diff --git a/ckan/controllers/group.py b/ckan/controllers/group.py
index c70e4b612c9..968dce61bf4 100644
--- a/ckan/controllers/group.py
+++ b/ckan/controllers/group.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from urllib import urlencode
 
 from pylons.i18n import get_lang
+from six import string_types
 
 import ckan.lib.base as base
 import ckan.lib.helpers as h
@@ -268,7 +269,7 @@ def search_url(params):
             controller = lookup_group_controller(group_type)
             action = 'bulk_process' if c.action == 'bulk_process' else 'read'
             url = h.url_for(controller=controller, action=action, id=id)
-            params = [(k, v.encode('utf-8') if isinstance(v, basestring)
+            params = [(k, v.encode('utf-8') if isinstance(v, string_types)
                        else str(v)) for k, v in params]
             return url + u'?' + urlencode(params)
 
diff --git a/ckan/controllers/package.py b/ckan/controllers/package.py
index 2c4a2e85914..fbb313a82f9 100644
--- a/ckan/controllers/package.py
+++ b/ckan/controllers/package.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 from ckan.common import config
 from paste.deploy.converters import asbool
 import paste.fileapp
+from six import string_types
 
 import ckan.logic as logic
 import ckan.lib.base as base
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@
 
 
 def _encode_params(params):
-    return [(k, v.encode('utf-8') if isinstance(v, basestring) else str(v))
+    return [(k, v.encode('utf-8') if isinstance(v, string_types) else str(v))
             for k, v in params]
 
 
diff --git a/ckan/lib/dictization/model_save.py b/ckan/lib/dictization/model_save.py
index 60476666682..790bfe23c95 100644
--- a/ckan/lib/dictization/model_save.py
+++ b/ckan/lib/dictization/model_save.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import logging
 
 from sqlalchemy.orm import class_mapper
+from six import string_types
 
 import ckan.lib.dictization as d
 import ckan.lib.helpers as h
@@ -460,7 +461,7 @@ def package_api_to_dict(api1_dict, context):
     for key, value in api1_dict.iteritems():
         new_value = value
         if key == 'tags':
-            if isinstance(value, basestring):
+            if isinstance(value, string_types):
                 new_value = [{"name": item} for item in value.split()]
             else:
                 new_value = [{"name": item} for item in value]
diff --git a/ckan/lib/extract.py b/ckan/lib/extract.py
index 927e53f5ca2..6a57ce664ac 100644
--- a/ckan/lib/extract.py
+++ b/ckan/lib/extract.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import re
 from jinja2.ext import babel_extract as extract_jinja2
 import lib.jinja_extensions
+from six import string_types
 
 jinja_extensions = '''
                     jinja2.ext.do, jinja2.ext.with_,
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ def jinja2_cleaner(fileobj, *args, **kw):
 
     for lineno, func, message, finder in raw_extract:
 
-        if isinstance(message, basestring):
+        if isinstance(message, string_types):
             message = lib.jinja_extensions.regularise_html(message)
         elif message is not None:
             message = (lib.jinja_extensions.regularise_html(message[0])
diff --git a/ckan/lib/helpers.py b/ckan/lib/helpers.py
index 46f98164da7..523cc95547d 100644
--- a/ckan/lib/helpers.py
+++ b/ckan/lib/helpers.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 from flask import url_for as _flask_default_url_for
 from werkzeug.routing import BuildError as FlaskRouteBuildError
 import i18n
+from six import string_types
 
 import ckan.exceptions
 import ckan.model as model
@@ -111,7 +112,7 @@ def _datestamp_to_datetime(datetime_):
 
     :rtype: datetime
     '''
-    if isinstance(datetime_, basestring):
+    if isinstance(datetime_, string_types):
         try:
             datetime_ = date_str_to_datetime(datetime_)
         except TypeError:
@@ -171,7 +172,7 @@ def redirect_to(*args, **kw):
     _url = ''
     skip_url_parsing = False
     parse_url = kw.pop('parse_url', False)
-    if uargs and len(uargs) is 1 and isinstance(uargs[0], basestring) \
+    if uargs and len(uargs) is 1 and isinstance(uargs[0], string_types) \
             and (uargs[0].startswith('/') or is_url(uargs[0])) \
             and parse_url is False:
         skip_url_parsing = True
@@ -358,7 +359,7 @@ def _url_for_flask(*args, **kw):
     # The API routes used to require a slash on the version number, make sure
     # we remove it
     if (args and args[0].startswith('api.') and
-            isinstance(kw.get('ver'), basestring) and
+            isinstance(kw.get('ver'), string_types) and
             kw['ver'].startswith('/')):
         kw['ver'] = kw['ver'].replace('/', '')
 
@@ -1051,7 +1052,7 @@ def get_param_int(name, default=10):
 def _url_with_params(url, params):
     if not params:
         return url
-    params = [(k, v.encode('utf-8') if isinstance(v, basestring) else str(v))
+    params = [(k, v.encode('utf-8') if isinstance(v, string_types) else str(v))
               for k, v in params]
     return url + u'?' + urlencode(params)
 
@@ -1802,7 +1803,7 @@ def remove_url_param(key, value=None, replace=None, controller=None,
     instead.
 
