diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 037a28c..ad0eb2b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,3 +50,16 @@ The UI is customized using [Thymeleaf](https://www.thymeleaf.org/) template file
 
 Several template files that can be customized are found in the following directory: [https://github.com/hapifhir/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-starter/tree/master/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/templates](https://github.com/hapifhir/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-starter/tree/master/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/templates)
 
+# Configuration
+
+Much of this HAPI starter project can be configured using the properties file in *src/main/resources/hapi.properties*. By default, this starter project is configured to use Derby as the database.
+
+## MySql
+
+To configure the starter app to use MySQL, instead of the default Derby, update the hapi.properties file to have the following:
+
+* datasource.driver=com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
+* datasource.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/hapi_dstu3
+* hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5Dialect
+
+It is important to use MySQL5Dialect when using MySQL version 5+.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirServerConfigCommon.java b/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirServerConfigCommon.java
index 5962e70..e128044 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirServerConfigCommon.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirServerConfigCommon.java
@@ -24,25 +24,43 @@ import ca.uhn.fhir.rest.server.interceptor.ResponseHighlighterInterceptor;
 @EnableTransactionManagement()
 public class FhirServerConfigCommon {
 
+	private static final org.slf4j.Logger ourLog = org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger(FhirServerConfigCommon.class);
+
 	/**
 	 * Configure FHIR properties around the the JPA server via this bean
 	 */
 	@Bean()
 	public DaoConfig daoConfig() {
 		DaoConfig retVal = new DaoConfig();
-		retVal.setAllowMultipleDelete(HapiProperties.getAllowMultipleDelete());
-		retVal.setAllowExternalReferences(HapiProperties.getAllowExternalReferences());
-		retVal.setExpungeEnabled(HapiProperties.getExpungeEnabled());
 
+		Boolean allowMultipleDelete = HapiProperties.getAllowMultipleDelete();
+		retVal.setAllowMultipleDelete(allowMultipleDelete);
+		ourLog.info("Server configured to " + (allowMultipleDelete ? "allow" : "deny") + " multiple deletes");
+
+		Boolean allowExternalReferences = HapiProperties.getAllowExternalReferences();
+		retVal.setAllowExternalReferences(allowExternalReferences);
+		ourLog.info("Server configured to " + (allowExternalReferences ? "allow" : "deny") + " external references");
+
+		Boolean expungeEnabled = HapiProperties.getExpungeEnabled();
+		retVal.setExpungeEnabled(expungeEnabled);
+		ourLog.info("Server configured to " + (expungeEnabled ? "enable" : "disable") + " expunges");
+
+		Boolean allowPlaceholderReferences = HapiProperties.getAllowPlaceholderReferences();
+		retVal.setAutoCreatePlaceholderReferenceTargets(allowPlaceholderReferences);
+		ourLog.info("Server configured to " + (allowPlaceholderReferences ? "allow" : "deny") + " placeholder references");
+		
 		// You can enable these if you want to support Subscriptions from your server
-		if (false) {
+		if (HapiProperties.getSubscriptionRestHookEnabled()) {
+			ourLog.info("Enabling REST-hook subscriptions");
 			retVal.addSupportedSubscriptionType(Subscription.SubscriptionChannelType.RESTHOOK);
 		}
-		if (false) {
+
+		if (HapiProperties.getSubscriptionEmailEnabled()) {
+			ourLog.info("Enabling email subscriptions");
 			retVal.addSupportedSubscriptionType(Subscription.SubscriptionChannelType.EMAIL);
 		}
 
