diff --git a/src/common.cpp b/src/common.cpp
index 9b38760..2a0f82f 100644
--- a/src/common.cpp
+++ b/src/common.cpp
@@ -179,6 +179,10 @@ bool rdConf(shared_t *share)
         share->recordUrl.clear();
         share->postCmd.clear();
         share->buffDir.clear();
+        share->recLogPath.clear();
+        share->detLogPath.clear();
+        share->recLogFile.close();
+        share->detLogFile.close();
 
         share->retCode     = 0;
         share->frameGap    = 10;
@@ -187,7 +191,7 @@ bool rdConf(shared_t *share)
         share->secs        = 60;
         share->maxDays     = 15;
         share->maxClips    = 30;
-        share->maxLogLines = 1000;
+        share->maxLogSize  = 10000;
         share->camName     = path(share->conf.c_str()).filename();
         share->webRoot     = "/var/www/html";
         share->vidExt      = "mp4";
@@ -217,13 +221,15 @@ bool rdConf(shared_t *share)
                 rdLine("img_thresh = ",       line, &share->imgThresh);
                 rdLine("max_days = ",         line, &share->maxDays);
                 rdLine("max_clips = ",        line, &share->maxClips);
-                rdLine("max_log_lines = ",    line, &share->maxLogLines);
+                rdLine("max_log_size = ",     line, &share->maxLogSize);
                 rdLine("vid_container = ",    line, &share->vidExt);
             }
 
         } while(!line.empty());
 
-        share->outDir = cleanDir(share->webRoot) + "/" + share->camName;
+        share->outDir     = cleanDir(share->webRoot) + "/" + share->camName;
+        share->recLogPath = share->outDir + "/rec_log_lines.html";
+        share->detLogPath = share->outDir + "/det_log_lines.html";
 
         if (share->init)
         {
diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index 219c717..34b9301 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -35,36 +35,39 @@ using namespace cv;
 using namespace std;
 using namespace std::filesystem;
 
-#define APP_VER  "1.5.t7"
+#define APP_VER  "1.5.t8"
 #define APP_NAME "Motion Watch"
 
 struct shared_t
 {
-    vector<string> recLogLines;
-    vector<string> detLogLines;
-    string         recordUrl;
-    string         outDir;
-    string         postCmd;
-    string         conf;
-    string         buffDir;
-    string         vidExt;
-    string         camName;
-    string         webBg;
-    string         webTxt;
-    string         webFont;
-    string         webRoot;
-    bool           init;
-    bool           recLoopWait;
-    bool           logRun;
-    bool           skipCmd;
-    int            frameGap;
-    int            pixThresh;
-    int            imgThresh;
-    int            secs;
-    int            maxDays;
-    int            maxClips;
-    int            maxLogLines;
-    int            retCode;
+
+    ofstream recLogFile;
+    ofstream detLogFile;
+    string   recLogPath;
+    string   detLogPath;
+    string   recordUrl;
+    string   outDir;
+    string   postCmd;
+    string   conf;
+    string   buffDir;
+    string   vidExt;
+    string   camName;
+    string   webBg;
+    string   webTxt;
+    string   webFont;
+    string   webRoot;
+    bool     init;
+    bool     recLoopWait;
+    bool     logRun;
+    bool     skipCmd;
+    int      frameGap;
+    int      pixThresh;
+    int      imgThresh;
+    int      secs;
+    int      maxDays;
+    int      maxClips;
+    int      maxLogSize;
+    int      retCode;
 };
 
 string         genDstFile(const string &dirOut, const char *fmt, const string &ext);
diff --git a/src/logger.cpp b/src/logger.cpp
index 1cab08b..279232c 100644
--- a/src/logger.cpp
+++ b/src/logger.cpp
@@ -14,53 +14,89 @@
 
 void recLog(const string &line, shared_t *share)
 {
-    share->recLogLines.push_back(genTimeStr("[%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S] ") + line + "<br>\n");
+    share->recLogFile << genTimeStr("[%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S] ") << line << "<br>" << endl;
 }
 
 void detLog(const string &line, shared_t *share)
 {
-    share->detLogLines.push_back(genTimeStr("[%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S] ") + line + "<br>\n");
+    share->detLogFile << genTimeStr("[%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S] ") << line << "<br>" << endl;
 }
 
-void enforceMaxLogLines(vector<string> &log, shared_t *share)
+void enforceMaxLogSize(const string &filePath, shared_t *share)
 {
-    while (log.size() > share->maxLogLines)
+    if (file_size(filePath) >= share->maxLogSize)
     {
-        log.erase(log.begin());
+        remove(filePath);
     }
 }
 