     '''
-    if isinstance(key, basestring):
+    if isinstance(key, string_types):
         keys = [key]
     else:
         keys = key
@@ -2137,7 +2138,7 @@ def format_resource_items(items):
                 # Sometimes values that can't be converted to ints can sneak
                 # into the db. In this case, just leave them as they are.
                 pass
-        elif isinstance(value, basestring):
+        elif isinstance(value, string_types):
             # check if strings are actually datetime/number etc
             if re.search(reg_ex_datetime, value):
                 datetime_ = date_str_to_datetime(value)
@@ -2534,7 +2535,7 @@ def get_translated(data_dict, field):
         return data_dict[field + u'_translated'][language]
     except KeyError:
         val = data_dict.get(field, '')
-        return _(val) if val and isinstance(val, basestring) else val
+        return _(val) if val and isinstance(val, string_types) else val
 
 
 @core_helper
diff --git a/ckan/lib/search/common.py b/ckan/lib/search/common.py
index 8d031891760..060f62f4175 100644
--- a/ckan/lib/search/common.py
+++ b/ckan/lib/search/common.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 import re
 import pysolr
 import simplejson
+from six import string_types
+
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -72,7 +74,7 @@ def make_connection(decode_dates=True):
 
 def solr_datetime_decoder(d):
     for k, v in d.items():
-        if isinstance(v, basestring):
+        if isinstance(v, string_types):
             possible_datetime = re.search(pysolr.DATETIME_REGEX, v)
             if possible_datetime:
                 date_values = possible_datetime.groupdict()
diff --git a/ckan/lib/search/query.py b/ckan/lib/search/query.py
index 13d75e7a799..9ad3adf0b1c 100644
--- a/ckan/lib/search/query.py
+++ b/ckan/lib/search/query.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def convert_legacy_parameters_to_solr(legacy_params):
     non_solr_params = set(legacy_params.keys()) - VALID_SOLR_PARAMETERS
     for search_key in non_solr_params:
         value_obj = legacy_params[search_key]
-        value = value_obj.replace('+', ' ') if isinstance(value_obj, basestring) else value_obj
+        value = value_obj.replace('+', ' ') if isinstance(value_obj, six.string_types) else value_obj
         if search_key == 'all_fields':
             if value:
                 solr_params['fl'] = '*'
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def convert_legacy_parameters_to_solr(legacy_params):
         elif search_key == 'tags':
             if isinstance(value_obj, list):
                 tag_list = value_obj
-            elif isinstance(value_obj, basestring):
+            elif isinstance(value_obj, six.string_types):
                 tag_list = [value_obj]
             else:
                 raise SearchQueryError('Was expecting either a string or JSON list for the tags parameter: %r' % value)
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ def run(self, query=None, fields=None, options=None, **kwargs):
         else:
             options.update(kwargs)
 
-        if isinstance(query, basestring):
+        if isinstance(query, six.string_types):
             query = [query]
 
         query = query[:] # don't alter caller's query list.
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ def run(self, fields={}, options=None, **kwargs):
         # action.
         query = []
         for field, terms in fields.items():
-            if isinstance(terms, basestring):
+            if isinstance(terms, six.string_types):
                 terms = terms.split()
             for term in terms:
                 query.append(':'.join([field, term]))
diff --git a/ckan/logic/__init__.py b/ckan/logic/__init__.py
index e5dee92206e..fdbf527806e 100644
--- a/ckan/logic/__init__.py
+++ b/ckan/logic/__init__.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from collections import defaultdict
 
 import formencode.validators
+from six import string_types
 
 import ckan.model as model
 import ckan.authz as authz
@@ -175,7 +176,7 @@ def clean_dict(data_dict):
         if not isinstance(value, list):
             continue
         for inner_dict in value[:]:
-            if isinstance(inner_dict, basestring):
+            if isinstance(inner_dict, string_types):
                 break
             if not any(inner_dict.values()):
                 value.remove(inner_dict)
@@ -516,7 +517,7 @@ def get_or_bust(data_dict, keys):
         not in the given dictionary
 
