diff --git a/controllers/publishController.js b/controllers/publishController.js
index d18a5153..71c731d9 100644
--- a/controllers/publishController.js
+++ b/controllers/publishController.js
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@ module.exports = {
   publish (publishParams, fileName, fileType) {
     return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
       let publishResults = {};
-      let file;
-      let claim;
       // 1. make sure the name is available
       publishHelpers.checkClaimNameAvailability(publishParams.name)
       // 2. publish the file
@@ -16,7 +14,7 @@ module.exports = {
         if (result === true) {
           return lbryApi.publishClaim(publishParams);
         } else {
-          return new Error('That name has already been claimed by spee.ch.');
+          return new Error('That name is already in use by spee.ch.');
         }
       })
       // 3. upsert File record (update is in case the claim has been published before by this daemon)
@@ -60,9 +58,7 @@ module.exports = {
         // create the records
         return Promise.all([db.upsert(db.File, fileRecord, upsertCriteria, 'File'), db.upsert(db.Claim, claimRecord, upsertCriteria, 'Claim')]);
       })
-      .then(result => {
-        file = result[0];
-        claim = result[1];
+      .then(([file, claim]) => {
         logger.debug('File and Claim records successfully created');
         return Promise.all([file.setClaim(claim), claim.setFile(file)]);
       })
diff --git a/helpers/publishHelpers.js b/helpers/publishHelpers.js
index c154967d..4177ed39 100644
--- a/helpers/publishHelpers.js
+++ b/helpers/publishHelpers.js
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ module.exports = {
     // validate claim name
     const invalidCharacters = /[^A-Za-z0-9,-]/.exec(name);
     if (invalidCharacters) {
-      throw new Error('The claim name you provided is not allowed.  Only the following characters are allowed: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and "-"');
+      throw new Error('The url name you provided is not allowed.  Only the following characters are allowed: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and "-"');
     }
     // validate license
     if ((license.indexOf('Public Domain') === -1) && (license.indexOf('Creative Commons') === -1)) {
diff --git a/passport/local-signup.js b/passport/local-signup.js
index f71332af..35e52742 100644
--- a/passport/local-signup.js
+++ b/passport/local-signup.js
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ module.exports = new PassportLocalStrategy(
     logger.debug('new channel signup request');
     const address = config.get('WalletConfig.LbryClaimAddress');
     let user;
-    let certificate;
     // server-side validaton of inputs (username, password)
 
     // create the channel and retrieve the metadata
@@ -26,7 +25,6 @@ module.exports = new PassportLocalStrategy(
           channelName   : username,
           channelClaimId: tx.claim_id,
           password      : password,
-          // address,
         };
         logger.debug('userData >', userData);
         // create certificate record
@@ -39,16 +37,16 @@ module.exports = new PassportLocalStrategy(
         // save user and certificate to db
         return Promise.all([db.User.create(userData), db.Certificate.create(certificateData)]);
       })
-      .then(result => {
-        user = result[0];
-        certificate = result[1];
+      .then(([newUser, newCertificate]) => {
+        user = newUser;  // save outside scope of this function
         logger.debug('user and certificate successfully created');
-        logger.debug('user result >', user.dataValues);
-        logger.debug('certificate result >', certificate.dataValues);
+        logger.debug('user result >', newUser.dataValues);
+        logger.debug('certificate result >', newCertificate.dataValues);
         // associate the instances
-        return Promise.all([certificate.setUser(user), user.setCertificate(certificate)]);
+        return Promise.all([newCertificate.setUser(newUser), newUser.setCertificate(newCertificate)]);
       }).then(() => {
         logger.debug('user and certificate successfully associated');
+        logger.debug('user ===', user.dataValues);
         return done(null, user);
       })
       .catch(error => {