diff --git a/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/GUI.java b/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/GUI.java
index 86cd7e0029..9cb218f4c1 100644
--- a/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/GUI.java
+++ b/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/GUI.java
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 import org.rapidoid.gui.input.*;
 import org.rapidoid.gui.reqinfo.IReqInfo;
 import org.rapidoid.gui.reqinfo.ReqInfo;
-import org.rapidoid.gui.var.LocalVar;
+import org.rapidoid.gui.var.ReqDataVar;
 import org.rapidoid.html.HTML;
 import org.rapidoid.html.Tag;
 import org.rapidoid.html.TagWidget;
@@ -499,12 +499,26 @@ public static Tag[] mediaList(List<Object> found) {
 		return items;
 	}
 
+	public static <T extends Serializable> Var<T> var(String name, Class<T> type, T defaultValue) {
+		return new ReqDataVar<>(name, type, defaultValue);
+	}
+
 	public static <T extends Serializable> Var<T> var(String name, T defaultValue) {
-		return new LocalVar<T>(name, defaultValue);
+		return var(name, Cls.of(defaultValue), defaultValue);
+	}
+
+	public static Var<String> var(String name) {
+		return var(name, String.class, null);
+	}
+
+	public static Var<List<String>> listVar(String name) {
+		Class<List<String>> type = U.cast(List.class);
+		return new ReqDataVar<>(name, type, U.<String>list());
 	}
 
-	public static <T extends Serializable> Var<T> var(String name) {
-		return var(name, null);
+	public static Var<List<String>> listVar(String name, List<String> defaultValue) {
+		Class<List<String>> type = U.cast(List.class);
+		return new ReqDataVar<>(name, type, defaultValue);
 	}
 
 	public static Object highlight(String text) {
diff --git a/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/PostedDataVar.java b/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/PostedDataVar.java
index 25e86bd157..303e777a01 100644
--- a/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/PostedDataVar.java
+++ b/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/PostedDataVar.java
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ public PostedDataVar(Var<T> var) {
 
 	@Override
 	public T get() {
-		return (T) ReqInfo.get().posted().get(name());
+		return (T) ReqInfo.get().data().get(name());
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/LocalVar.java b/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/ReqDataVar.java
similarity index 59%
rename from rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/LocalVar.java
rename to rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/ReqDataVar.java
index 351a1e1573..deff96c244 100644
--- a/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/LocalVar.java
+++ b/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/ReqDataVar.java
@@ -3,10 +3,12 @@
 import org.rapidoid.annotation.Authors;
 import org.rapidoid.annotation.Since;
 import org.rapidoid.cls.Cls;
+import org.rapidoid.commons.Err;
 import org.rapidoid.gui.reqinfo.ReqInfo;
 import org.rapidoid.u.U;
 
-import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.List;
 
 /*
  * #%L
@@ -29,25 +31,55 @@
  */
 
 @Authors("Nikolche Mihajlovski")
-@Since("4.0.0")
-public class LocalVar<T extends Serializable> extends WidgetVar<T> {
+@Since("5.3.0")
+public class ReqDataVar<T> extends WidgetVar<T> {
 
 	private static final long serialVersionUID = 2761159925375675659L;
 
 	private final String localKey;
 
+	private final Class<T> type;
+
 	private final T defaultValue;
 
-	public LocalVar(String localKey, T defaultValue) {
+	public ReqDataVar(String localKey, Class<T> type, T defaultValue) {
 		super(localKey);
 		this.localKey = localKey;
+		this.type = type;
 		this.defaultValue = defaultValue;
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 	@Override
 	public T get() {
-		return (T) Cls.convert(U.or(ReqInfo.get().posted().get(localKey), defaultValue), Cls.of(defaultValue));
+		Object value = U.or(ReqInfo.get().data().get(localKey), null);
+
+		if (type.equals(List.class)) {
+
+			if (value == null) {
+				return defaultValue;
+
+			} else if (value instanceof String) {
+				String s = (String) value;
+
+				if (U.notEmpty(s)) {
+					return (T) U.list(s);
+				} else {
+					return defaultValue;
+				}
+
+			} else if (value instanceof Collection) {
+				Collection coll = (Collection) value;
+				return (T) U.list(coll);
+
+			} else {
+				throw Err.notExpected();
+			}
+
+		} else {
+			value = U.or(value, defaultValue);
+			return Cls.convert(value, type);
+		}
 	}
 
 	@Override
diff --git a/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/WidgetVar.java b/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/WidgetVar.java
index 5ba051a961..2180e88704 100644
--- a/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/WidgetVar.java
+++ b/rapidoid-gui/src/main/java/org/rapidoid/gui/var/WidgetVar.java
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 import org.rapidoid.gui.reqinfo.ReqInfo;
 import org.rapidoid.var.impl.AbstractVar;
 
-import java.io.Serializable;
-
 /*
  * #%L
  * rapidoid-gui
@@ -29,7 +27,7 @@
 
 @Authors("Nikolche Mihajlovski")
 @Since("4.0.2")
-public abstract class WidgetVar<T extends Serializable> extends AbstractVar<T> {
+public abstract class WidgetVar<T> extends AbstractVar<T> {
 
 	private static final long serialVersionUID = 2761159925375675659L;
 
@@ -38,7 +36,7 @@ public WidgetVar(String name) {
 	}
 
 	protected boolean getBool() {
-		Object value = ReqInfo.get().posted().get(name());
+		Object value = ReqInfo.get().data().get(name());
 		return Boolean.TRUE.equals(value) || "true".equals(value);
 	}