diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0b12331..3436528 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   "description": "Admin GUI for the Matrix.org server Synapse",
   "author": "Awesome Technologies Innovationslabor GmbH",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
+  "homepage": ".",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
     "url": "https://github.com/Awesome-Technologies/synapse-admin"
diff --git a/src/App.js b/src/App.js
index c646d2d..c8cc6aa 100644
--- a/src/App.js
+++ b/src/App.js
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ const App = () => (
       icon={RoomIcon}
     />
     <Resource name="connections" />
+    <Resource name="servernotices" />
   </Admin>
 );
 
diff --git a/src/components/LoginPage.js b/src/components/LoginPage.js
index 19280b3..6834625 100644
--- a/src/components/LoginPage.js
+++ b/src/components/LoginPage.js
@@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
 import React, { useState } from "react";
 import {
+  fetchUtils,
+  FormDataConsumer,
   Notification,
   useLogin,
   useNotify,
   useLocale,
   useSetLocale,
   useTranslate,
+  PasswordInput,
+  TextInput,
 } from "react-admin";
-import { Field, Form } from "react-final-form";
+import { Form, useForm } from "react-final-form";
 import {
   Avatar,
   Button,
@@ -34,7 +38,7 @@ const useStyles = makeStyles(theme => ({
     backgroundSize: "cover",
   },
   card: {
-    minWidth: 300,
+    minWidth: "30em",
     marginTop: "6em",
   },
   avatar: {
@@ -70,7 +74,7 @@ const LoginPage = ({ theme }) => {
   var locale = useLocale();
   const setLocale = useSetLocale();
   const translate = useTranslate();
-  const homeserver = localStorage.getItem("base_url");
+  const base_url = localStorage.getItem("base_url");
 
   const renderInput = ({
     meta: { touched, error } = {},
@@ -88,15 +92,23 @@ const LoginPage = ({ theme }) => {
 
   const validate = values => {
     const errors = {};
-    if (!values.homeserver) {
-      errors.homeserver = translate("ra.validation.required");
-    }
     if (!values.username) {
       errors.username = translate("ra.validation.required");
     }
     if (!values.password) {
       errors.password = translate("ra.validation.required");
     }
+    if (!values.base_url) {
+      errors.base_url = translate("ra.validation.required");
+    } else {
+      if (!values.base_url.match(/^(http|https):\/\//)) {
+        errors.base_url = translate("synapseadmin.auth.protocol_error");
+      } else if (
+        !values.base_url.match(/^(http|https):\/\/[a-zA-Z0-9\-.]+(:\d{1,5})?$/)
+      ) {
+        errors.base_url = translate("synapseadmin.auth.url_error");
+      }
+    }
     return errors;
   };
 
@@ -115,9 +127,75 @@ const LoginPage = ({ theme }) => {
     });
   };
 
