diff --git a/server/src/apub/community.rs b/server/src/apub/community.rs
index 2a16eeae9..877534b32 100644
--- a/server/src/apub/community.rs
+++ b/server/src/apub/community.rs
@@ -12,16 +12,17 @@ use serde_json::{Value};
 
 impl Community {
   pub fn as_group(&self) -> Group {
-    let base_url = make_apub_endpoint("c", &self.name);
+    let base_url = make_apub_endpoint("c", &self.id);
 
     let mut group = Group::default();
 
     group.object_props.set_context_object(context()).ok();
-    Group::set_id(&mut group, self.id);
+    Group::set_id(&mut group, &base_url);
+
     Group::set_title(&mut group, &self.title);
     Group::set_published(&mut group, self.published);
     Group::set_updated(&mut group, self.updated);
-    Group::set_creator_id(&mut group, self.creator_id);
+    Group::set_creator_id(&mut group, make_apub_endpoint("u", &self.creator_id));
 
     Group::set_description(&mut group, &self.description);
 
diff --git a/server/src/apub/group_wrapper.rs b/server/src/apub/group_wrapper.rs
index dd140df28..98eb2cf3f 100644
--- a/server/src/apub/group_wrapper.rs
+++ b/server/src/apub/group_wrapper.rs
@@ -5,9 +5,8 @@ use failure::Error;
 use serde_json::Value;
 
 pub trait GroupHelper {
-  // TODO: id really needs to be a url
-  fn set_id(group: &mut Group, id: i32);
-  fn get_id(group: &Group) -> Result<i32, Error>;
+  fn set_id(group: &mut Group, id: &str);
+  fn get_id(group: &Group) -> Result<String, Error>;
 
   fn set_title(group: &mut Group, title: &str);
   fn get_title(group: &Group) -> Result<String, Error>;
@@ -15,9 +14,8 @@ pub trait GroupHelper {
   fn set_description(group: &mut Group, description: &Option<String>);
   fn get_description(group: &Group) -> Result<Option<String>, Error>;
 
-  // TODO: also needs to be changed to url
-  fn set_creator_id(group: &mut Group, creator_id: i32);
-  fn get_creator_id(group: &Group) -> Result<i32, Error>;
+  fn set_creator_id(group: &mut Group, creator_id: String);
+  fn get_creator_id(group: &Group) -> Result<String, Error>;
 
   fn set_published(group: &mut Group, published: NaiveDateTime);
   fn get_published(group: &Group) -> Result<NaiveDateTime, Error>;
@@ -28,11 +26,11 @@ pub trait GroupHelper {
 
 // TODO: something is crashing and not reporting the error
 impl GroupHelper for Group {
-  fn set_id(group: &mut Group, id: i32) {
+  fn set_id(group: &mut Group, id: &str) {
     group.object_props.id = Some(Value::String(id.to_string()));
   }
-  fn get_id(group: &Group) -> Result<i32, Error> {
-    Ok(get_string_value(group.clone().object_props.id).parse::<i32>()?)
+  fn get_id(group: &Group) -> Result<String, Error> {
+    Ok(get_string_value(group.clone().object_props.id))
   }
 
   fn set_title(group: &mut Group, title: &str) {
@@ -49,11 +47,11 @@ impl GroupHelper for Group {
     Ok(get_string_value_opt(group.to_owned().object_props.summary))
   }
 
-  fn set_creator_id(group: &mut Group, creator_id: i32) {
+  fn set_creator_id(group: &mut Group, creator_id: String) {
     group.object_props.attributed_to = Some(Value::String(creator_id.to_string()));
   }
-  fn get_creator_id(group: &Group) -> Result<i32, Error> {
-    Ok(get_string_value(group.clone().object_props.attributed_to).parse::<i32>()?)
+  fn get_creator_id(group: &Group) -> Result<String, Error> {
+    Ok(get_string_value(group.clone().object_props.attributed_to))
   }
 
