diff --git a/src/coffee/controllers/item_page_controller.coffee b/src/coffee/controllers/item_page_controller.coffee
index 4a113236c..f6911da44 100644
--- a/src/coffee/controllers/item_page_controller.coffee
+++ b/src/coffee/controllers/item_page_controller.coffee
@@ -5,19 +5,20 @@ Copyright (c) 2015 by Redwood Labs
 All rights reserved.
 ###
 
-AdsenseController    = require './adsense_controller'
-FullRecipeController = require './full_recipe_controller'
-ImageLoader          = require './image_loader'
-Item                 = require '../models/item'
-ItemGroupController  = require './item_group_controller'
-ItemPage             = require '../models/item_page'
-ItemSlug             = require '../models/item_slug'
-PageController       = require './page_controller'
-VideoController      = require './video_controller'
-{Duration}           = require '../constants'
-{Event}              = require '../constants'
-{Text}               = require '../constants'
-{Url}                = require '../constants'
+AdsenseController         = require './adsense_controller'
+FullRecipeController      = require './full_recipe_controller'
+ImageLoader               = require './image_loader'
+Item                      = require '../models/item'
+ItemGroupController       = require './item_group_controller'
+ItemPage                  = require '../models/item_page'
+ItemSlug                  = require '../models/item_slug'
+MarkdownSectionController = require './markdown_section_controller'
+PageController            = require './page_controller'
+VideoController           = require './video_controller'
+{Duration}                = require '../constants'
+{Event}                   = require '../constants'
+{Text}                    = require '../constants'
+{Url}                     = require '../constants'
 
 ########################################################################################################################
 
@@ -57,13 +58,13 @@ module.exports = class ItemPageController extends PageController
         @adsenseController = @addChild AdsenseController, '.view__adsense', model:'sidebar_skyscraper'
 
         options                      = imageLoader:@imageLoader, modPack:@modPack, show:false
+        @_descriptionController      = @addChild MarkdownSectionController, '.section.description', options
         @_similarItemsController     = @addChild ItemGroupController, '.view__item_group.similar', options
         @_usedAsToolToMakeController = @addChild ItemGroupController, '.view__item_group.usedAsToolToMake', options
         @_usedToMakeController       = @addChild ItemGroupController, '.view__item_group.usedToMake', options
 
         @$byline                  = @$('.byline')
         @$bylineLink              = @$('.byline a')
-        @$descriptionPanel        = @$('.description .panel')
         @$descriptionSection      = @$('.description')
         @$name                    = @$('h1.name')
         @$officialPageLink        = @$('a.officialPage')
@@ -129,9 +130,8 @@ module.exports = class ItemPageController extends PageController
             @hide @$byline
 
     _refreshDescription: ->
-        description = @model.compileDescription()
-        if description?
-            @$descriptionPanel.html description
+        if @model.item?.description?.length > 0
+            @_descriptionController.model = @model.item.description
             @show @$descriptionSection
         else
             @hide @$descriptionSection
diff --git a/src/coffee/controllers/markdown_section_controller.coffee b/src/coffee/controllers/markdown_section_controller.coffee
index 6c98ac88a..6e2423deb 100644
--- a/src/coffee/controllers/markdown_section_controller.coffee
+++ b/src/coffee/controllers/markdown_section_controller.coffee
@@ -48,13 +48,14 @@ module.exports = class MarkdownSectionController extends BaseController
         return '' unless @model
 
         tree = markdown.parse @model, 'Maruku'
-        refs = tree[1].references
 
         findLinkRefs = (node)=>
+            logger.verbose "inspecting a #{node[0]}"
             if node[0] is 'link_ref'
-                name = node[2]
+                logger.verbose "looking for item named: #{node[2]}"
                 item = @modPack.findItemByName node[2]
                 if item?
+                    logger.verbose "found item #{item.slug}, updating link"
                     node[0] = 'link'
                     node[1].href = Url.item itemSlug:item.slug.item, modSlug:item.slug.mod
                     delete node[1].ref
@@ -65,7 +66,9 @@ module.exports = class MarkdownSectionController extends BaseController
                             findLinkRefs node[index]
                             logger.outdent()
 
+        logger.verbose "replacing wiki-style links"
         findLinkRefs tree
+        logger.verbose "finished"
 
         html = markdown.renderJsonML markdown.toHTMLTree tree
         return html
diff --git a/src/coffee/models/item_page.coffee b/src/coffee/models/item_page.coffee
index 285941c29..98b24db1a 100644
--- a/src/coffee/models/item_page.coffee
+++ b/src/coffee/models/item_page.coffee
@@ -21,33 +21,6 @@ module.exports = class ItemPage extends BaseModel
 
     # Property Methods #############################################################################
 
-    compileDescription: ->
-        return null unless @item?.description?
-
-        tree = markdown.parse @item.description, 'Maruku'
-        refs = tree[1].references
-
-        findLinkRefs = (node)=>
-            if node[0] is 'link_ref'
-                name = node[2]
-                item = @modPack.findItemByName node[2]
-                if item?
-                    node[0] = 'link'
-                    node[1].href = Url.item itemSlug:item.slug.item, modSlug:item.slug.mod
-                    delete node[1].ref
-            else
-                for index in [1...node.length]
-                    if _.isArray node[index]
-                        for child in node[index]
-                            logger.indent()
-                            findLinkRefs child
-                            logger.outdent()
-
-        findLinkRefs tree
-
-        html = markdown.renderJsonML markdown.toHTMLTree tree
-        return html
-
     findComponentInItems: ->
         return @_findRecipesMatching (recipe)=> recipe.requires @item.slug