diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index dd606ef4..35a8acbc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,5 @@ vendor/
 tools/
 www/composer.lock
 www/vendor
+**/.env
+**/.target
diff --git a/4dev/tests/ACL/CoreLibsACLLoginTest.php b/4dev/tests/ACL/CoreLibsACLLoginTest.php
index e6abe067..1062bb60 100644
--- a/4dev/tests/ACL/CoreLibsACLLoginTest.php
+++ b/4dev/tests/ACL/CoreLibsACLLoginTest.php
@@ -152,7 +152,6 @@ final class CoreLibsACLLoginTest extends TestCase
 		// TARGET
 		define('TARGET', 'test');
 		// LOGIN DB SCHEMA
-		// define('LOGIN_DB_SCHEMA', '');
 
 		// SHOULD SET
 		// DEFAULT_ACL_LEVEL (d80)
diff --git a/www/configs/.target.example b/www/configs/.target.example
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..62f4277b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/www/configs/.target.example
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# target can be live, stage, test, dev
+# this overrides the SITE set "location" entry
+TARGET=
diff --git a/www/configs/config.master.php b/www/configs/config.master.php
index da221c9b..9d5dbfa4 100644
--- a/www/configs/config.master.php
+++ b/www/configs/config.master.php
@@ -78,42 +78,11 @@ define('TEMPLATES_C', 'templates_c' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 // template base
 define('TEMPLATES', 'templates' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 
-/************* HASH / ACL DEFAULT / ERROR SETTINGS / SMARTY *************/
+/************* HASH / ACL DEFAULT *************/
 // default hash type
 define('DEFAULT_HASH', 'sha256');
 // default acl level
-define('DEFAULT_ACL_LEVEL', 80);
-// SSL host name
-// define('SSL_HOST', $_ENV['SSL_HOST'] ?? '');
-// error page strictness, Default is 3
-// 1: only show error page as the last mesure if really no mid & aid can be loaded and found at all
-// 2: if template not found, do not search, show error template
-// 3: if default template is not found, show error template, do not fall back to default tree
-// 4: very strict, even on normal fixable errors through error
-// define('ERROR_STRICT', 3);
-// allow page caching in general, set to 'false' if you do debugging or development!
-// define('ALLOW_SMARTY_CACHE', false);
-// cache life time, in second', default here is 2 days (172800s)
-// -1 is never expire cache
-// define('SMARTY_CACHE_LIFETIME', -1);
-
-/************* LOGOUT ********************/
-// logout target
-define('LOGOUT_TARGET', '');
-
-/************* AJAX / ACCESS *************/
-// ajax request type
-define('AJAX_REQUEST_TYPE', 'POST');
-// what AJAX type to use
-define('USE_PROTOTYPE', false);
-define('USE_SCRIPTACULOUS', false);
-define('USE_JQUERY', true);
-
-/************* LAYOUT WIDTHS *************/
-define('PAGE_WIDTH', '100%');
-define('CONTENT_WIDTH', '100%');
-// the default template name
-define('MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME', 'main_body.tpl');
+define('DEFAULT_ACL_LEVEL', $ENV['DEFAULT_ACL_LEVEL'] ?? 80);
 
 /************* OVERALL CONTROL NAMES *************/
 // BELOW has HAS to be changed
@@ -136,24 +105,15 @@ define('COMPILE_ID', 'COMPILE_' . BASE_NAME . '_' . SERVER_NAME_HASH);
 
 /************* LANGUAGE / ENCODING *******/
 // default lang + encoding
-define('DEFAULT_LOCALE', 'en_US.UTF-8');
+define('DEFAULT_LOCALE', $_ENV['LOCALE'] ?? 'en_US.UTF-8');
 // default web page encoding setting
-define('DEFAULT_ENCODING', 'UTF-8');
+define('DEFAULT_ENCODING', array_pad(explode('.', DEFAULT_LOCALE, 2), 2, 'UTF-8'));
 