     '''
-    if isinstance(keys, basestring):
+    if isinstance(keys, string_types):
         keys = [keys]
 
     import ckan.logic.schema as schema
diff --git a/ckan/logic/action/get.py b/ckan/logic/action/get.py
index d68d3b310d2..a2c9e0fcbf9 100644
--- a/ckan/logic/action/get.py
+++ b/ckan/logic/action/get.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from ckan.common import config
 import sqlalchemy
 from paste.deploy.converters import asbool
+from six import string_types
 
 import ckan.lib.dictization
 import ckan.logic as logic
@@ -2109,7 +2110,7 @@ def resource_search(context, data_dict):
             {'fields': _('Do not specify if using "query" parameter')})
 
     elif query is not None:
-        if isinstance(query, basestring):
+        if isinstance(query, string_types):
             query = [query]
         try:
             fields = dict(pair.split(":", 1) for pair in query)
@@ -2125,7 +2126,7 @@ def resource_search(context, data_dict):
         # So maintain that behaviour
         split_terms = {}
         for field, terms in fields.items():
-            if isinstance(terms, basestring):
+            if isinstance(terms, string_types):
                 terms = terms.split()
             split_terms[field] = terms
         fields = split_terms
@@ -2143,7 +2144,7 @@ def resource_search(context, data_dict):
     resource_fields = model.Resource.get_columns()
     for field, terms in fields.items():
 
-        if isinstance(terms, basestring):
+        if isinstance(terms, string_types):
             terms = [terms]
 
         if field not in resource_fields:
@@ -2215,7 +2216,7 @@ def _tag_search(context, data_dict):
     model = context['model']
 
     terms = data_dict.get('query') or data_dict.get('q') or []
-    if isinstance(terms, basestring):
+    if isinstance(terms, string_types):
         terms = [terms]
     terms = [t.strip() for t in terms if t.strip()]
 
@@ -2402,7 +2403,7 @@ def term_translation_show(context, data_dict):
     # This action accepts `terms` as either a list of strings, or a single
     # string.
     terms = _get_or_bust(data_dict, 'terms')
-    if isinstance(terms, basestring):
+    if isinstance(terms, string_types):
         terms = [terms]
     if terms:
         q = q.where(trans_table.c.term.in_(terms))
@@ -2411,7 +2412,7 @@ def term_translation_show(context, data_dict):
     # string.
     if 'lang_codes' in data_dict:
         lang_codes = _get_or_bust(data_dict, 'lang_codes')
-        if isinstance(lang_codes, basestring):
+        if isinstance(lang_codes, string_types):
             lang_codes = [lang_codes]
         q = q.where(trans_table.c.lang_code.in_(lang_codes))
 
diff --git a/ckan/logic/converters.py b/ckan/logic/converters.py
index c747555e910..ed97f67de73 100644
--- a/ckan/logic/converters.py
+++ b/ckan/logic/converters.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 import json
 
+from six import string_types
+
 import ckan.model as model
 import ckan.lib.navl.dictization_functions as df
 import ckan.logic.validators as validators
@@ -60,7 +62,7 @@ def callable(key, data, errors, context):
         new_tags = data.get(key)
         if not new_tags:
             return
-        if isinstance(new_tags, basestring):
+        if isinstance(new_tags, string_types):
             new_tags = [new_tags]
 
         # get current number of tags
@@ -173,7 +175,7 @@ def convert_group_name_or_id_to_id(group_name_or_id, context):
 
 
 def convert_to_json_if_string(value, context):
-    if isinstance(value, basestring):
+    if isinstance(value, string_types):
         try:
             return json.loads(value)
         except ValueError:
@@ -183,13 +185,13 @@ def convert_to_json_if_string(value, context):
 
 
 def convert_to_list_if_string(value, context=None):
-    if isinstance(value, basestring):
+    if isinstance(value, string_types):
         return [value]
     else:
         return value
 
 
 def remove_whitespace(value, context):
-    if isinstance(value, basestring):
+    if isinstance(value, string_types):
         return value.strip()
     return value
diff --git a/ckan/model/types.py b/ckan/model/types.py
index b05fcf335eb..c4351730126 100644
--- a/ckan/model/types.py
+++ b/ckan/model/types.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import simplejson as json
 
 from sqlalchemy import types
+from six import string_types
 
 import meta
 
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ def process_bind_param(self, value, engine):
         if value is None or value == {}: # ensure we stores nulls in db not json "null"
             return None
         else:
-            if isinstance(value, basestring):
+            if isinstance(value, string_types):
                 return unicode(value)
             else:
                 return unicode(json.dumps(value, ensure_ascii=False))
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ def iso_date_to_datetime_for_sqlite(datetime_or_iso_date_if_sqlite):
     # to call this to convert it into a datetime type. When running on
     # postgres then you have a datetime anyway, so this function doesn't
     # do anything.
-    if meta.engine_is_sqlite() and isinstance(datetime_or_iso_date_if_sqlite, basestring):
+    if meta.engine_is_sqlite() and isinstance(datetime_or_iso_date_if_sqlite, string_types):
         return datetime.datetime.strptime(datetime_or_iso_date_if_sqlite,
                                           '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%f')
     else:
diff --git a/ckan/plugins/core.py b/ckan/plugins/core.py
index 07456fc8803..14098016d0d 100644
--- a/ckan/plugins/core.py
+++ b/ckan/plugins/core.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from pyutilib.component.core import SingletonPlugin as _pca_SingletonPlugin
 from pyutilib.component.core import Plugin as _pca_Plugin
 from paste.deploy.converters import asbool
+from six import string_types
 
 import interfaces
 
@@ -244,7 +245,7 @@ def _get_service(plugin_name):
     :return: the service object
     '''
 
