diff --git a/www/admin/class_test.php b/www/admin/class_test.php
index 5f10ae75..c027498f 100644
--- a/www/admin/class_test.php
+++ b/www/admin/class_test.php
@@ -145,9 +145,7 @@ print "BASE: " . BASE . "<br>";
 print "ROOT: " . ROOT . "<br>";
 print "HOST: " . HOST_NAME . " => DB HOST: " . DB_CONFIG_NAME . " => " . print_r(DB_CONFIG, true) . "<br>";
 
-$ds = defined('DS') ? DS : DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
-$du = DS ?? DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
-print "DS is: " . $ds . "<br>";
+print "DS is: " . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . "<br>";
 print "SERVER HOST: " . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . "<br>";
 
 // print error messages
diff --git a/www/configs/config.master.php b/www/configs/config.master.php
index d25471ed..d91e0470 100644
--- a/www/configs/config.master.php
+++ b/www/configs/config.master.php
@@ -11,72 +11,72 @@
 declare(strict_types=1);
 
 /************* PATHS *********************/
-// directory seperator
+// [DEPRECATED] directory seperator
 define('DS', DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // ** NEW/BETTER DIR DECLARATIONS **
 // path to original file (if symlink)
-define('DIR', __DIR__ . DS);
+define('DIR', __DIR__ . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // base dir root folder level
-define('BASE', str_replace('/configs', '', __DIR__) . DS);
+define('BASE', str_replace('/configs', '', __DIR__) . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 
 // ** OLD DIR DECLARATIONS **
 // path to document root of file called
-define('ROOT', getcwd() . DS);
+define('ROOT', getcwd() . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // libs path
-define('LIB', 'lib' . DS);
-define('LIBS', 'lib' . DS);
+define('LIB', 'lib' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
+define('LIBS', 'lib' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // configs folder
-define('CONFIGS', 'configs' . DS);
+define('CONFIGS', 'configs' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // includes (strings, arrays for static, etc)
-define('INCLUDES', 'includes' . DS);
+define('INCLUDES', 'includes' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // data folder (mostly in includes, or root for internal data)
-define('DATA', 'data' . DS);
+define('DATA', 'data' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // layout base path
-define('LAYOUT', 'layout' . DS);
+define('LAYOUT', 'layout' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // pic-root (compatible to CMS)
-define('PICTURES', 'images' . DS);
+define('PICTURES', 'images' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // images
-define('IMAGES', 'images' . DS);
+define('IMAGES', 'images' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // icons (below the images/ folder)
-define('ICONS', 'icons' . DS);
+define('ICONS', 'icons' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // media (accessable from outside)
-define('MEDIA', 'media' . DS);
+define('MEDIA', 'media' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // uploads (anything to keep or data)
-define('UPLOADS', 'uploads' . DS);
+define('UPLOADS', 'uploads' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // files (binaries) (below media or data)
-define('BINARIES', 'binaries' . DS);
+define('BINARIES', 'binaries' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // files (videos) (below media or data)
-define('VIDEOS', 'videos' . DS);
+define('VIDEOS', 'videos' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // files (documents) (below media or data)
-define('DOCUMENTS', 'documents' . DS);
+define('DOCUMENTS', 'documents' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // files (pdfs) (below media or data)
-define('PDFS', 'documents' . DS);
+define('PDFS', 'documents' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // files (general) (below media or data)
-define('FILES', 'files' . DS);
+define('FILES', 'files' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // CSV
-define('CSV', 'csv' . DS);
+define('CSV', 'csv' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // css
-define('CSS', 'css' . DS);
+define('CSS', 'css' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // font (web)
-define('FONT', 'font' . DS);
+define('FONT', 'font' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // js
-define('JS', 'javascript' . DS);
+define('JS', 'javascript' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // table arrays
-define('TABLE_ARRAYS', 'table_arrays' . DS);
+define('TABLE_ARRAYS', 'table_arrays' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // smarty libs path
-define('SMARTY', 'Smarty' . DS);
+define('SMARTY', 'Smarty' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // po langs
-define('LANG', 'lang' . DS);
+define('LANG', 'lang' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // cache path
-define('CACHE', 'cache' . DS);
+define('CACHE', 'cache' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // temp path
-define('TMP', 'tmp' . DS);
