diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b09dd6197..eff20b494 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 - Better handle images without enough tile layers ([#1648](../../pull/1648))
 - Add users option to config files; have a default config file ([#1649](../../pull/1649))
+- Remove no longer used code; adjust item list slightly ([#1651](../../pull/1651))
 
 ### Bug Fixes
 
diff --git a/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/templates/itemList.pug b/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/templates/itemList.pug
index 7028911d6..66f4b38b1 100644
--- a/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/templates/itemList.pug
+++ b/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/templates/itemList.pug
@@ -1,23 +1,24 @@
 ul.g-item-list.li-item-list(layout_mode=(itemList.layout || {}).mode || '')
   - var colNames = [];
-  li.li-item-list-header
-    if checkboxes
-      span.li-item-list-header
-    for column, colidx in itemList.columns
-      if column.type !== 'image' || hasAnyLargeImage
-        span.li-item-list-header(
-            class=((column.type === 'record' && column.value !== 'controls') || column.type === 'metadata' ? 'sortable' : '') + ' ' + (sort && sort[0].type === column.type && ('' + sort[0].value === '' + column.value) ? sort[0].dir : ''),
-            column_type=column.type, column_value=column.value)
-          if column.title !== undefined
-            - colNames[colidx] = column.title
-          else
-            - colNames[colidx] = `${column.value.substr(0, 1).toUpperCase()}${column.value.substr(1)}`
-          = colNames[colidx]
+  if items.length
+    li.li-item-list-header
+      if checkboxes
+        span.li-item-list-header
+      for column, colidx in itemList.columns
+        if column.type !== 'image' || hasAnyLargeImage
+          span.li-item-list-header(
+              class=((column.type === 'record' && column.value !== 'controls') || column.type === 'metadata' ? 'sortable' : '') + ' ' + (sort && sort[0].type === column.type && ('' + sort[0].value === '' + column.value) ? sort[0].dir : ''),
+              column_type=column.type, column_value=column.value)
+            if column.title !== undefined
+              - colNames[colidx] = column.title
+            else
+              - colNames[colidx] = `${column.value.substr(0, 1).toUpperCase()}${column.value.substr(1)}`
+            = colNames[colidx]
   each item in items
     li.g-item-list-entry(class=(highlightItem && item.id === selectedItemId ? 'g-selected' : ''), public=(isParentPublic ? 'true' : 'false'), style=(itemList.layout || {}).mode == 'grid' ? ('max-width: ' + parseInt((itemList.layout || {})['max-width'] || 250) + 'px') : '')
       if checkboxes
-        span.li-item-list-cell
-          input.g-list-checkbox(type="checkbox", g-item-cid=item.cid)
+        label.li-item-list-cell(for='g-item-cid-' + item.cid)
+          input.g-list-checkbox(type="checkbox", g-item-cid=item.cid, id='g-item-cid-' + item.cid)
       for column, colidx in itemList.columns
         if column.type !== 'image' || hasAnyLargeImage
           -
@@ -86,7 +87,11 @@ ul.g-item-list.li-item-list(layout_mode=(itemList.layout || {}).mode || '')
                     input.input-sm.form-control.g-widget-metadata-value-input.g-widget-metadata-column(placeholder=column.description || "Value", value=value, title=column.description)
               else
                 span.large_image_metadata
-                  = value
+                  if column.format === 'text' && value
+                    //- allow long strings to be hyphenated at periods and underscores
+                    != String(value).replace(/&/g, '&amp;').replace(/</, '&lt;').replace(/>/, '&gt;').replace(/"/, '&quot').replace(/'/, '&#39;').replace(/\./g, '.&shy;').replace(/_/g, '_&shy;')
+                  else
+                    = value
                 if value
                   span.li-item-list-cell-filter(title="Only show items that match this metadata value exactly", filter-value=value, column-value=column.value)
                     i.icon-filter
diff --git a/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/views/configView.js b/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/views/configView.js
index 078315957..9ffffd0b7 100644
--- a/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/views/configView.js
+++ b/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/views/configView.js
@@ -274,6 +274,22 @@ var ConfigView = View.extend({
                 callback(ConfigView._liconfig);
             }
             return val;
+        }).fail(() => {
+            // fallback matching server values
+            const li = {
+                columns: [
+                    {type: 'record', value: 'name', title: 'Name'},
+                    {type: 'record', value: 'controls', title: 'Contols'},
+                    {type: 'record', value: 'size', title: 'Size'}]
+            };
+            const val = {itemList: li, itemListDialog: li};
+            ConfigView._lastliconfig = folderId;
+            ConfigView._liconfigSettingsRequest = null;
+            ConfigView._liconfig = val;
+            if (callback) {
+                callback(ConfigView._liconfig);
+            }
+            return val;
         });
         return ConfigView._liconfigSettingsRequest;
     },
diff --git a/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/views/itemList.js b/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/views/itemList.js
index b1f36788a..4f659dff3 100644
--- a/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/views/itemList.js
+++ b/girder/girder_large_image/web_client/views/itemList.js
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import Backbone from 'backbone';
 