-    if isinstance(plugin_name, basestring):
+    if isinstance(plugin_name, string_types):
         for group in GROUPS:
             iterator = iter_entry_points(
                 group=group,
diff --git a/ckan/tests/legacy/html_check.py b/ckan/tests/legacy/html_check.py
index 5b549942ee6..e8bc05e502b 100644
--- a/ckan/tests/legacy/html_check.py
+++ b/ckan/tests/legacy/html_check.py
@@ -3,13 +3,15 @@
 import re
 import sgmllib
 
+from six import string_types
+
 import paste.fixture
 
 
 class HtmlCheckMethods(object):
     '''A collection of methods to check properties of a html page, usually
     in the form returned by paster.'''
-    
+
     def named_div(self, div_name, html):
         'strips html to just the <div id="DIV_NAME"> section'
         the_html = self._get_html_from_res(html)
@@ -31,15 +33,15 @@ def sidebar(self, html):
 
     def strip_tags(self, res):
         '''Call strip_tags on a TestResponse object to strip any and all HTML and normalise whitespace.'''
-        if not isinstance(res, basestring):
+        if not isinstance(res, string_types):
             res = res.body.decode('utf-8')
-        return Stripper().strip(res)    
+        return Stripper().strip(res)
 
     def check_named_element(self, html, tag_name, *html_to_find):
         '''Searches in the html and returns True if it can find a particular
         tag and all its subtags & data which contains all the of the
         html_to_find'''
-        named_element_re = re.compile('(<(%(tag)s\w*).*?(>.*?</%(tag)s)?>)' % {'tag':tag_name}) 
+        named_element_re = re.compile('(<(%(tag)s\w*).*?(>.*?</%(tag)s)?>)' % {'tag':tag_name})
         html_str = self._get_html_from_res(html)
         self._check_html(named_element_re, html_str.replace('\n', ''), html_to_find)
 
diff --git a/ckanext/datastore/backend/postgres.py b/ckanext/datastore/backend/postgres.py
index c0c287a9c21..7c4118dc5b8 100644
--- a/ckanext/datastore/backend/postgres.py
+++ b/ckanext/datastore/backend/postgres.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 import json
 from cStringIO import StringIO
 
+from six import string_types
+
 import ckan.lib.cli as cli
 import ckan.plugins as p
 import ckan.plugins.toolkit as toolkit
@@ -374,7 +376,7 @@ def _where_clauses(data_dict, fields_types):
     # add full-text search where clause
     q = data_dict.get('q')
     if q:
-        if isinstance(q, basestring):
+        if isinstance(q, string_types):
             ts_query_alias = _ts_query_alias()
             clause_str = u'_full_text @@ {0}'.format(ts_query_alias)
             clauses.append((clause_str,))
@@ -409,7 +411,7 @@ def _textsearch_query(data_dict):
     statements = []
     rank_columns = []
     plain = data_dict.get('plain', True)
-    if isinstance(q, basestring):
+    if isinstance(q, string_types):
         query, rank = _build_query_and_rank_statements(
             lang, q, plain)
         statements.append(query)
@@ -469,7 +471,7 @@ def _sort(data_dict, fields_types):
     if not sort:
         q = data_dict.get('q')
         if q:
-            if isinstance(q, basestring):
+            if isinstance(q, string_types):
                 return [_ts_rank_alias()]
             elif isinstance(q, dict):
                 return [_ts_rank_alias(field) for field in q
@@ -1196,7 +1198,7 @@ def validate(context, data_dict):
     for key, values in data_dict_copy.iteritems():
         if not values:
             continue
-        if isinstance(values, basestring):
+        if isinstance(values, string_types):
             value = values
         elif isinstance(values, (list, tuple)):
             value = values[0]
diff --git a/ckanext/datastore/helpers.py b/ckanext/datastore/helpers.py
index b616f0f9405..523bb096774 100644
--- a/ckanext/datastore/helpers.py
+++ b/ckanext/datastore/helpers.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 import paste.deploy.converters as converters
 import sqlparse
 
+from six import string_types
+
 from ckan.plugins.toolkit import get_action, ObjectNotFound, NotAuthorized
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -57,10 +59,10 @@ def validate_int(i, non_negative=False):
     return i >= 0 or not non_negative
 