-string combine(const vector<string> &log)
+void initLogFile(const string &filePath, ofstream &fileObj)
 {
-    string ret;
+    if (!fileObj.is_open())
+    {
+        if (!fileExists(filePath))
+        {
+            system(string("touch " + filePath).c_str());
+        }
 
-    for (auto &&line : log) ret += line;
-
-    return ret;
+        fileObj.open(filePath.c_str(), ofstream::app | ofstream::out);
+    }
 }
 
-void wrOutLogs(shared_t *share)
+void initLogFrontPage(const string &filePath, const string &logLinesFile)
 {
-    auto   recLogFilePath = cleanDir(share->outDir) + "/recording_log.html";
-    auto   detLogFilePath = cleanDir(share->outDir) + "/detection_log.html";
-    string htmlText       = "<!DOCTYPE html>\n";
-
-    ofstream recFile(recLogFilePath.c_str());
-    ofstream detFile(detLogFilePath.c_str());
+    string htmlText = "<!DOCTYPE html>\n";
 
     htmlText += "<html>\n";
+    htmlText += "<script>\n";
+    htmlText += "function includeHTML() {\n";
+    htmlText += "  var z, i, elmnt, file, xhttp;\n";
+    htmlText += "  z = document.getElementsByTagName(\"*\");\n";
+    htmlText += "  for (i = 0; i < z.length; i++) {\n";
+    htmlText += "    elmnt = z[i];\n";
+    htmlText += "    file = elmnt.getAttribute(\"include-html\");\n";
+    htmlText += "    if (file) {\n";
+    htmlText += "      xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();\n";
+    htmlText += "      xhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {\n";
+    htmlText += "        if (this.readyState == 4) {\n";
+    htmlText += "          if (this.status == 200) {elmnt.innerHTML = this.responseText;}\n";
+    htmlText += "          if (this.status == 404) {elmnt.innerHTML = \"Page not found.\";}\n";
+    htmlText += "          elmnt.removeAttribute(\"include-html\");\n";
+    htmlText += "          includeHTML();\n";
+    htmlText += "        }\n";
+    htmlText += "      }\n";
+    htmlText += "      xhttp.open(\"GET\", file, true);\n";
+    htmlText += "      xhttp.send();\n";
+    htmlText += "      return;\n";
+    htmlText += "    }\n";
+    htmlText += "  }\n";
+    htmlText += "};\n";
+    htmlText += "</script>\n";
     htmlText += "<head>\n";
     htmlText += "<link rel='stylesheet' href='/theme.css'>\n";
     htmlText += "</head>\n";
     htmlText += "<body>\n";
     htmlText += "<p>\n";
+    htmlText += "<div include-html='" + logLinesFile + "'></div>\n";
+    htmlText += "<script>\n";
+    htmlText += "includeHTML();\n";
+    htmlText += "</script>\n";
+    htmlText += "</p>\n";
+    htmlText += "</body>\n";
+    htmlText += "</html>\n";
 
-    recFile << htmlText << combine(share->recLogLines) << "</p>\n</body>\n</html>\n";
-    detFile << htmlText << combine(share->detLogLines) << "</p>\n</body>\n</html>\n";
-    
-    recFile.close();
-    detFile.close();
+    ofstream outFile(filePath);
 
-    enforceMaxLogLines(share->recLogLines, share);
-    enforceMaxLogLines(share->detLogLines, share);
+    outFile << htmlText;
+
+    outFile.close();
+}
+
+void initLogFrontPages(shared_t *share)
+{
+    auto recLogFilePath = share->outDir + "/recording_log.html";
+    auto detLogFilePath = share->outDir + "/detection_log.html";
+
+    initLogFrontPage(recLogFilePath, path(share->recLogPath).filename().string());
+    initLogFrontPage(detLogFilePath, path(share->detLogPath).filename().string());
 }
diff --git a/src/logger.h b/src/logger.h
index e70b937..29f9074 100644
--- a/src/logger.h
+++ b/src/logger.h
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@
 
 #include "common.h"
 
-void   recLog(const string &line, shared_t *share);
-void   detLog(const string &line, shared_t *share);
-void   wrOutLogs(shared_t *share);
-void   enforceMaxLogLines(vector<string> &log, shared_t *share);
-string combine(const vector<string> &log);
+void recLog(const string &line, shared_t *share);
+void detLog(const string &line, shared_t *share);
+void enforceMaxLogSize(const string &filePath, shared_t *share);
+void initLogFile(const string &filePath, ofstream &fileObj);
+void initLogFrontPages(shared_t *share);
 
