diff --git a/de.systopia.civiproxy/info.xml b/de.systopia.civiproxy/info.xml
index c1d3f79..781ff38 100644
--- a/de.systopia.civiproxy/info.xml
+++ b/de.systopia.civiproxy/info.xml
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@
     <author>B. Endres</author>
     <email>endres@systopia.de</email>
   </maintainer>
-  <releaseDate>2017-12-11</releaseDate>
-  <version>0.5.beta1</version>
-  <develStage>beta</develStage>
+  <releaseDate>2018-03-01</releaseDate>
+  <version>0.5</version>
+  <develStage>stable</develStage>
   <compatibility>
     <ver>4.4</ver>
     <ver>4.6</ver>
diff --git a/proxy/config.php b/proxy/config.php
index 8ef7c30..ea0e4f8 100644
--- a/proxy/config.php
+++ b/proxy/config.php
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ $target_civicrm = 'https://your.civicrm.installation.org';
 
 
 /****************************************************************
- **                      DEFAULT PATHS                         **
+ **                FEATURES / DEFAULT PATHS                    **
  **                                                            **
  **          set to NULL to disable a feature                  **
  ****************************************************************/
@@ -32,6 +32,15 @@ $target_file      = $target_civicrm . '/sites/default/files/civicrm/persist/';
 $target_mosaico   = NULL; // (disabled by default): $target_civicrm . '/civicrm/mosaico/img?src=';
 $target_mail_view = $target_civicrm . '/civicrm/mailing/view';
 
+/****************************************************************
+ **                    GENERAL OPTIONS                         **
+ ****************************************************************/
+
+// This logo is shown if the proxy server is address with a web browser
+//  add your own logo here
+$civiproxy_logo    = "<img src='{$proxy_base}/static/images/proxy-logo.png' alt='SYSTOPIA Organisationsberatung'></img>";
+
+
 // Set api-key for mail subscribe/unsubscribe user
 // Set to NULL/FALSE to disable the feature
 $mail_subscription_user_key = NULL;
@@ -77,6 +86,12 @@ $file_cache_include = array(
 /****************************************************************
  **                   REST API OPTIONS                         **
  ****************************************************************/
+
+// if you enable this, the system will also try to
+// parse the 'json' parameter, which holds additional
+// input data according to the CiviCRM REST API specs
+$rest_evaluate_json_parameter = FALSE;
+
 // whitelisting is done per IP address ($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']) with a 'all' for the generic stuff that applies to all IP addresses
 // - if a request comes in and the IP is not a key in the array, the whitelisted in 'all' are used
 // - if a request comes in and the IP is indeed a key in the array, the whitelisted in the IP are checked first. If nothing is
diff --git a/proxy/file.php b/proxy/file.php
index 36684dd..768072f 100644
--- a/proxy/file.php
+++ b/proxy/file.php
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
 curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_HEADER, 1);
 curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,1);
 curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 30);
-curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 1);
+curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 2);
 if (!empty($target_interface)) {
   curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_INTERFACE, $target_interface);
 }
diff --git a/proxy/mosaico.php b/proxy/mosaico.php
index 91ad5fe..34e7dc6 100644
--- a/proxy/mosaico.php
+++ b/proxy/mosaico.php
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
 curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_HEADER, 1);
 curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,1);
 curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 30);
-curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 1);
+curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 2);
 if (!empty($target_interface)) {
   curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_INTERFACE, $target_interface);
 }
diff --git a/proxy/proxy.php b/proxy/proxy.php
index cd9f3e2..65382bd 100644
--- a/proxy/proxy.php
+++ b/proxy/proxy.php
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@
 +---------------------------------------------------------*/
 
 require_once "config.php";
-$civiproxy_version = '0.5.beta1';
-$civiproxy_logo    = "<img src='{$proxy_base}/static/images/proxy-logo.png' alt='SYSTOPIA Organisationsberatung'></img>";
+$civiproxy_version = '0.6.dev1';
 
