diff --git a/core/modules/utils/dom/dom.js b/core/modules/utils/dom/dom.js
index 3d611f768..e896049ed 100644
--- a/core/modules/utils/dom/dom.js
+++ b/core/modules/utils/dom/dom.js
@@ -96,8 +96,11 @@ exports.getBoundingPageRect = function(element) {
 Saves a named password in the browser
 */
 exports.savePassword = function(name,password) {
-	if(window.localStorage) {
-		localStorage.setItem("tw5-password-" + name,password);
+	try {
+		if(window.localStorage) {
+			localStorage.setItem("tw5-password-" + name,password);
+		}
+	} catch(e) {
 	}
 };
 
@@ -105,7 +108,11 @@ exports.savePassword = function(name,password) {
 Retrieve a named password from the browser
 */
 exports.getPassword = function(name) {
-	return window.localStorage ? localStorage.getItem("tw5-password-" + name) : "";
+	try {
+		return window.localStorage ? localStorage.getItem("tw5-password-" + name) : "";
+	} catch(e) {
+		return "";
+	}
 };
 
 /*
diff --git a/core/modules/utils/dom/modal.js b/core/modules/utils/dom/modal.js
index 2ba4680ed..b0efaaa77 100644
--- a/core/modules/utils/dom/modal.js
+++ b/core/modules/utils/dom/modal.js
@@ -67,20 +67,27 @@ Modal.prototype.display = function(title,options) {
 	modalFooter.appendChild(modalFooterButtons);
 	modalWrapper.appendChild(modalFooter);
 	// Render the title of the message
-	var titleText;
-	if(tiddler && tiddler.fields && tiddler.fields.subtitle) {
-		titleText = tiddler.fields.subtitle;
-	} else {
-		titleText = title;
-	}
-	var headerParser = this.wiki.parseText("text/vnd.tiddlywiki",titleText,{parseAsInline: true}),
-		headerWidgetNode = this.wiki.makeWidget(headerParser,{parentWidget: $tw.rootWidget, document: document});
+	var headerWidgetNode = this.wiki.makeTranscludeWidget(title,{
+		field: "subtitle",
+		children: [{
+			type: "text",
+			attributes: {
+				text: {
+					type: "string",
+					value: title
+		}}}],
+		parentWidget: $tw.rootWidget,
+		document: document
+	});
 	headerWidgetNode.render(headerTitle,null);
 	this.wiki.addEventListener("change",function(changes) {
 		headerWidgetNode.refresh(changes,modalHeader,null);
 	});
 	// Render the body of the message
-	var bodyWidgetNode = this.wiki.makeTranscludeWidget(title,{parentWidget: $tw.rootWidget, document: document});
+	var bodyWidgetNode = this.wiki.makeTranscludeWidget(title,{
+		parentWidget: $tw.rootWidget,
+		document: document
+	});
 	bodyWidgetNode.render(modalBody,null);
 	this.wiki.addEventListener("change",function(changes) {
 		bodyWidgetNode.refresh(changes,modalBody,null);
@@ -100,14 +107,31 @@ Modal.prototype.display = function(title,options) {
 		modalFooterHelp.appendChild(link);
 		modalFooterHelp.style.float = "left";
 	}
-	var footerText;
-	if(tiddler && tiddler.fields && tiddler.fields.footer) {
-		footerText = tiddler.fields.footer;
-	} else {
-		footerText = '<$button message="tw-close-tiddler" class="btn btn-primary">Close</$button>';
-	}
-	var footerParser = this.wiki.parseText("text/vnd.tiddlywiki",footerText,{parseAsInline: true}),
-		footerWidgetNode = this.wiki.makeWidget(footerParser,{parentWidget: $tw.rootWidget, document: document});
+	var footerWidgetNode = this.wiki.makeTranscludeWidget(title,{
+		field: "footer",
+		children: [{
+			type: "button",
+			attributes: {
+				message: {
+					type: "string",
+					value: "tw-close-tiddler"
+				},
+				"class": {
+					type: "string",
+					value: "btn btn-primary"
+				}
+			},
+			children: [{
+				type: "text",
+				attributes: {
+					text: {
+						type: "string",
+						value: "Close"
+			}}}
+		]}],
+		parentWidget: $tw.rootWidget,
+		document: document
+	});
 	footerWidgetNode.render(modalFooterButtons,null);
 	this.wiki.addEventListener("change",function(changes) {
 		footerWidgetNode.refresh(changes,modalFooterButtons,null);
diff --git a/core/modules/wiki.js b/core/modules/wiki.js
index 73b0c9ab6..f4d405bf4 100755
--- a/core/modules/wiki.js
+++ b/core/modules/wiki.js
@@ -856,19 +856,30 @@ exports.makeWidget = function(parser,options) {
 /*
 Make a widget tree for transclusion
 title: target tiddler title
-options: as for wiki.makeWidget() (including parseAsInline)
+options: as for wiki.makeWidget() plus:
+options.field: optional field to transclude (defaults to "text")
+options.children: optional array of children for the transclude widget
 */
 exports.makeTranscludeWidget = function(title,options) {
 	options = options || {};
 	var parseTree = {tree: [{
-		type: "transclude",
-		attributes: {
-			tiddler: {
-				name: "tiddler",
-				type: "string",
-				value: title}},
-		isBlock: !options.parseAsInline}
+			type: "element",
+			tag: "div",
+			children: [{
+				type: "transclude",
+				attributes: {
+					tiddler: {
+						name: "tiddler",
+						type: "string",
+						value: title}},
+				isBlock: !options.parseAsInline}]}
 	]};
+	if(options.field) {
+		parseTree.tree[0].children[0].attributes.field = {type: "string", value: options.field};
+	}
+	if(options.children) {
+		parseTree.tree[0].children[0].children = options.children;
+	}
 	return $tw.wiki.makeWidget(parseTree,options);
 };