 
-def _strip(input):
-    if isinstance(input, basestring) and len(input) and input[0] == input[-1]:
-        return input.strip().strip('"')
-    return input
+def _strip(s):
+    if isinstance(s, string_types) and len(s) and s[0] == s[-1]:
+        return s.strip().strip('"')
+    return s
 
 
 def should_fts_index_field_type(field_type):
diff --git a/ckanext/datastore/logic/schema.py b/ckanext/datastore/logic/schema.py
index 903e016d71c..9a7d5795925 100644
--- a/ckanext/datastore/logic/schema.py
+++ b/ckanext/datastore/logic/schema.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 import json
 
+from six import string_types
+
 import ckan.plugins as p
 import ckan.lib.navl.dictization_functions as df
 
@@ -48,13 +50,13 @@ def list_of_strings_or_lists(key, data, errors, context):
     if not isinstance(value, list):
         raise df.Invalid('Not a list')
     for x in value:
-        if not isinstance(x, basestring) and not isinstance(x, list):
+        if not isinstance(x, string_types) and not isinstance(x, list):
             raise df.Invalid('%s: %s' % ('Neither a string nor a list', x))
 
 
 def list_of_strings_or_string(key, data, errors, context):
     value = data.get(key)
-    if isinstance(value, basestring):
+    if isinstance(value, string_types):
         return
     list_of_strings_or_lists(key, data, errors, context)
 
diff --git a/ckanext/datastore/plugin.py b/ckanext/datastore/plugin.py
index f47cbbfd796..8d0c6b7b584 100644
--- a/ckanext/datastore/plugin.py
+++ b/ckanext/datastore/plugin.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import logging
 
+from six import string_types
 
 import ckan.plugins as p
 import ckan.logic as logic
@@ -213,16 +214,17 @@ def datastore_validate(self, context, data_dict, fields_types):
 
         q = data_dict.get('q')
         if q:
-            if isinstance(q, basestring):
+            if isinstance(q, string_types):
                 del data_dict['q']
             elif isinstance(q, dict):
                 for key in q.keys():
-                    if key in fields_types and isinstance(q[key], basestring):
+                    if key in fields_types and isinstance(q[key],
+                                                          string_types):
                         del q[key]
 
         language = data_dict.get('language')
         if language:
-            if isinstance(language, basestring):
+            if isinstance(language, string_types):
                 del data_dict['language']
 
         plain = data_dict.get('plain')
@@ -249,7 +251,7 @@ def datastore_validate(self, context, data_dict, fields_types):
         if limit:
             is_positive_int = datastore_helpers.validate_int(limit,
                                                              non_negative=True)
-            is_all = isinstance(limit, basestring) and limit.lower() == 'all'
+            is_all = isinstance(limit, string_types) and limit.lower() == 'all'
             if is_positive_int or is_all:
                 del data_dict['limit']
 
diff --git a/ckanext/datastore/templates/datastore/snippets/dictionary_form.html b/ckanext/datastore/templates/datastore/snippets/dictionary_form.html
index fad1d662df7..41266c9aae9 100644
--- a/ckanext/datastore/templates/datastore/snippets/dictionary_form.html
+++ b/ckanext/datastore/templates/datastore/snippets/dictionary_form.html
@@ -1,16 +1,25 @@
 {% import 'macros/form.html' as form %}
 
 <h3>{{ _( "Field {num}.").format(num=position) }} {{ field.id }} ({{ field.type }})</h3>
-          {{ form.select('info__' ~ position ~ '__type_override',
-            label=_('Type Override'), options=[
-            {'name': '', 'value': ''},
-            {'name': 'text', 'value': 'text'},
-            {'name': 'numeric', 'value': 'numeric'},
-            {'name': 'timestamp', 'value': 'timestamp'},
-            ], selected=field.get('info', {}).get('type_override', '')) }}
-          {{ form.input('info__' ~ position ~ '__label',
-            label=_('Label'), id='field-f' ~ position ~ 'label',
-            value=field.get('info', {}).get('label', ''), classes=['control-full']) }}
-          {{ form.markdown('info__' ~ position ~ '__notes',
-            label=_('Description'), id='field-d' ~ position ~ 'notes',
-            value=field.get('info', {}).get('notes', '')) }}
+
+{#
+  Data Dictionary fields may be added this snippet. New fields following
+  the 'info__' ~ position ~ '__namegoeshere' convention will be saved
+  as part of the "info" object on the column.
+#}
+
+{{ form.select('info__' ~ position ~ '__type_override',
+  label=_('Type Override'), options=[
+  {'name': '', 'value': ''},
+  {'name': 'text', 'value': 'text'},
+  {'name': 'numeric', 'value': 'numeric'},
+  {'name': 'timestamp', 'value': 'timestamp'},
+  ], selected=field.get('info', {}).get('type_override', '')) }}
+
+{{ form.input('info__' ~ position ~ '__label',
+  label=_('Label'), id='field-f' ~ position ~ 'label',
+  value=field.get('info', {}).get('label', ''), classes=['control-full']) }}
+
+{{ form.markdown('info__' ~ position ~ '__notes',
+  label=_('Description'), id='field-d' ~ position ~ 'notes',
+  value=field.get('info', {}).get('notes', '')) }}
diff --git a/ckanext/multilingual/plugin.py b/ckanext/multilingual/plugin.py
index 238aa5e7371..c4615151572 100644
--- a/ckanext/multilingual/plugin.py
+++ b/ckanext/multilingual/plugin.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # encoding: utf-8
 
