diff --git a/cmd/owl/web/handler.go b/cmd/owl/web/handler.go
index 3e14965..c835c4c 100644
--- a/cmd/owl/web/handler.go
+++ b/cmd/owl/web/handler.go
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ func userWebmentionHandler(repo *owl.Repository) func(http.ResponseWriter, *http
 			}
 		}
 		if aliasPost != nil {
-			foundPost = *aliasPost
+			foundPost = aliasPost
 		}
 		err = foundPost.AddIncomingWebmention(source[0])
 		if err != nil {
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ func postHandler(repo *owl.Repository) func(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request,
 			return
 		}
 
-		html, err := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+		html, err := owl.RenderPost(post)
 		if err != nil {
 			println("Error rendering post: ", err.Error())
 			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
diff --git a/cmd/owl/webmention.go b/cmd/owl/webmention.go
index af5c7f6..6580f16 100644
--- a/cmd/owl/webmention.go
+++ b/cmd/owl/webmention.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ var webmentionCmd = &cobra.Command{
 					println("Error getting post: ", err.Error())
 					return
 				}
-				processPost(user, &post)
+				processPost(user, post)
 				return
 			}
 
diff --git a/directories.go b/directories.go
index d07d7c8..0e377aa 100644
--- a/directories.go
+++ b/directories.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package owl
 
 import (
 	"os"
-	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 )
 
@@ -24,22 +23,6 @@ func fileExists(path string) bool {
 	return err == nil
 }
 
-// recursive list of all files in a directory
-func walkDir(path string) []string {
-	files := make([]string, 0)
-	filepath.Walk(path, func(subPath string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if info.IsDir() {
-			return nil
-		}
-		files = append(files, subPath[len(path)+1:])
-		return nil
-	})
-	return files
-}
-
 func toDirectoryName(name string) string {
 	name = strings.ToLower(strings.ReplaceAll(name, " ", "-"))
 	// remove all non-alphanumeric characters
diff --git a/renderer_test.go b/renderer_test.go
index 20b5e83..46f255f 100644
--- a/renderer_test.go
+++ b/renderer_test.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 func TestCanRenderPost(t *testing.T) {
 	user := getTestUser()
 	post, _ := user.CreateNewPost("testpost", false)
-	result, err := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, err := owl.RenderPost(post)
 
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error("Error rendering post: " + err.Error())
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func TestRenderTwitterHandle(t *testing.T) {
 	config.TwitterHandle = "testhandle"
 	user.SetConfig(config)
 	post, _ := user.CreateNewPost("testpost", false)
-	result, err := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, err := owl.RenderPost(post)
 
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error("Error rendering post: " + err.Error())
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func TestRenderGitHubHandle(t *testing.T) {
 	config.GitHubHandle = "testhandle"
 	user.SetConfig(config)
 	post, _ := user.CreateNewPost("testpost", false)
-	result, err := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, err := owl.RenderPost(post)
 
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error("Error rendering post: " + err.Error())
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func TestRenderGitHubHandle(t *testing.T) {
 func TestRenderPostHEntry(t *testing.T) {
 	user := getTestUser()
 	post, _ := user.CreateNewPost("testpost", false)
-	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(post)
 	if !strings.Contains(result, "class=\"h-entry\"") {
 		t.Error("h-entry container not rendered. Got: " + result)
 	}
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func TestRenderPostHEntry(t *testing.T) {
 func TestRendererUsesBaseTemplate(t *testing.T) {
 	user := getTestUser()
 	post, _ := user.CreateNewPost("testpost", false)
-	result, err := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, err := owl.RenderPost(post)
 
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error("Error rendering post: " + err.Error())
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ func TestRendersHeaderTitle(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 	post, _ := user.CreateNewPost("testpost", false)
 
-	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(post)
 	if !strings.Contains(result, "Test Title") {
 		t.Error("Header title not rendered. Got: " + result)
 	}
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ func TestRenderPostIncludesRelToWebMention(t *testing.T) {
 	user := getTestUser()
 	post, _ := user.CreateNewPost("testpost", false)
 
-	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(post)
 	if !strings.Contains(result, "rel=\"webmention\"") {
 		t.Error("webmention rel not rendered. Got: " + result)
 	}
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ func TestRenderPostAddsLinksToApprovedWebmention(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	post.PersistIncomingWebmention(webmention)
 
