diff --git a/onionshare/onionshare.py b/onionshare/onionshare.py
index 40a96c81..4e72271d 100644
--- a/onionshare/onionshare.py
+++ b/onionshare/onionshare.py
@@ -26,12 +26,20 @@ strings = {}
 # generate an unguessable string
 slug = os.urandom(16).encode('hex')
 
-# file information
-filename = filehash = filesize = ''
+# information about the file
+filename = filesize = filehash = None
+def set_file_info(new_filename, new_filesize, new_filehash):
+    global filename, filesize, filehash
+    filename = new_filename
+    filesize = new_filesize
+    filehash = new_filehash
 
 @app.route("/{0}".format(slug))
 def index():
     global filename, filesize, filehash, slug, strings
+    print 'filename: {0}'.format(filename)
+    print 'filehash: {0}'.format(filehash)
+    print 'filesize: {0}'.format(filesize)
     return render_template_string(open('{0}/index.html'.format(os.path.dirname(__file__))).read(),
         slug=slug, filename=os.path.basename(filename), filehash=filehash, filesize=filesize, strings=strings)
 
@@ -125,7 +133,6 @@ def start_hidden_service(port):
     return onion_host
 
 def main():
-    global filename, filehash, filesize
     load_strings()
 
     # try starting hidden service
@@ -148,6 +155,7 @@ def main():
     # startup
     print strings["calculating_sha1"]
     filehash, filesize = file_crunching(filename)
+    set_file_info(filename, filehash, filesize)
     tails_open_port(port)
     print '\n' + strings["give_this_url"]
     print 'http://{0}/{1}'.format(onion_host, slug)
diff --git a/onionshare_gui/onionshare_gui.py b/onionshare_gui/onionshare_gui.py
index 8adead85..492f2ad8 100644
--- a/onionshare_gui/onionshare_gui.py
+++ b/onionshare_gui/onionshare_gui.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 
 import onionshare, webgui
-import os, sys, time, json, gtk
+import os, sys, time, json, gtk, thread
 
 class Global(object):
     quit = False
@@ -75,14 +75,14 @@ def main():
     web_send("init('{0}', {1});".format(basename, json.dumps(strings)))
     web_send("update('{0}')".format(strings['calculating_sha1']))
     filehash, filesize = onionshare.file_crunching(filename)
+    onionshare.set_file_info(filename, filehash, filesize)
     onionshare.tails_open_port(port)
     url = 'http://{0}/{1}'.format(onion_host, onionshare.slug)
     web_send("update('{0}')".format('Secret URL is {0}'.format(url)))
     web_send("set_url('{0}')".format(url));
 
     # start the web server
-    # todo: start this in another thread, and send output using web_send
-    #onionshare.app.run(port=port)
+    web_thread = thread.start_new_thread(onionshare.app.run, (), {"port": port})
 
     # main loop
     last_second = time.time()