 import {wrap} from '@girder/core/utilities/PluginUtils';
 import {getApiRoot} from '@girder/core/rest';
-import {getCurrentUser} from '@girder/core/auth';
 import {AccessType} from '@girder/core/constants';
 import {formatSize, parseQueryString, splitRoute} from '@girder/core/misc';
 import HierarchyWidget from '@girder/core/views/widgets/HierarchyWidget';
@@ -73,16 +72,19 @@ wrap(ItemListWidget, 'initialize', function (initialize, settings) {
                 };
             });
             update = true;
+        } else if (this._confList() && this._confList().defaultSort && this._confList().defaultSort.length) {
+            this._lastSort = this._confList().defaultSort;
         }
         if (query.filter || this._recurse) {
             this._generalFilter = query.filter;
-            this._setFilter();
+            this._setFilter(false);
             update = true;
         }
         if (update) {
             this._setSort();
+        } else {
+            this.render();
         }
-        this.render();
     });
     this.events['click .li-item-list-header.sortable'] = (evt) => sortColumn.call(this, evt);
     this.events['click .li-item-list-cell-filter'] = (evt) => itemListCellFilter.call(this, evt);
@@ -129,55 +131,6 @@ wrap(ItemListWidget, 'render', function (render) {
         }
     }
 
-    function addLargeImageDetails(item, container, parent, extraInfo) {
-        var elem;
-        elem = $('<div class="large_image_thumbnail"/>');
-        elem.attr('g-item-cid', item.cid);
-        container.append(elem);
-        /* We store the desired src attribute in deferred-src until we actually
-         * load the image. */
-        elem.append($('<img class="waiting"/>').attr(
-            'deferred-src', getApiRoot() + '/item/' +
-                item.id + '/tiles/thumbnail?width=160&height=100'));
-        var access = item.getAccessLevel();
-        var extra = extraInfo[access] || extraInfo[AccessType.READ] || {};
-        if (!getCurrentUser()) {
-            extra = extraInfo.null || {};
-        }
-
-        /* Set the maximum number of columns we have so that we can let css
-         * perform alignment. */
-        var numColumns = Math.max((extra.images || []).length + 1, parent.attr('large_image_columns') || 0);
-        parent.attr('large_image_columns', numColumns);
-
-        _.each(extra.images || [], function (imageName) {
-            elem = $('<div class="large_image_thumbnail"/>');
-            container.append(elem);
-            elem.append($('<img class="waiting"/>').attr(
-                'deferred-src', getApiRoot() + '/item/' + item.id +
-                '/tiles/images/' + imageName + '?width=160&height=100&_=' + item.get('updated')
-            ));
-            elem.attr('extra-image', imageName);
-        });
-
-        $('.large_image_thumbnail', container).each(function () {
-            var elem = $(this);
-            /* Handle images loading or failing. */
-            $('img', elem).one('error', function () {
-                $('img', elem).addClass('failed-to-load');
-                $('img', elem).removeClass('loading waiting');
-                elem.addClass('failed-to-load');
-                _loadMoreImages(parent);
-            });
-            $('img', elem).one('load', function () {
-                $('img', elem).addClass('loaded');
-                $('img', elem).removeClass('loading waiting');
-                _loadMoreImages(parent);
-            });
-        });
-        _loadMoreImages(parent);
-    }
-
     this._confList = () => {
         return this._liconfig ? (this.$el.closest('.modal-dialog').length ? this._liconfig.itemListDialog : this._liconfig.itemList) : undefined;
     };
@@ -234,7 +187,7 @@ wrap(ItemListWidget, 'render', function (render) {
         return val;
     };
 
-    this._setFilter = () => {
+    this._setFilter = (update) => {
         const val = this._generalFilter;
         let filter;
         const usedPhrases = {};
@@ -340,7 +293,9 @@ wrap(ItemListWidget, 'render', function (render) {
             this._filter = filter;
             this.collection.params = this.collection.params || {};
             this.collection.params.text = this._filter;
-            this._setSort();
+            if (update !== false) {
+                this._setSort();
+            }
         }
     };
 
@@ -431,7 +386,6 @@ wrap(ItemListWidget, 'render', function (render) {
 
     largeImageConfig.getSettings((settings) => {
         var items = this.collection.toArray();
-        var parent = this.$el;
         this._hasAnyLargeImage = !!_.some(items, function (item) {
             return item.has('largeImage');
         });
@@ -442,29 +396,6 @@ wrap(ItemListWidget, 'render', function (render) {
         if (this._recurse && !((this.collection || {}).params || {}).text) {
             this._setFilter();
             this.render();
-            return;
-        }
-        render.call(this);
-        if (settings['large_image.show_thumbnails'] === false ||
-                this.$('.large_image_container').length > 0) {
-            return this;
-        }
-        if (this._hasAnyLargeImage) {
-            if (!this._confList()) {
-                _.each(items, (item) => {
-                    var elem = $('<div class="large_image_container"/>');
-                    if (item.get('largeImage')) {
-                        item.getAccessLevel(() => {
-                            if (!this._confList()) {
-                                addLargeImageDetails(item, elem, parent, settings.extraInfo);
-                            }
-                        });
-                    }
-                    var inner = $('<span>').html($('a[g-item-cid="' + item.cid + '"]').html());
-                    $('a[g-item-cid="' + item.cid + '"]', parent).first().empty().append(elem, inner);
-                    _loadMoreImages(parent);
-                });
-            }
         }
         return this;
     });