+  const extractHomeServer = username => {
+    const usernameRegex = /@[a-zA-Z0-9._=\-/]+:([a-zA-Z0-9\-.]+\.[a-zA-Z]+)/;
+    if (!username) return null;
+    const res = username.match(usernameRegex);
+    if (res) return res[1];
+    return null;
+  };
+
+  const UserData = ({ formData }) => {
+    const form = useForm();
+
+    const handleUsernameChange = _ => {
+      if (formData.base_url) return;
+      // check if username is a full qualified userId then set base_url accordially
+      const home_server = extractHomeServer(formData.username);
+      const wellKnownUrl = `https://${home_server}/.well-known/matrix/client`;
+      if (home_server) {
+        // fetch .well-known entry to get base_url
+        fetchUtils
+          .fetchJson(wellKnownUrl, { method: "GET" })
+          .then(({ json }) => {
+            form.change("base_url", json["m.homeserver"].base_url);
+          })
+          .catch(_ => {
+            // if there is no .well-known entry, try the home server name
+            form.change("base_url", `https://${home_server}`);
+          });
+      }
+    };
+
+    return (
+      <div>
+        <div className={classes.input}>
+          <TextInput
+            autoFocus
+            name="username"
+            component={renderInput}
+            label={translate("ra.auth.username")}
+            disabled={loading}
+            onBlur={handleUsernameChange}
+            fullWidth
+          />
+        </div>
+        <div className={classes.input}>
+          <PasswordInput
+            name="password"
+            component={renderInput}
+            label={translate("ra.auth.password")}
+            type="password"
+            disabled={loading}
+            fullWidth
+          />
+        </div>
+        <div className={classes.input}>
+          <TextInput
+            name="base_url"
+            component={renderInput}
+            label={translate("synapseadmin.auth.base_url")}
+            disabled={loading}
+            fullWidth
+          />
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    );
+  };
+
   return (
     <Form
-      initialValues={{ homeserver: homeserver }}
+      initialValues={{ base_url: base_url }}
       onSubmit={handleSubmit}
       validate={validate}
       render={({ handleSubmit }) => (
@@ -146,32 +224,9 @@ const LoginPage = ({ theme }) => {
                     <MenuItem value="en">English</MenuItem>
                   </Select>
                 </div>
-                <div className={classes.input}>
-                  <Field
-                    autoFocus
-                    name="homeserver"
-                    component={renderInput}
-                    label={translate("synapseadmin.auth.homeserver")}
-                    disabled={loading}
-                  />
-                </div>
-                <div className={classes.input}>
-                  <Field
-                    name="username"
-                    component={renderInput}
-                    label={translate("ra.auth.username")}
-                    disabled={loading}
-                  />
-                </div>
-                <div className={classes.input}>
-                  <Field
-                    name="password"
-                    component={renderInput}
-                    label={translate("ra.auth.password")}
-                    type="password"
-                    disabled={loading}
-                  />
-                </div>
+                <FormDataConsumer>
+                  {formDataProps => <UserData {...formDataProps} />}
+                </FormDataConsumer>
               </div>
               <CardActions className={classes.actions}>
                 <Button
diff --git a/src/components/ServerNotices.js b/src/components/ServerNotices.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0f37da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/ServerNotices.js
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+import React, { Fragment, useState } from "react";
+import {
+  Button,
+  SaveButton,
+  SimpleForm,
+  TextInput,
+  Toolbar,
+  required,
+  useCreate,
+  useNotify,
+  useTranslate,
+} from "react-admin";
+import MessageIcon from "@material-ui/icons/Message";
+import IconCancel from "@material-ui/icons/Cancel";
+import Dialog from "@material-ui/core/Dialog";
+import DialogContent from "@material-ui/core/DialogContent";
+import DialogContentText from "@material-ui/core/DialogContentText";
+import DialogTitle from "@material-ui/core/DialogTitle";
+
+const ServerNoticeDialog = ({ open, loading, onClose, onSend }) => {
+  const translate = useTranslate();
+
+  const ServerNoticeToolbar = props => (
+    <Toolbar {...props}>
+      <SaveButton label="resources.servernotices.action.send" />
+      <Button label="ra.action.cancel" onClick={onClose}>
+        <IconCancel />
+      </Button>
+    </Toolbar>
+  );
+
+  return (
+    <Dialog open={open} onClose={onClose} loading={loading}>
+      <DialogTitle>
+        {translate("resources.servernotices.action.send")}
+      </DialogTitle>
+      <DialogContent>
+        <DialogContentText>
+          {translate("resources.servernotices.helper.send")}
+        </DialogContentText>
+        <SimpleForm
+          toolbar={<ServerNoticeToolbar />}
+          submitOnEnter={false}
+          redirect={false}
+          save={onSend}
+        >
+          <TextInput
+            source="body"
+            label="resources.servernotices.fields.body"
+            fullWidth
+            multiline
+            rows="4"
+            resettable
+            validate={required()}
+          />
+        </SimpleForm>
+      </DialogContent>
+    </Dialog>
+  );
+};
+
+export const ServerNoticeButton = ({ record }) => {
+  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
+  const notify = useNotify();
+  const [create, { loading }] = useCreate("servernotices");
+
+  const handleDialogOpen = () => setOpen(true);
+  const handleDialogClose = () => setOpen(false);
+
+  const handleSend = values => {
+    create(
+      { payload: { data: { id: record.id, ...values } } },
+      {
+        onSuccess: () => {
+          notify("resources.servernotices.action.send_success");
+          handleDialogClose();
+        },
+        onFailure: () =>
+          notify("resources.servernotices.action.send_failure", "error"),
+      }
+    );
+  };
+
+  return (
+    <Fragment>
+      <Button
+        label="resources.servernotices.send"
+        onClick={handleDialogOpen}
+        disabled={loading}
+      >
+        <MessageIcon />
+      </Button>
+      <ServerNoticeDialog
+        open={open}
+        onClose={handleDialogClose}
+        onSend={handleSend}
+      />
+    </Fragment>
+  );
+};
diff --git a/src/components/rooms.js b/src/components/rooms.js
index 238cfdd..e872374 100644
--- a/src/components/rooms.js
+++ b/src/components/rooms.js
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ const validateDisplayName = fieldval =>
     : undefined;
 