+from six import string_types
+
 import ckan
 from ckan.plugins import SingletonPlugin, implements, IPackageController
 from ckan.plugins import IGroupController, IOrganizationController, ITagController, IResourceController
@@ -31,7 +33,7 @@ def translate_data_dict(data_dict):
     for (key, value) in flattened.items():
         if value in (None, True, False):
             continue
-        elif isinstance(value, basestring):
+        elif isinstance(value, string_types):
             terms.add(value)
         elif isinstance(value, (int, long)):
             continue
@@ -79,7 +81,7 @@ def translate_data_dict(data_dict):
             # Don't try to translate values that aren't strings.
             translated_flattened[key] = value
 
-        elif isinstance(value, basestring):
+        elif isinstance(value, string_types):
             if value in desired_translations:
                 translated_flattened[key] = desired_translations[value]
             else:
@@ -127,7 +129,7 @@ def translate_resource_data_dict(data_dict):
     for (key, value) in flattened.items():
         if value in (None, True, False):
             continue
-        elif isinstance(value, basestring):
+        elif isinstance(value, string_types):
             terms.add(value)
         elif isinstance(value, (int, long)):
             continue
@@ -170,7 +172,7 @@ def translate_resource_data_dict(data_dict):
             # Don't try to translate values that aren't strings.
             translated_flattened[key] = value
 
-        elif isinstance(value, basestring):
+        elif isinstance(value, string_types):
             if value in desired_translations:
                 translated_flattened[key] = desired_translations[value]
             else:
@@ -229,7 +231,7 @@ def before_index(self, search_data):
             if not isinstance(value, list):
                 value = [value]
             for item in value:
-                if isinstance(item, basestring):
+                if isinstance(item, string_types):
                     all_terms.append(item)
 
         field_translations = get_action('term_translation_show')(
diff --git a/contrib/docker/solr/Dockerfile b/contrib/docker/solr/Dockerfile
index baa0acc1899..59ce3492f42 100644
--- a/contrib/docker/solr/Dockerfile
+++ b/contrib/docker/solr/Dockerfile
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
-FROM solr:6.2
+FROM solr:6.6.2
 MAINTAINER Open Knowledge
 
 # Enviroment
 ENV SOLR_CORE ckan
 
-# User
-USER root
-
 # Create Directories
 RUN mkdir -p /opt/solr/server/solr/$SOLR_CORE/conf
 RUN mkdir -p /opt/solr/server/solr/$SOLR_CORE/data
@@ -14,15 +11,20 @@ RUN mkdir -p /opt/solr/server/solr/$SOLR_CORE/data
 # Adding Files
 ADD ./contrib/docker/solr/solrconfig.xml \
 ./ckan/config/solr/schema.xml \
-https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/lucene-solr/releases/lucene-solr/6.0.0/solr/server/solr/configsets/basic_configs/conf/currency.xml \
-https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/lucene-solr/releases/lucene-solr/6.0.0/solr/server/solr/configsets/basic_configs/conf/synonyms.txt \
-https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/lucene-solr/releases/lucene-solr/6.0.0/solr/server/solr/configsets/basic_configs/conf/stopwords.txt \
-https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/lucene-solr/releases/lucene-solr/6.0.0/solr/server/solr/configsets/basic_configs/conf/protwords.txt \
-https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/lucene-solr/releases/lucene-solr/6.0.0/solr/server/solr/configsets/data_driven_schema_configs/conf/elevate.xml \
+https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/lucene-solr/releases/lucene-solr/6.6.2/solr/server/solr/configsets/basic_configs/conf/currency.xml \
+https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/lucene-solr/releases/lucene-solr/6.6.2/solr/server/solr/configsets/basic_configs/conf/synonyms.txt \
+https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/lucene-solr/releases/lucene-solr/6.6.2/solr/server/solr/configsets/basic_configs/conf/stopwords.txt \
+https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/lucene-solr/releases/lucene-solr/6.6.2/solr/server/solr/configsets/basic_configs/conf/protwords.txt \
+https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/lucene-solr/releases/lucene-solr/6.6.2/solr/server/solr/configsets/data_driven_schema_configs/conf/elevate.xml \
 /opt/solr/server/solr/$SOLR_CORE/conf/
 