-	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(post)
 	if !strings.Contains(result, "http://example.com/source3") {
 		t.Error("webmention not rendered. Got: " + result)
 	}
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ func TestRenderPostAddsLinksToApprovedWebmention(t *testing.T) {
 func TestRenderPostNotMentioningWebmentionsIfNoAvail(t *testing.T) {
 	user := getTestUser()
 	post, _ := user.CreateNewPost("testpost", false)
-	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(post)
 
 	if strings.Contains(result, "Webmention") {
 		t.Error("Webmention mentioned. Got: " + result)
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ func TestRenderPostNotMentioningWebmentionsIfNoAvail(t *testing.T) {
 func TestRenderIncludesFullUrl(t *testing.T) {
 	user := getTestUser()
 	post, _ := user.CreateNewPost("testpost", false)
-	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(post)
 
 	if !strings.Contains(result, "class=\"u-url\"") {
 		t.Error("u-url not rendered. Got: " + result)
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ func TestAuthorNameInPost(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 	post, _ := user.CreateNewPost("testpost", false)
 
-	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(post)
 	if !strings.Contains(result, "Test Author") {
 		t.Error("Author Name not included. Got: " + result)
 	}
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ func TestRenderReplyWithoutText(t *testing.T) {
 	content += "Hi \n"
 	os.WriteFile(post.ContentFile(), []byte(content), 0644)
 
-	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(post)
 	if !strings.Contains(result, "https://example.com/post") {
 		t.Error("Reply url not rendered. Got: " + result)
 	}
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ func TestRenderReplyWithText(t *testing.T) {
 	content += "Hi \n"
 	os.WriteFile(post.ContentFile(), []byte(content), 0644)
 
-	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(&post)
+	result, _ := owl.RenderPost(post)
 	if !strings.Contains(result, "https://example.com/post") {
 		t.Error("Reply url not rendered. Got: " + result)
 	}
diff --git a/user.go b/user.go
index 670ec57..c843fc2 100644
--- a/user.go
+++ b/user.go
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func (user User) Posts() ([]*Post, error) {
 		if dirExists(path.Join(user.Dir(), "public", id)) {
 			if fileExists(path.Join(user.Dir(), "public", id, "index.md")) {
 				post, _ := user.GetPost(id)
-				posts = append(posts, &post)
+				posts = append(posts, post)
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -125,10 +125,10 @@ func (user User) Posts() ([]*Post, error) {
 	return posts, nil
 }
 
-func (user User) GetPost(id string) (Post, error) {
+func (user User) GetPost(id string) (*Post, error) {
 	// check if posts index.md exists
 	if !fileExists(path.Join(user.Dir(), "public", id, "index.md")) {
-		return Post{}, fmt.Errorf("post %s does not exist", id)
+		return &Post{}, fmt.Errorf("post %s does not exist", id)
 	}
 
 	post := Post{user: &user, id: id}
@@ -137,10 +137,10 @@ func (user User) GetPost(id string) (Post, error) {
 	title := meta.Title
 	post.title = fmt.Sprint(title)
 
-	return post, nil
+	return &post, nil
 }
 
-func (user User) CreateNewPost(title string, draft bool) (Post, error) {
+func (user User) CreateNewPost(title string, draft bool) (*Post, error) {
 	folder_name := toDirectoryName(title)
 	post_dir := path.Join(user.Dir(), "public", folder_name)
 
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ func (user User) CreateNewPost(title string, draft bool) (Post, error) {
 	// write meta
 	meta_bytes, err := yaml.Marshal(meta)
 	if err != nil {
-		return Post{}, err
+		return &Post{}, err
 	}
 	initial_content += string(meta_bytes)
 	initial_content += "---\n"
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ func (user User) CreateNewPost(title string, draft bool) (Post, error) {
 	os.WriteFile(post.ContentFile(), []byte(initial_content), 0644)
 	// create media dir
 	os.Mkdir(post.MediaDir(), 0755)
-	return post, nil
+	return &post, nil
 }
 
 func (user User) Template() (string, error) {
diff --git a/user_test.go b/user_test.go
index d702d1f..13405ce 100644
--- a/user_test.go
+++ b/user_test.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func TestCreateNewPostMultipleCalls(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("Error reading directory")
 	}
 	if len(files) < 3 {
-		t.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Only %d posts created", len(files)))
+		t.Errorf("Only %d posts created", len(files))
 	}
 }
 
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ func TestPostsSortedByPublishingDateLatestFirst2(t *testing.T) {
 		content += "---\n"
 		content += "This is a test"
 		os.WriteFile(post.ContentFile(), []byte(content), 0644)
-		posts = append(posts, &post)
+		posts = append(posts, post)
 	}
 
 	retPosts, _ := user.Posts()