-/************* QUEUE TABLE *************/
-// if we have a dev/live system
-// set_live is a per page/per item
-// live_queue is a global queue system
-// define('QUEUE', 'live_queue');
-
-/************* DB PATHS (PostgreSQL) *****************/
-// schema names, can also be defined per <DB INFO>
-define('PUBLIC_SCHEMA', 'public');
-define('DEV_SCHEMA', 'public');
-define('TEST_SCHEMA', 'public');
-define('LIVE_SCHEMA', 'public');
-define('GLOBAL_DB_SCHEMA', '');
-define('LOGIN_DB_SCHEMA', '');
+/************* HOST NAME *****************/
+// get the name without the port
+list($HOST_NAME) = array_pad(explode(':', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'], 2), 2, null);
+// set HOST name
+define('HOST_NAME', $HOST_NAME);
 
 /************* CORE HOST SETTINGS *****************/
 if (file_exists(BASE . CONFIGS . 'config.host.php')) {
@@ -162,6 +122,14 @@ if (file_exists(BASE . CONFIGS . 'config.host.php')) {
 if (!isset($SITE_CONFIG)) {
 	$SITE_CONFIG = [];
 }
+// BAIL ON MISSING MASTER SITE CONFIG
+if (!isset($SITE_CONFIG[HOST_NAME]['location'])) {
+	throw new \InvalidArgumentException(
+		'Missing SITE_CONFIG entry for: "' . HOST_NAME . '". Contact Administrator'
+	);
+}
+// set target first
+define('TARGET', $_ENV['TARGET'] ?? $SITE_CONFIG[HOST_NAME]['location'] ?? 'test');
 /************* DB ACCESS *****************/
 if (file_exists(BASE . CONFIGS . 'config.db.php')) {
 	require BASE . CONFIGS . 'config.db.php';
@@ -175,18 +143,6 @@ if (file_exists(BASE . CONFIGS . 'config.path.php')) {
 }
 
 /************* MASTER INIT *****************/
-// live frontend pages
-// ** missing live domains **
-// get the name without the port
-[$HOST_NAME] = array_pad(explode(':', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'], 2), 2, null);
-// set HOST name
-define('HOST_NAME', $HOST_NAME);
-// BAIL ON MISSING MASTER SITE CONFIG
-if (!isset($SITE_CONFIG[HOST_NAME]['location'])) {
-	throw new \InvalidArgumentException(
-		'Missing SITE_CONFIG entry for: "' . HOST_NAME . '". Contact Administrator'
-	);
-}
 // BAIL ON MISSING DB CONFIG:
 // we have either no db selction for this host but have db config entries
 // or we have a db selection but no db config as array or empty
@@ -237,35 +193,31 @@ define('DB_CONFIG', $DB_CONFIG[DB_CONFIG_NAME] ?? [
 ]);
 // because we can't change constant, but we want to for db debug flag
 $GLOBALS['DB_CONFIG_SET'] = DB_CONFIG;
-// define('DB_CONFIG_TARGET', SITE_CONFIG[$HOST_NAME]['db_host_target']);
-// define('DB_CONFIG_OTHER', SITE_CONFIG[$HOST_NAME]['db_host_other']);
-// override for login and global schemas
-// where the edit* tables are
-// define('LOGIN_DB_SCHEMA', PUBLIC_SCHEMA);
-// where global tables are that are used by all schemas (eg queue tables for online, etc)
-// define('GLOBAL_DB_SCHEMA', PUBLIC_SCHEMA);
 // debug settings, site lang, etc
-define('TARGET', $SITE_CONFIG[HOST_NAME]['location'] ?? 'test');
 define('DEBUG_LEVEL', $SITE_CONFIG[HOST_NAME]['debug_level'] ?? 'debug');
 define('SITE_LOCALE', $SITE_CONFIG[HOST_NAME]['site_locale'] ?? DEFAULT_LOCALE);
 define('SITE_DOMAIN', str_replace(DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, '', CONTENT_PATH));
 define('SITE_ENCODING', $SITE_CONFIG[HOST_NAME]['site_encoding'] ?? DEFAULT_ENCODING);
 define('LOGIN_ENABLED', $SITE_CONFIG[HOST_NAME]['login_enabled'] ?? false);
 define('AUTH', $SITE_CONFIG[HOST_NAME]['auth'] ?? false);
-// paths
-// define('CSV_PATH', $PATHS[TARGET]['csv_path'] ?? '');
-// define('EXPORT_SCRIPT', $PATHS[TARGET]['perl_bin'] ?? '');
-// define('REDIRECT_URL', $PATHS[TARGET]['redirect_url'] ?? '');
 
