diff --git a/django_cas/backends.py b/django_cas/backends.py
index 14ff3a3..7d430b9 100644
--- a/django_cas/backends.py
+++ b/django_cas/backends.py
@@ -131,7 +131,8 @@ def authenticate(self, ticket, service):
         if not username:
             return None
 
-        user, created = User.objects.get_or_create(username=username)
+        user, created = self.get_or_create_user(username,
+            authentication_response)
         if created:
             user.set_unusable_password()
 
@@ -141,6 +142,9 @@ def authenticate(self, ticket, service):
         user.save()
         return user
 
+    def get_or_create_user(self, cas_username, authentication_response):
+        return User.objects.get_or_create(username=cas_username)
+
     def get_user(self, user_id):
         """Retrieve the user's entry in the User model if it exists"""
 
diff --git a/django_cas/views.py b/django_cas/views.py
index 170ded7..11633d0 100644
--- a/django_cas/views.py
+++ b/django_cas/views.py
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 from datetime import datetime
 from urllib import urlencode
 from urlparse import urljoin
-
-from django.http import get_host, HttpResponseRedirect, HttpResponseForbidden, HttpResponse
+from django.contrib import messages
+from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect, HttpResponseForbidden, HttpResponse
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth import REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME
 from django_cas.models import PgtIOU
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ def _service_url(request, redirect_to=None):
     """Generates application service URL for CAS"""
 
     protocol = ('http://', 'https://')[request.is_secure()]
-    host = get_host(request)
+    host = request.get_host()
     service = protocol + host + request.path
     if redirect_to:
         if '?' in service:
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ def _redirect_url(request):
         else:
             next = request.META.get('HTTP_REFERER', settings.CAS_REDIRECT_URL)
         prefix = (('http://', 'https://')[request.is_secure()] +
-                  get_host(request))
+                  request.get_host())
         if next.startswith(prefix):
             next = next[len(prefix):]
     return next
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def _logout_url(request, next_page=None):
     url = urljoin(settings.CAS_SERVER_URL, 'logout')
     if next_page:
         protocol = ('http://', 'https://')[request.is_secure()]
-        host = get_host(request)
+        host = request.get_host()
         url += '?' + urlencode({'url': protocol + host + next_page})
     return url
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ def login(request, next_page=None, required=False):
         next_page = _redirect_url(request)
     if request.user.is_authenticated():
         message = "You are logged in as %s." % request.user.username
-        request.user.message_set.create(message=message)
+        messages.add_message(request, messages.SUCCESS, message)
         return HttpResponseRedirect(next_page)
     ticket = request.GET.get('ticket')
     service = _service_url(request, next_page)
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ def login(request, next_page=None, required=False):
             auth.login(request, user)
             name = user.first_name or user.username
             message = "Login succeeded. Welcome, %s." % name
-            user.message_set.create(message=message)
+            messages.add_message(request, messages.SUCCESS, message)
             return HttpResponseRedirect(next_page)
         elif settings.CAS_RETRY_LOGIN or required:
             return HttpResponseRedirect(_login_url(service, ticket))
@@ -111,9 +111,9 @@ def logout(request, next_page=None):
 
 def proxy_callback(request):
     """Handles CAS 2.0+ XML-based proxy callback call.
-    Stores the proxy granting ticket in the database for 
+    Stores the proxy granting ticket in the database for
     future use.
-    
+
     NB: Use created and set it in python in case database
     has issues with setting up the default timestamp value
     """