 #endif // lOGGER_H
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index fb8bf75..a0c8b64 100755
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@
 void detectLoop(shared_t *share)
 {
     detLog("detectLoop() -- start", share);
-    wrOutLogs(share);
 
     vector<string> bufFiles;
+    auto           waitingForFiles = 0;
 
     do
     {
@@ -50,30 +50,46 @@ void detectLoop(shared_t *share)
         }
         else
         {
-            sleep(1);
+            if (waitingForFiles >= share->secs)
+            {
+                detLog("timed out waiting for buff files from ffmpeg, did it fail?", share);
+
+                break;
+            }
+
+            sleep(1); waitingForFiles++;
         }
     }
     while (!bufFiles.empty() && !share->recLoopWait);
 
     detLog("detectLoop() -- finished", share);
-    wrOutLogs(share);
 }
 
 void recLoop(shared_t *share)
 {
     while (rdConf(share))
     {
-        recLog("recLoop() -- start", share);
-        wrOutLogs(share);
+        enforceMaxLogSize(share->recLogPath, share);
+        enforceMaxLogSize(share->detLogPath, share);
 
-        if (!fileExists("/tmp/mow-lock"))
+        initLogFile(share->recLogPath, share->recLogFile);
+        initLogFile(share->detLogPath, share->detLogFile);
+
+        initLogFrontPages(share);
+
+        recLog("recLoop() -- start", share);
+
+        if (!exists("/tmp/mow-lock"))
         {
             recLog("/tmp/mow-lock not found, assuming it is safe to update the webroot page.", share);
             recLog("webroot page = " + cleanDir(share->webRoot) + "/index.html", share);
+
             system("touch /tmp/mow-lock");
+
             genCSS(share);
             genHTMLul(share->webRoot, string(APP_NAME) + " " + string(APP_VER), share);
-            system("rm /tmp/mow-lock");
+
+            remove("/tmp/mow-lock");
         }
         else
         {
@@ -81,6 +97,7 @@ void recLoop(shared_t *share)
         }
 
         genHTMLul(share->outDir, share->camName, share);
+
         recLog("camera specific webroot page updated. page = " + share->outDir + "/index.html", share);
 
         auto bufPath = cleanDir(share->buffDir) + "/%03d." + share->vidExt;
@@ -90,33 +107,43 @@ void recLoop(shared_t *share)
 
         thread th2(detectLoop, share);
 
-        recLog("detect_loop started in a seperate thread.", share);
-        recLog("ffmpeg = " + cmd, share);
+        recLog("detectLoop() -- started in a seperate thread.", share);
+        recLog("ffmpeg_run: " + cmd, share);
 
-        system(cmd.c_str());
+        auto retCode = system(cmd.c_str());
+
+        recLog("ffmpeg_retcode: " + to_string(retCode), share);
 
         share->recLoopWait = true;
 
         th2.join();
 
-        wrOutLogs(share);
-
         if (!share->skipCmd)
         {
-            recLog("motion not detected by detect loop.", share);
-            recLog("running post command = " + share->postCmd, share);
-            system(share->postCmd.c_str());
+            recLog("motion not detected by the detection loop.", share);
+
+            if (share->postCmd.empty())
+            {
+                recLog("post command not defined, skipping.", share);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                recLog("running post command = " + share->postCmd, share);
+                system(share->postCmd.c_str());
+            }
         }
         else
         {
-            recLog("motion detected by detect loop, skpping the post command.", share);
+            recLog("motion detected by the detection loop, skipping the post command.", share);
         }
 
         recLog("recLoop() -- finished", share);
-        wrOutLogs(share);
-    }
 
-    share->logRun = false;
+        if (share->retCode != 0)
+        {
+            break;
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
diff --git a/src/web.cpp b/src/web.cpp
index 11fb48c..10809d5 100644
--- a/src/web.cpp
+++ b/src/web.cpp
@@ -45,12 +45,15 @@ void genHTMLul(const string &outputDir, const string &title, shared_t *share)
         {
             logNames.push_back(regName);
         }
-        else if (regName.ends_with(".html") && !regName.ends_with("index.html"))
+        else if (regName.ends_with(".html")              &&
+                !regName.ends_with("index.html")         &&
+                !regName.ends_with("rec_log_lines.html") &&
+                !regName.ends_with("det_log_lines.html"))
         {
             // regName.substr(0, regName.size() - 5) removes .html
             auto name = regName.substr(0, regName.size() - 5);
 
-            htmlText += "<a href='" + regName + "'><img src='" + name + ".jpg" + "' style='width:25%;height:25%;'</a>\n";
+            htmlText += "<a href='" + regName + "'><img src='" + name + ".jpg" + "' style='width:10%;height:10%;'</a>\n";
         }
     }