diff --git a/app/models/merged/card.rb b/app/models/merged/card.rb
index 7b9a343..c9518aa 100644
--- a/app/models/merged/card.rb
+++ b/app/models/merged/card.rb
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
 module Merged
-  class Card < ActiveYaml::Base
-    set_root_path Rails.root #ouside engines not necessary
 
-    include ActiveHash::Associations
+  class Card < ViewBase
+
     belongs_to :section , class_name: "Merged::Section"
 
-    include Optioned
-
     fields  :id , :index , :section_id
     fields  :text , :header, :image , :options
 
diff --git a/app/models/merged/page.rb b/app/models/merged/page.rb
index 5bbba28..db02c03 100644
--- a/app/models/merged/page.rb
+++ b/app/models/merged/page.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 module Merged
-  class Page < ActiveYaml::Base
-    set_root_path Rails.root #ouside engines not necessary
-
+  class Page < ViewBase
+    
     # could be config options
     def self.cms_root
       "cms"
diff --git a/app/models/merged/section.rb b/app/models/merged/section.rb
index 3adf0ef..d0c2b26 100644
--- a/app/models/merged/section.rb
+++ b/app/models/merged/section.rb
@@ -1,12 +1,8 @@
 module Merged
-  class Section < ActiveYaml::Base
-    set_root_path Rails.root #ouside engines not necessary
+  class Section < ViewBase
 
-    include ActiveHash::Associations
     belongs_to :page , class_name: "Merged::Page"
 
-    include Optioned
-
     fields :id , :name , :page_id , :index
     fields :template , :card_template
     fields :header, :text , :image , :options
diff --git a/app/models/merged/optioned.rb b/app/models/merged/view_base.rb
similarity index 82%
rename from app/models/merged/optioned.rb
rename to app/models/merged/view_base.rb
index a7d027f..8c20949 100644
--- a/app/models/merged/optioned.rb
+++ b/app/models/merged/view_base.rb
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 module Merged
-  #relies only on @content["options"]
-  #and a method template_style
-  # and index
-  # and is due for a rename
 
-  module Optioned
+  # base class for viewable elements: ie page, section and casrd
+  # they share the name and options , and the fact that
+  # they persist in ActiveYaml
+
+  class ViewBase < ActiveYaml::Base
+    set_root_path Rails.root #ouside engines not necessary
+    include ActiveHash::Associations
+
     def has_option?(option)
       options.has_key?(option) and !options[option].blank?
     end