 function approximateAliasLength(alias, homeserver) {
-  /* TODO maybe handle punycode in homeserver URL */
+  /* TODO maybe handle punycode in homeserver name */
 
   var te;
 
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ const validateAlias = fieldval => {
   if (fieldval === undefined) {
     return undefined;
   }
-  const homeserver = localStorage.getItem("home_server_url");
+  const homeserver = localStorage.getItem("home_server");
 
   if (approximateAliasLength(fieldval, homeserver) > 255) {
     return "synapseadmin.rooms.alias_too_long";
diff --git a/src/components/users.js b/src/components/users.js
index 2fceae5..f2289ef 100644
--- a/src/components/users.js
+++ b/src/components/users.js
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import {
   Pagination,
 } from "react-admin";
 import SaveQrButton from "./SaveQrButton";
+import { ServerNoticeButton } from "./ServerNotices";
 
 const UserPagination = props => (
   <Pagination {...props} rowsPerPageOptions={[10, 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000]} />
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ export const UserList = props => (
 );
 
 function generateRandomUser() {
-  const homeserver = localStorage.getItem("home_server_url");
+  const homeserver = localStorage.getItem("home_server");
   const user_id =
     "@" +
     Array(8)
@@ -175,6 +176,7 @@ const UserEditToolbar = props => {
         label="resources.users.action.erase"
         title={translate("resources.users.helper.erase")}
       />
+      <ServerNoticeButton />
     </Toolbar>
   );
 };
diff --git a/src/i18n/de.js b/src/i18n/de.js
index 9d0dac5..14abc0a 100644
--- a/src/i18n/de.js
+++ b/src/i18n/de.js
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@ export default {
   ...germanMessages,
   synapseadmin: {
     auth: {
-      homeserver: "Heimserver",
+      base_url: "Heimserver URL",
       welcome: "Willkommen bei Synapse-admin",
+      username_error: "Bitte vollständigen Nutzernamen angeben: '@user:domain'",
+      protocol_error: "Die URL muss mit 'http://' oder 'https://' beginnen",
+      url_error: "Keine gültige Matrix Server URL",
     },
     action: {
       save_and_show: "Speichern und QR Code erzeugen",
@@ -77,6 +80,41 @@ export default {
         user_agent: "User Agent",
       },
     },
+    servernotices: {
+      name: "Serverbenachrichtigungen",
+      send: "Servernachricht versenden",
+      fields: {
+        body: "Nachricht",
+      },
+      action: {
+        send: "Sende Nachricht",
+        send_success: "Nachricht erfolgreich versendet.",
+        send_failure: "Beim Versenden ist ein Fehler aufgetreten.",
+      },
+      helper: {
+        send:
+          'Sendet eine Serverbenachrichtigung an die ausgewählten Nutzer. Hierfür muss das Feature "Server Notices" auf dem Server aktiviert sein.',
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  ra: {
+    ...germanMessages.ra,
+    auth: {
+      ...germanMessages.ra.auth,
+      auth_check_error: "Anmeldung fehlgeschlagen",
+    },
+    input: {
+      ...germanMessages.ra.input,
+      password: {
+        ...germanMessages.ra.input.password,