 # Create Core.properties
 RUN echo name=$SOLR_CORE > /opt/solr/server/solr/$SOLR_CORE/core.properties
 
 # Giving ownership to Solr
+
+USER root
 RUN chown -R $SOLR_USER:$SOLR_USER /opt/solr/server/solr/$SOLR_CORE
+
+# User
+USER $SOLR_USER:$SOLR_USER
diff --git a/doc/maintaining/datastore.rst b/doc/maintaining/datastore.rst
index c4da16b5d16..9d058b49c60 100644
--- a/doc/maintaining/datastore.rst
+++ b/doc/maintaining/datastore.rst
@@ -233,6 +233,49 @@ alongside CKAN.
 To install this please look at the docs here: http://docs.ckan.org/projects/datapusher
 
 
+.. _data_dictionary:
+
+---------------
+Data Dictionary
+---------------
+
+DataStore columns may be described with a Data Dictionary. A Data Dictionary tab
+will appear when editing any resource with a DataStore table.
+The Data Dictionary form allows entering the following values for
+each column:
+
+* **Type Override:** the type to be used the next time DataPusher is run to load
+  data into this column
+* **Label:** a human-friendly label for this column
+* **Description:** a full description for this column in markdown format
+
+Extension developers may add new fields to this form by overriding the default
+Data Dictionary form template ``datastore/snippets/dictionary_form.html``.
+
+The Data Dictionary is set through the API as part of the :ref:`fields` passed
+to :meth:`~ckanext.datastore.logic.action.datastore_create` and
+returned from :meth:`~ckanext.datastore.logic.action.datastore_search`.
+
+
+.. _dump:
+
+---------------------
+Downloading Resources
+---------------------
+
+A DataStore resource can be downloaded in the `CSV`_ file format from ``{CKAN-URL}/datastore/dump/{RESOURCE-ID}``.
+
+For an Excel-compatible CSV file use ``{CKAN-URL}/datastore/dump/{RESOURCE-ID}?bom=true``.
+
+Other formats supported include tab-separated values (``?format=tsv``),
+JSON (``?format=json``) and XML (``?format=xml``). E.g. to download an Excel-compatible
+tab-separated file use
+``{CKAN-URL}/datastore/dump/{RESOURCE-ID}?format=tsv&bom=true``.
+
+.. _CSV: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values
+
+
+
 -----------------
 The DataStore API
 -----------------
@@ -279,23 +322,6 @@ API reference
    :members:
 
 
-.. _dump:
-
-Download resource
------------------
-
-A DataStore resource can be downloaded in the `CSV`_ file format from ``{CKAN-URL}/datastore/dump/{RESOURCE-ID}``.
-
-For an Excel-compatible CSV file use ``{CKAN-URL}/datastore/dump/{RESOURCE-ID}?bom=true``.
-
-Other formats supported include tab-separated values (``?format=tsv``),
-JSON (``?format=json``) and XML (``?format=xml``). E.g. to download an Excel-compatible
-tab-separated file use
-``{CKAN-URL}/datastore/dump/{RESOURCE-ID}?format=tsv&bom=true``.
-
-.. _CSV: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values
-
-
 .. _fields:
 
 Fields
@@ -304,22 +330,40 @@ Fields
 Fields define the column names and the type of the data in a column. A field is defined as follows::
 
     {
-        "id":    # a string which defines the column name
+        "id":  # the column name (required)
         "type":  # the data type for the column
+        "info": {
+            "label":  # human-readable label for column
+            "notes":  # markdown description of column
+            "type_override":  # type for datapusher to use when importing data
+            ...:  # other user-defined fields
+	}
     }
 
-Field **types are optional** and will be guessed by the DataStore from the provided data. However, setting the types ensures that future inserts will not fail because of wrong types. See :ref:`valid-types` for details on which types are valid.
+Field types not provided will be guessed based on the first row of provided data.
+Set the types to ensure that future inserts will not fail because of an incorrectly
+guessed type. See :ref:`valid-types` for details on which types are valid.
+
+Extra ``"info"`` field values will be stored along with the column. ``"label"``,
+``"notes"`` and ``"type_override"`` can be managed from the default :ref:`data_dictionary`
+form.  Additional fields can be stored by customizing the Data Dictionary form or by
+passing their values to the API directly.
 
