diff --git a/routes/api.js b/routes/api.js
index d1c038c..6fba983 100644
--- a/routes/api.js
+++ b/routes/api.js
@@ -1,20 +1,9 @@
 const routes = require('express').Router();
-
-
 const got = require("got");
-
-
-const GITHUB_API = "https://api.github.com";
-
-
-const configLoader = require('../configManager');
-
-const authenticate = "client_id=" + configLoader.getClientID() +
-    "&client_secret=" + configLoader.getClientSecret();
-
-
-//caching program to make the application run faster
 const cache = require('memory-cache');
+const dotenv = require("dotenv").config();
+const GITHUB_API = "https://api.github.com";
+const authenticate = `client_id=${process.env.CLIENT_ID}&client_secret=${process.env.CLIENT_SECRET}`;
 
 
 function queryGitHubAPI(requestURL)
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 0dc6057..b99e1e7 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -1,30 +1,21 @@
-/** express app for routing */
 const express = require("express");
-
-/**session data for login and storing preferences*/
 const session = require('express-session');
-
-const configLoader = require('./configManager.js');
-
-
+const dotenv = require("dotenv").config();
 const app = express();
 
-/**Initializes sessions for login */
-app.use(session(
-    { secret: configLoader.getSessionSecret(),
-        cookie: { maxAge: 6000000 }}
-));
-
-
-app.use(express.urlencoded()); //for easy retrieval of post and get data
+const sessionProperties = {
+    secret: process.env.SESSION_SECRET, 
+    cookie: { maxAge: 6000000 },
+    resave: false,
+    saveUninitialized: false
+};
+app.use(session(sessionProperties));
+app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
 app.use(express.json());
-
 app.use(express.static('public'));
 
 const routes = require('./routes');
 app.use('/', routes);
 
 
-app.listen(configLoader.getConfiguration().port, () =>
-    console.log(`App listening on port ${configLoader.getPort()}!`)
-);
\ No newline at end of file
+app.listen(process.env.PORT, () => console.log(`App listening on port ${process.env.PORT}!`));
\ No newline at end of file