+// NOTE: everything below is smarty related and should be removed from here
 /************* GENERAL PAGE TITLE ********/
 define('G_TITLE', $_ENV['G_TITLE'] ?? '');
-
+/************* LAYOUT WIDTHS *************/
+define('PAGE_WIDTH', $_ENV['SMARTY.PAGE_WIDTH'] ?? '100%');
+define('CONTENT_WIDTH', $_ENV['SMARTY.CONTENT_WIDTH'] ?? '100%');
+// the default template name
+define('MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME', $_ENV['MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME'] ?? 'main_body.tpl');
+/************* JS LIBRARIES *************/
+define('USE_PROTOTYPE', false);
+define('USE_SCRIPTACULOUS', false);
+define('USE_JQUERY', true);
 /************ STYLE SHEETS / JS **********/
-define('ADMIN_STYLESHEET', 'edit.css');
-define('ADMIN_JAVASCRIPT', 'edit.js');
+define('ADMIN_STYLESHEET', $_ENV['ADMIN.STYLESHEET'] ?? 'edit.css');
+define('ADMIN_JAVASCRIPT', $_ENV['ADMIN.JAVASCRIPT'] ?? 'edit.js');
 define('STYLESHEET', $_ENV['STYLESHEET'] ?? 'frontend.css');
 define('JAVASCRIPT', $_ENV['JAVASCRIPT'] ?? 'frontend.js');
-
 // anything optional
 /************* INTERNAL ******************/
 // any other global definitons in the config.other.php
diff --git a/www/configs/config.other.php b/www/configs/config.other.php
index 3a02357d..f9f0320f 100644
--- a/www/configs/config.other.php
+++ b/www/configs/config.other.php
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@ define('EDIT_BASE_STYLESHEET', 'edit.css');
 
 // define('SOME_ID', <SOME VALUE>);
 
+/************* QUEUE TABLE *************/
+// if we have a dev/live system
+// set_live is a per page/per item
+// live_queue is a global queue system
+// define('QUEUE', 'live_queue');
+
 /************* CONVERT *******************/
 // this only needed if the external thumbnail create is used
 $paths = [
diff --git a/www/configs/config.path.php b/www/configs/config.path.php
index 69a78d00..c3f6cb84 100644
--- a/www/configs/config.path.php
+++ b/www/configs/config.path.php
@@ -35,4 +35,9 @@ define('CONTENT_PATH', $folder . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
 	],
 ];*/
 
+// paths
+// define('CSV_PATH', $PATHS[TARGET]['csv_path'] ?? '');
+// define('EXPORT_SCRIPT', $PATHS[TARGET]['perl_bin'] ?? '');
+// define('REDIRECT_URL', $PATHS[TARGET]['redirect_url'] ?? '');
+
 // __END__
diff --git a/www/configs/config.php b/www/configs/config.php
index 9f884b73..9358099f 100644
--- a/www/configs/config.php
+++ b/www/configs/config.php
@@ -53,6 +53,11 @@ for (
 		\gullevek\dotEnv\DotEnv::readEnvFile(
 			$__DIR__PATH . $CONFIG_PATH_PREFIX . CONFIG_PATH
 		);
+		// load target file if it exists
+		\gullevek\dotEnv\DotEnv::readEnvFile(
+			$__DIR__PATH . $CONFIG_PATH_PREFIX . CONFIG_PATH,
+			'.target'
+		);
 		// load master config file that loads all other config files
 		require $__DIR__PATH . $CONFIG_PATH_PREFIX . CONFIG_PATH . 'config.master.php';
 		break;
diff --git a/www/lib/CoreLibs/ACL/Login.php b/www/lib/CoreLibs/ACL/Login.php
index 890119ff..205bd49f 100644
--- a/www/lib/CoreLibs/ACL/Login.php
+++ b/www/lib/CoreLibs/ACL/Login.php
@@ -423,14 +423,9 @@ class Login
 