+define('TMP', 'tmp' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // log files
-define('LOG', 'log' . DS);
+define('LOG', 'log' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // compiled template folder
-define('TEMPLATES_C', 'templates_c' . DS);
+define('TEMPLATES_C', 'templates_c' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // template base
-define('TEMPLATES', 'templates' . DS);
+define('TEMPLATES', 'templates' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 
 /************* HASH / ACL DEFAULT / ERROR SETTINGS / SMARTY *************/
 // default hash type
diff --git a/www/configs/config.other.php b/www/configs/config.other.php
index 37a4bd11..4930b398 100644
--- a/www/configs/config.other.php
+++ b/www/configs/config.other.php
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ $paths = [
 ];
 // find convert
 foreach ($paths as $path) {
-	if (file_exists($path . DS . 'convert') && is_file($path . DS . 'convert')) {
+	if (file_exists($path . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'convert') && is_file($path . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'convert')) {
 		// image magick convert location
-		define('CONVERT', $path . DS . 'convert');
+		define('CONVERT', $path . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'convert');
 		break;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/www/configs/config.php b/www/configs/config.php
index f51f822f..62fe0cd1 100644
--- a/www/configs/config.php
+++ b/www/configs/config.php
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ for ($dir_pos = 0, $dir_max = count(explode(DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, __DIR__)); $dir
 		break;
 	}
 }
-// fail if no base DS is not set
-if (!defined('DS')) {
+// fail if no base DIR is not set
+if (!defined('DIR')) {
 	exit('Base config unloadable');
 }
 // find trigger name "admin/" or "frontend/" in the getcwd() folder
diff --git a/www/lib/CoreLibs/Template/SmartyExtend.php b/www/lib/CoreLibs/Template/SmartyExtend.php
index fd363ca5..3401891f 100644
--- a/www/lib/CoreLibs/Template/SmartyExtend.php
+++ b/www/lib/CoreLibs/Template/SmartyExtend.php
@@ -330,13 +330,13 @@ class SmartyExtend extends SmartyBC
 		// check if template names exist
 		if (!$this->MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME) {
 			exit('MASTER TEMPLATE is not set');
-		} elseif (!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DS . $this->MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME)) {
+		} elseif (!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $this->MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME)) {
 			// abort if master template could not be found
 			exit('MASTER TEMPLATE: ' . $this->MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME . ' could not be found');
 		}
 		if (
 			$this->TEMPLATE_NAME &&
-			!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DS . $this->TEMPLATE_NAME)
+			!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $this->TEMPLATE_NAME)
 		) {
 			exit('INCLUDE TEMPLATE: ' . $this->TEMPLATE_NAME . ' could not be found');
 		}
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ class SmartyExtend extends SmartyBC
 			}
 		}
 		// if we can't find it, dump it
-		if (!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DS . $this->TEMPLATE_TRANSLATE)) {
+		if (!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $this->TEMPLATE_TRANSLATE)) {
 			$this->TEMPLATE_TRANSLATE = null;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/www/lib/CoreLibs/Template/SmartyExtend4.php b/www/lib/CoreLibs/Template/SmartyExtend4.php
index 2b4136de..96514838 100644
--- a/www/lib/CoreLibs/Template/SmartyExtend4.php
+++ b/www/lib/CoreLibs/Template/SmartyExtend4.php
@@ -327,13 +327,13 @@ class SmartyExtend4 extends Smarty
 		// check if template names exist
 		if (!$this->MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME) {
 			exit('MASTER TEMPLATE is not set');
-		} elseif (!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DS . $this->MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME)) {
+		} elseif (!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $this->MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME)) {
 			// abort if master template could not be found
 			exit('MASTER TEMPLATE: ' . $this->MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME . ' could not be found');
 		}
 		if (
 			$this->TEMPLATE_NAME &&
-			!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DS . $this->TEMPLATE_NAME)
+			!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $this->TEMPLATE_NAME)
 		) {
 			exit('INCLUDE TEMPLATE: ' . $this->TEMPLATE_NAME . ' could not be found');
 		}
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ class SmartyExtend4 extends Smarty
 			}
 		}
 		// if we can't find it, dump it
-		if (!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DS . $this->TEMPLATE_TRANSLATE)) {
+		if (!file_exists($this->getTemplateDir()[0] . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $this->TEMPLATE_TRANSLATE)) {
 			$this->TEMPLATE_TRANSLATE = null;
 		}
 	}