k = $v;
+    }
+    require APP . "view/{$path}";
+}
+
+
+function redirect($path) {
+    header('location: ' . URL . $path);
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/application/Core/Model.php b/application/Core/Model.php
index 7602a2f..7b2ba24 100644
--- a/application/Core/Model.php
+++ b/application/Core/Model.php
@@ -33,9 +33,16 @@ private function openDatabaseConnection()
         // For example, fetch mode FETCH_ASSOC would return results like this: $result["user_name] !
         // @see http://www.php.net/manual/en/pdostatement.fetch.php
         $options = array(PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_OBJ, PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_WARNING);
+        
+        // setting the encoding is different when using PostgreSQL
+        if (DB_TYPE == "pgsql") {
+            $databaseEncodingenc = " options='--client_encoding=" . DB_CHARSET . "'";
+        } else {
+            $databaseEncodingenc = "; charset=" . DB_CHARSET;
+        }
 
         // generate a database connection, using the PDO connector
         // @see http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/why-you-should-be-using-phps-pdo-for-database-access/
-        $this->db = new PDO(DB_TYPE . ':host=' . DB_HOST . ';dbname=' . DB_NAME . ';charset=' . DB_CHARSET, DB_USER, DB_PASS, $options);
+        $this->db = new PDO(DB_TYPE . ':host=' . DB_HOST . ';dbname=' . DB_NAME . $databaseEncodingenc, DB_USER, DB_PASS, $options);
     }
 }
diff --git a/application/libs/helper.php b/application/Libs/helper.php
similarity index 100%
rename from application/libs/helper.php
rename to application/Libs/helper.php
diff --git a/application/Model/Song.php b/application/Model/Song.php
index 1750116..7ff4812 100644
--- a/application/Model/Song.php
+++ b/application/Model/Song.php
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ public function getSong($song_id)
         $query->execute($parameters);
 
         // fetch() is the PDO method that get exactly one result
-        return $query->fetch();
+        return ($query->rowcount() ? $query->fetch() : false);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/application/config/config.php b/application/config/config.php
index d756ce3..1cdbbcc 100644
--- a/application/config/config.php
+++ b/application/config/config.php
@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@
 define('DB_NAME', 'mini');
 define('DB_USER', 'root');
 define('DB_PASS', '12345678');
-define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');
+define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4');