 		// LOGOUT TARGET
 		if (!isset($options['logout_target'])) {
-			if (defined('LOGOUT_TARGET')) {
-				trigger_error(
-					'loginMainCall: LOGOUT_TARGET should not be used',
-					E_USER_DEPRECATED
-				);
-				$options['logout_target'] = LOGOUT_TARGET;
-				$this->logout_target = $options['logout_target'];
-			}
+			// defaults to ''
+			$options['logout_target'] = '';
+			$this->logout_target = $options['logout_target'];
 		}
 
 		// *** PASSWORD SETTINGS
diff --git a/www/lib/CoreLibs/Basic.php b/www/lib/CoreLibs/Basic.php
index db57672a..c259bd79 100644
--- a/www/lib/CoreLibs/Basic.php
+++ b/www/lib/CoreLibs/Basic.php
@@ -103,11 +103,7 @@ class Basic
 				'VIDEOS', 'DOCUMENTS', 'PDFS', 'BINARIES', 'ICONS', 'UPLOADS', 'CSV', 'JS',
 				'CSS', 'TABLE_ARRAYS', 'SMARTY', 'LANG', 'CACHE', 'TMP', 'LOG', 'TEMPLATES',
 				'TEMPLATES_C', 'DEFAULT_LANG', 'DEFAULT_ENCODING', 'DEFAULT_HASH',
-				'DEFAULT_ACL_LEVEL', 'LOGOUT_TARGET', 'PASSWORD_CHANGE', 'AJAX_REQUEST_TYPE',
-				'USE_PROTOTYPE', 'USE_SCRIPTACULOUS', 'USE_JQUERY', 'PAGE_WIDTH',
-				'MASTER_TEMPLATE_NAME', 'PUBLIC_SCHEMA', 'TEST_SCHEMA', 'DEV_SCHEMA',
-				'LIVE_SCHEMA', 'DB_CONFIG_NAME', 'DB_CONFIG', 'TARGET', 'DEBUG',
-				'SHOW_ALL_ERRORS'
+				'DB_CONFIG_NAME', 'DB_CONFIG', 'TARGET'
 			] as $constant
 		) {
 			if (!defined($constant)) {
diff --git a/www/lib/CoreLibs/Language/GetLocale.php b/www/lib/CoreLibs/Language/GetLocale.php
index d0e6f9e1..bedcea05 100644
--- a/www/lib/CoreLibs/Language/GetLocale.php
+++ b/www/lib/CoreLibs/Language/GetLocale.php
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ class GetLocale
 				$locale = defined('SITE_LOCALE') && !empty(SITE_LOCALE) ?
 					SITE_LOCALE :
 					// else parse from default, if not 'en'
-					/** @phpstan-ignore-next-line DEFAULT_LOCALE could be empty */
 					(defined('DEFAULT_LOCALE') && !empty(DEFAULT_LOCALE) ?
 						DEFAULT_LOCALE : 'en');
 			}
@@ -97,7 +96,6 @@ class GetLocale
 				$encoding = defined('SITE_ENCODING') && !empty(SITE_ENCODING) ?
 					SITE_ENCODING :
 					// or default encoding, if not 'UTF-8'
-					/** @phpstan-ignore-next-line DEFAULT_LOCALE could be empty */
 					(defined('DEFAULT_ENCODING') && !empty(DEFAULT_ENCODING) ?
 						DEFAULT_ENCODING : 'UTF-8');
 			}