 Example::
 
     [
         {
-            "id": "foo",
-            "type": "int4"
+            "id": "code_number",
+            "type": "numeric"
         },
         {
-            "id": "bar"
-            # type is optional
+            "id": "description"
+            "type": "text",
+            "info": {
+                "label": "Description",
+                "notes": "A brief usage description for this code",
+                "example": "Used for temporary service interruptions"
+            }
         }
     ]
 
@@ -331,19 +375,21 @@ Records
 A record is the data to be inserted in a DataStore resource and is defined as follows::
 
     {
-        "<id>":  # data to be set
-        # .. more data
+        column_1_id: value_1,
+        columd_2_id: value_2,
+        ...
     }
 
 Example::
 
     [
         {
-            "foo": 100,
-            "bar": "Here's some text"
+            "code_number": 10,
+            "description": "Submitted successfully"
         },
         {
-            "foo": 42
+            "code_number": 42,
+            "description": "In progress"
         }
     ]
 
@@ -437,8 +483,10 @@ name
 oid
     The PostgreSQL object ID of the table that belongs to name.
 
+
+-------------------
 Extending DataStore
-===================
+-------------------
 
 Starting from CKAN version 2.7, backend used in DataStore can be replaced with custom one. For this purpose, custom extension must implement `ckanext.datastore.interfaces.IDatastoreBackend`, which provides one method - `register_backends`. It should return dictonary with names of custom backends as keys and classes, that represent those backends as values. Each class supposed to be inherited from `ckanext.datastore.backend.DatastoreBackend`.
 
diff --git a/requirements.in b/requirements.in
index 97a2353ccbe..6cc687dfc8d 100644
--- a/requirements.in
+++ b/requirements.in
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 # The file contains the direct ckan requirements.
 # Use pip-compile to create a requirements.txt file from this
 Babel==2.3.4
-Beaker==1.9.0 # Needs to be pinned to a more up to date version than the Pylons one
 bleach==2.1.2
 click==6.7
 fanstatic==0.12
-Flask==0.11.1
+Flask==0.12.2
 Flask-Babel==0.11.2
 Jinja2==2.8
 Markdown==2.6.7
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9eedbfe53a9..7c518a6906a 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -5,22 +5,22 @@
 #    pip-compile --output-file requirements.txt requirements.in
 #
 argparse==1.4.0           # via ofs
-Babel==2.3.4
+Babel==2.3.4              # via flask-babel
 Beaker==1.9.0             # via pylons
 bleach==2.1.2
 click==6.7
-decorator==4.0.6          # via pylons, sqlalchemy-migrate
+decorator==4.2.1          # via pylons, sqlalchemy-migrate
 fanstatic==0.12
-Flask==0.11.1
 Flask-Babel==0.11.2
-FormEncode==1.3.0         # via pylons
+Flask==0.12.2
+FormEncode==1.3.1         # via pylons
 funcsigs==1.0.2           # via beaker
 html5lib==1.0.1           # via bleach
 itsdangerous==0.24        # via flask
-Jinja2==2.8               # via flask
-Mako==1.0.4               # via pylons
+Jinja2==2.8               # via flask, flask-babel
+Mako==1.0.7               # via pylons
 Markdown==2.6.7
-MarkupSafe==0.23          # via jinja2, mako, webhelpers
+MarkupSafe==1.0           # via jinja2, mako, webhelpers
 nose==1.3.7               # via pylons
 ofs==0.4.2
 Pairtree==0.7.1-T
@@ -31,22 +31,22 @@ PasteScript==2.0.2        # via pylons
 pbr==1.10.0               # via sqlalchemy-migrate
 polib==1.0.7
 psycopg2==2.7.3.2
-Pygments==2.1.3           # via weberror
+Pygments==2.2.0           # via weberror
 Pylons==0.9.7
 pysolr==3.6.0
 python-dateutil==1.5
 python-magic==0.4.12
 pytz==2016.7
 pyutilib.component.core==4.6.4
-redis==2.10.5             # via rq
-repoze.lru==0.6           # via routes
+redis==2.10.6             # via rq
+repoze.lru==0.7           # via routes
 repoze.who-friendlyform==1.0.8
 repoze.who==2.3
 requests==2.11.1
 Routes==1.13              # via pylons
 rq==0.6.0
 simplejson==3.10.0
-six==1.10.0               # via bleach, html5lib, pastescript, pyutilib.component.core, sqlalchemy-migrate
+six==1.11.0               # via bleach, html5lib, pastescript, pyutilib.component.core, sqlalchemy-migrate
 sqlalchemy-migrate==0.10.0
 SQLAlchemy==1.1.11        # via sqlalchemy-migrate
 sqlparse==0.2.2
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ WebError==0.13.1          # via pylons
 WebHelpers==1.3           # via pylons
 WebOb==1.0.8              # via fanstatic, pylons, repoze.who, repoze.who-friendlyform, weberror, webtest
 WebTest==1.4.3            # via pylons
-Werkzeug==0.11.10         # via flask
+Werkzeug==0.14.1          # via flask
 zope.interface==4.3.2
 
 # The following packages are commented out because they are