-    return retVal;
+    	return retVal;
 	}
 
 	@Bean
diff --git a/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirTesterConfig.java b/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirTesterConfig.java
index 8a99968..f7d8a77 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirTesterConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirTesterConfig.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public class FhirTesterConfig {
 			.addServer()
 				.withId(HapiProperties.getServerId())
 				.withFhirVersion(HapiProperties.getFhirVersion())
-				.withBaseUrl("${serverBase}" + HapiProperties.getServerBase())
+				.withBaseUrl(HapiProperties.getServerAddress())
 				.withName(HapiProperties.getServerName());
 		return retVal;
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/HapiProperties.java b/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/HapiProperties.java
index b47b05d..f4fb68b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/HapiProperties.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/HapiProperties.java
@@ -10,32 +10,36 @@ import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 public class HapiProperties {
-    public static final String SERVER_ADDRESS = "server_address";
-    public static final String DEFAULT_PRETTY_PRINT = "default_pretty_print";
-    public static final String MAX_PAGE_SIZE = "max_page_size";
-    public static final String DEFAULT_PAGE_SIZE = "default_page_size";
-    public static final String LOGGER_NAME = "logger.name";
-    public static final String LOGGER_FORMAT = "logger.format";
-    public static final String ALLOW_EXTERNAL_REFERENCES = "allow_external_references";
-    public static final String ALLOW_MULTIPLE_DELETE = "allow_multiple_delete";
-    public static final String DATASOURCE_PASSWORD = "datasource.password";
-    public static final String DATASOURCE_USERNAME = "datasource.username";
-    public static final String DATASOURCE_URL = "datasource.url";
-    public static final String DATASOURCE_DRIVER = "datasource.driver";
-    public static final String LOGGER_LOG_EXCEPTIONS = "logger.log_exceptions";
-    public static final String LOGGER_ERROR_FORMAT = "logger.error_format";
-    public static final String PERSISTENCE_UNIT_NAME = "persistence_unit_name";
-    public static final String SERVER_BASE = "server.base";
-    public static final String TEST_PORT = "test.port";
-    public static final String SERVER_NAME = "server.name";
-    public static final String SERVER_ID = "server.id";
-    private static final String HAPI_PROPERTIES = "hapi.properties";
+    static final String ALLOW_EXTERNAL_REFERENCES = "allow_external_references";
+    static final String ALLOW_MULTIPLE_DELETE = "allow_multiple_delete";
+    static final String ALLOW_PLACEHOLDER_REFERENCES = "allow_placeholder_references";
+    static final String DATASOURCE_DRIVER = "datasource.driver";
+    static final String DATASOURCE_PASSWORD = "datasource.password";
+    static final String DATASOURCE_URL = "datasource.url";
+    static final String DATASOURCE_USERNAME = "datasource.username";
+    static final String DEFAULT_ENCODING = "default_encoding";
+    static final String DEFAULT_PAGE_SIZE = "default_page_size";
+    static final String DEFAULT_PRETTY_PRINT = "default_pretty_print";
+    static final String ETAG_SUPPORT = "etag_support";
     static final String FHIR_VERSION = "fhir_version";
-    private static final String DEFAULT_ENCODING = "default_encoding";
-    private static final String ETAG_SUPPORT = "etag_support";
+    static final String HAPI_PROPERTIES = "hapi.properties";
+    static final String LOGGER_ERROR_FORMAT = "logger.error_format";
+    static final String LOGGER_FORMAT = "logger.format";
+    static final String LOGGER_LOG_EXCEPTIONS = "logger.log_exceptions";
+    static final String LOGGER_NAME = "logger.name";
+    static final String MAX_PAGE_SIZE = "max_page_size";
+    static final String PERSISTENCE_UNIT_NAME = "persistence_unit_name";
+    static final String SERVER_ADDRESS = "server_address";
+    static final String SERVER_BASE = "server.base";
+    static final String SERVER_ID = "server.id";
+    static final String SERVER_NAME = "server.name";
+    static final String SUBSCRIPTION_EMAIL_ENABLED = "subscription.email.enabled";
+    static final String SUBSCRIPTION_RESTHOOK_ENABLED = "subscription.resthook.enabled";
+    static final String TEST_PORT = "test.port";
+
     private static Properties properties;
 
-    /**
+    /*
      * Force the configuration to be reloaded
      */
     public static void forceReload() {
@@ -219,4 +223,16 @@ public class HapiProperties {
     public static String getServerId() {
         return HapiProperties.getProperty(SERVER_ID, "home");
     }
+
+    public static Boolean getAllowPlaceholderReferences() {
+        return HapiProperties.getBooleanProperty(ALLOW_PLACEHOLDER_REFERENCES, true);
+    }
+
+    public static Boolean getSubscriptionEmailEnabled() {
+        return HapiProperties.getBooleanProperty(SUBSCRIPTION_EMAIL_ENABLED, true);
+    }
+
+    public static Boolean getSubscriptionRestHookEnabled() {
+        return HapiProperties.getBooleanProperty(SUBSCRIPTION_RESTHOOK_ENABLED, true);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/hapi.properties b/src/main/resources/hapi.properties
index df33856..332825e 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/hapi.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/hapi.properties
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ default_page_size=20
 max_page_size=200
 allow_multiple_delete=true
 allow_external_references=true
+allow_placeholder_references=true
 expunge_enabled=true
 persistence_unit_name=HAPI_PU
 logger.name=fhirtest.access
@@ -31,7 +32,8 @@ datasource.password=
 server.name=Local Tester
 server.id=home
 test.port=
-
+subscription.email.enabled=true
+subscription.resthook.enabled=true
 hibernate.dialect=ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.util.DerbyTenSevenHapiFhirDialect
 hibernate.search.model_mapping=ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.search.LuceneSearchMappingFactory
 hibernate.format_sql=false