 /**
  * this will redirect the request to another URL,
@@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ function civiproxy_redirect($url_requested, $parameters) {
   curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_HEADER, 1);
   curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,1);
   curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 30);
-  curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 1);
+  curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 2);
   if (!empty($target_interface)) {
     curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_INTERFACE, $target_interface);
   }
@@ -165,8 +164,14 @@ function civiproxy_security_check($target, $quit=TRUE) {
  *
  * @param $valid_parameters   array '<parameter name> => '<expected type>'
  *                               where type can be 'int', 'string' (unchecked),
+ * @param $request            provides the request data to use,
+ *                               defaults to $_REQUEST
  */
-function civiproxy_get_parameters($valid_parameters) {
+function civiproxy_get_parameters($valid_parameters, $request = NULL) {
+  if ($request === NULL) {
+    $request = $_REQUEST;
+  }
+
   $result = array();
   $default_sanitation = NULL;
 
@@ -177,8 +182,8 @@ function civiproxy_get_parameters($valid_parameters) {
       continue;
     }
 
-    if (isset($_REQUEST[$name])) {
-      $result[$name] = civiproxy_sanitise($_REQUEST[$name], $type);
+    if (isset($request[$name])) {
+      $result[$name] = civiproxy_sanitise($request[$name], $type);
     }
   }
 
@@ -186,7 +191,7 @@ function civiproxy_get_parameters($valid_parameters) {
   if ($default_sanitation !== NULL) {
     // i.e. we want the others too
     $remove_parameters = array('key', 'api_key', 'version', 'entity', 'action');
-    foreach ($_REQUEST as $name => $value) {
+    foreach ($request as $name => $value) {
       if (!in_array($name, $remove_parameters) && !isset($valid_parameters[$name])) {
         $result[$name] = civiproxy_sanitise($value, $default_sanitation);
       }
@@ -220,6 +225,19 @@ function civiproxy_sanitise($value, $type) {
       error_log("CiviProxy: removed invalid email parameter: " . $value);
       $value = '';
     }
+  } elseif ($type == 'json') {
+    // valid json
+    $json_data = json_decode($value, true);
+    if ($json_data === NULL) {
+      $value = '';
+    } else {
+      $value = json_encode($value);
+    }
+  } elseif ($type == 'array') {
+    // this should only happen _inside_ the json field
+    if (!is_array($value)) {
+      $value = '';
+    }
   } elseif (is_array($type)) {
     // this is a list of valid options
     $requested_value = $value;
@@ -282,7 +300,7 @@ function civicrm_api3($entity, $action, $data) {
     curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_INTERFACE, $target_interface);
   }
   // curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, 1);
-  curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 1);
+  curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 2);
   if (file_exists(dirname(__FILE__).'/target.pem')) {
     curl_setopt($curlSession, CURLOPT_CAINFO, dirname(__FILE__).'/target.pem');
   }
diff --git a/proxy/rest.php b/proxy/rest.php
index d97efb7..a8848d4 100644
--- a/proxy/rest.php
+++ b/proxy/rest.php
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ if (isset($rest_allowed_actions['all'])) {
 	} else {
 		civiproxy_rest_error("Invalid entity/action.");
 	}
-}	
+}
 
 // extract parameters and add credentials and action data
 $parameters = civiproxy_get_parameters($valid_parameters);
@@ -75,6 +75,18 @@ foreach ($action as $key => $value) {
   $parameters[$key] = $value;
 }
 
+// evaluate the JSON parameter
+global $rest_evaluate_json_parameter;
+if ($rest_evaluate_json_parameter) {
+  if (isset($_REQUEST['json'])) {
+    $json_data = json_decode($_REQUEST['json'], true);
+    if (!empty($json_data)) {
+      $json_parameters = civiproxy_get_parameters($valid_parameters, $json_data);
+      $parameters['json'] = json_encode($json_parameters);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 // finally execute query
 civiproxy_redirect($target_rest, $parameters);