   fn set_published(group: &mut Group, published: NaiveDateTime) {
@@ -61,8 +59,10 @@ impl GroupHelper for Group {
   }
   fn get_published(group: &Group) -> Result<NaiveDateTime, Error> {
     let str = get_string_value(group.to_owned().object_props.published);
-    // TODO: no idea which date format
+    // TODO: date parsing is failing, no idea if this is even the right format
+    dbg!(&str);
     let date = DateTime::parse_from_rfc2822(&str)?;
+    dbg!(&date);
     Ok(date.naive_local())
   }
 
diff --git a/server/src/apub/mod.rs b/server/src/apub/mod.rs
index 31dc3cedb..00b3b27c5 100644
--- a/server/src/apub/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/apub/mod.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ pub mod post;
 pub mod puller;
 pub mod user;
 use crate::Settings;
+use failure::Error;
 
 use std::fmt::Display;
 
@@ -95,6 +96,8 @@ mod tests {
   }
 }
 
+// TODO: this should take an enum community/user/post for `point`
+// TODO: also not sure what exactly `value` should be (numeric id, name string, ...)
 pub fn make_apub_endpoint<S: Display, T: Display>(point: S, value: T) -> String {
   format!(
     "{}://{}/federation/{}/{}",
@@ -105,6 +108,13 @@ pub fn make_apub_endpoint<S: Display, T: Display>(point: S, value: T) -> String
   )
 }
 
+/// Parses an ID generated by `make_apub_endpoint()`. Will break when federating with anything
+/// that is not Lemmy. This is just a crutch until we change the database to store URLs as ID.
+pub fn parse_apub_endpoint(id: &str) -> Result<(&str, &str), Error> {
+  let split = id.split("/").collect::<Vec<&str>>();
+  Ok((split[4], split[5]))
+}
+
 pub fn get_apub_protocol_string() -> &'static str {
   "http"
 }
diff --git a/server/src/apub/puller.rs b/server/src/apub/puller.rs
index ce9469fcc..526476951 100644
--- a/server/src/apub/puller.rs
+++ b/server/src/apub/puller.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ use crate::apub::group_wrapper::GroupHelper;
 use crate::db::community_view::CommunityView;
 use crate::settings::Settings;
 use activitypub::actor::Group;
+use crate::apub::parse_apub_endpoint;
 
 // TODO: right now all of the data is requested on demand, for production we will need to store
 //       things in the local database to not ruin the performance
@@ -38,7 +39,6 @@ pub fn get_remote_community(identifier: String) -> Result<GetCommunityResponse,
   let instance = x[1];
   let community_uri = format!("http://{}/federation/c/{}", instance, name);
   let community: Group = reqwest::get(&community_uri)?.json()?;
-  dbg!(&community);
 
   // TODO: looks like a bunch of data is missing from the activitypub response
   // TODO: i dont think simple numeric ids are going to work, we probably need something like uuids
@@ -47,12 +47,12 @@ pub fn get_remote_community(identifier: String) -> Result<GetCommunityResponse,
     admins: vec![],
     community: CommunityView {
       // TODO: we need to merge id and name into a single thing (stuff like @user@instance.com)
-      id: Group::get_id(&community)?,
+      id: parse_apub_endpoint(&Group::get_id(&community)?)?.1.parse::<i32>()?,
       name,
       title: Group::get_title(&community)?,
       description: Group::get_description(&community)?,
       category_id: -1,
-      creator_id: Group::get_creator_id(&community)?,
+      creator_id: parse_apub_endpoint(&Group::get_creator_id(&community)?)?.1.parse::<i32>()?,
       removed: false,
       published: Group::get_published(&community)?,
       updated: Group::get_updated(&community)?,
diff --git a/server/src/websocket/server.rs b/server/src/websocket/server.rs
index 66b10cd91..727eb7d83 100644
--- a/server/src/websocket/server.rs
+++ b/server/src/websocket/server.rs
@@ -556,6 +556,7 @@ fn parse_json_message(chat: &mut ChatServer, msg: StandardMessage) -> Result<Str
         if let Some(community_name) = get_community.name.to_owned() {
           if community_name.contains('@') {
             // TODO: need to support sort, filter etc for remote communities
+            // TODO: need to to this for http api as well
             get_remote_community(community_name)?
           } else {
             Oper::new(get_community).perform(&conn)?