diff --git a/oshipka/persistance/__init__.py b/oshipka/persistance/__init__.py
index 5274de7..e4f7335 100644
--- a/oshipka/persistance/__init__.py
+++ b/oshipka/persistance/__init__.py
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ def populate_static(app):
                 for row in reader:
                     row_updates = dict()
                     for key, value in row.items():
-                        if value.startswith(SENSITIVE_PREFIX):
+                        if value and value.startswith(SENSITIVE_PREFIX):
                             sensitive_key = SENSITIVE_PREFIX.join(value.split(SENSITIVE_PREFIX)[1:])
                             sensitive_value = getattr(sensitive, sensitive_key)
                             row_updates[key] = sensitive_value
@@ -299,6 +299,39 @@ def populate_static(app):
                             role = Role.query.filter_by(name=role_name).first()
                             user_datastore.add_role_to_user(user, role)
                     else:
-                        instance = model(**row)
+                        instance = create_model(model, row)
                         db.session.add(instance)
             db.session.commit()
+
+
+def filter_m_n(serialized_args):
+    m_ns, to_delete = {}, []
+    for k in serialized_args:
+        if k.startswith('_m_n_'):
+            m_n_name = k.split('_m_n_')[1]
+            m_ns[m_n_name] = serialized_args[k]
+            to_delete.append(k)
+    return m_ns, to_delete
+
+
+def update_m_ns(instance, m_ns):
+    from oshipka.webapp.views import webapp_models
+    instance = instance
+    for key, ids in m_ns.items():
+        child_rel = getattr(instance, "_m_n_table_{}".format(key))
+        child_table = getattr(webapp_models, child_rel)
+        children = db.session.query(child_table).filter(child_table.id.in_(ids)).all()
+        setattr(instance, key, children)
+
+
+def create_model(model, serialized_args):
+    m_ns, to_delete = filter_m_n(serialized_args)
+    for key in to_delete:
+        del serialized_args[key]
+    instance = model()
+    for k, v in serialized_args.items():
+        setattr(instance, k, v)
+    for key, ids in m_ns.items():
+        m_ns[key] = ids.split(',')
+    update_m_ns(instance, m_ns)
+    return instance
diff --git a/oshipka/webapp/views.py b/oshipka/webapp/views.py
index 56ddff5..1c9089c 100644
--- a/oshipka/webapp/views.py
+++ b/oshipka/webapp/views.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import inflect
 from flask import flash, render_template, redirect, request, url_for, jsonify
 from flask_security import login_required, roles_required
 
-from oshipka.persistance import db
+from oshipka.persistance import db, filter_m_n, update_m_ns
 from oshipka.util.strings import camel_case_to_snake_case
 
 webapp_models = importlib.import_module("webapp.models")
@@ -74,44 +74,21 @@ def default_search_func(vc):
         vc.instances = vc.model_view.model.search_query("{q}".format(q=q)).all()
 
 
-def _filter_m_n(vc):
-    m_ns, to_delete = {}, []
-    for k in vc.serialized_args:
-        if k.startswith('_m_n_'):
-            m_n_name = k.split('_m_n_')[1]
-            m_ns[m_n_name] = vc.serialized_args[k]
-            to_delete.append(k)
+def default_update_func(vc):
+    m_ns, to_delete = filter_m_n(vc.serialized_args)
     for key in to_delete:
         del vc.serialized_args[key]
-    return m_ns
-
-
-def _update_m_ns(vc, m_ns):
-    instance = vc.instance
-    for key, ids in m_ns.items():
-        child_rel = getattr(vc.instance, "_m_n_table_{}".format(key))
-        child_table = getattr(webapp_models, child_rel)
-        children = db.session.query(child_table).filter(child_table.id.in_(ids)).all()
-        setattr(instance, key, children)
+    vc.instance = vc.instances[0]
+    for k, v in vc.serialized_args.items():
+        setattr(vc.instance, k, v)
+    update_m_ns(vc.instance, m_ns)
+    db.session.add(vc.instance)
 
 
 def default_create_func(vc):
-    m_ns = _filter_m_n(vc)
-    instance = vc.instances or vc.model_view.model(**vc.serialized_args)
-    vc.instance = instance
-    vc.instances = instance
-    _update_m_ns(vc, m_ns)
-    db.session.add(instance)
-
-
-def default_update_func(vc):
-    m_ns = _filter_m_n(vc)
-    instance = vc.instances[0]
-    vc.instance = instance
-    for k, v in vc.serialized_args.items():
-        setattr(instance, k, v)
-    _update_m_ns(vc, m_ns)
-    db.session.add(instance)
+    instance = vc.instances or vc.model_view.model()
+    vc.instances = [instance]
+    default_update_func(vc)
 
 
 def default_delete_func(vc):