+        toggle_hidden: "Anzeigen",
+        toggle_visible: "Verstecken",
+      },
+    },
+    notification: {
+      ...germanMessages.ra.notifiaction,
+      logged_out: "Abgemeldet",
+    },
   },
   ra: {
     ...germanMessages.ra,
diff --git a/src/i18n/en.js b/src/i18n/en.js
index 137b181..f1e6f51 100644
--- a/src/i18n/en.js
+++ b/src/i18n/en.js
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@ export default {
   ...englishMessages,
   synapseadmin: {
     auth: {
-      homeserver: "Homeserver",
+      base_url: "Homeserver URL",
       welcome: "Welcome to Synapse-admin",
+      username_error: "Please enter fully qualified user ID: '@user:domain'",
+      protocol_error: "URL has to start with 'http://' or 'https://'",
+      url_error: "Not a valid Matrix server URL",
     },
     action: {
       save_and_show: "Create QR code",
@@ -78,5 +81,21 @@ export default {
         user_agent: "User agent",
       },
     },
+    servernotices: {
+      name: "Server Notices",
+      send: "Send server notices",
+      fields: {
+        body: "Message",
+      },
+      action: {
+        send: "Send note",
+        send_success: "Server notice successfully sent.",
+        send_failure: "An error has occurred.",
+      },
+      helper: {
+        send:
+          'Sends a server notice to the selected users. The feature "Server Notices" has to be activated at the server.',
+      },
+    },
   },
 };
diff --git a/src/synapse/authProvider.js b/src/synapse/authProvider.js
index 14ef26c..30ce600 100644
--- a/src/synapse/authProvider.js
+++ b/src/synapse/authProvider.js
@@ -1,23 +1,8 @@
 import { fetchUtils } from "react-admin";
 
-const ensureHttpsForUrl = url => {
-  if (/^https:\/\//i.test(url)) {
-    return url;
-  }
-  const domain = url.replace(/http.?:\/\//g, "");
-  return "https://" + domain;
-};
-
-const stripTrailingSlash = str => {
-  if (!str) {
-    return;
-  }
-  return str.endsWith("/") ? str.slice(0, -1) : str;
-};
-
 const authProvider = {
   // called when the user attempts to log in
-  login: ({ homeserver, username, password }) => {
+  login: ({ base_url, username, password }) => {
     console.log("login ");
     const options = {
       method: "POST",
@@ -28,17 +13,16 @@ const authProvider = {
       }),
     };
 
-    const url = window.decodeURIComponent(homeserver);
-    const trimmed_url = url.trim().replace(/\s/g, "");
-    const login_api_url =
-      ensureHttpsForUrl(trimmed_url) + "/_matrix/client/r0/login";
+    // use the base_url from login instead of the well_known entry from the
+    // server, since the admin might want to access the admin API via some
+    // private address
+    localStorage.setItem("base_url", base_url);
+
+    const decoded_base_url = window.decodeURIComponent(base_url);
+    const login_api_url = decoded_base_url + "/_matrix/client/r0/login";
 
     return fetchUtils.fetchJson(login_api_url, options).then(({ json }) => {
-      const normalized_base_url = stripTrailingSlash(
-        json.well_known["m.homeserver"].base_url
-      );
-      localStorage.setItem("base_url", normalized_base_url);
-      localStorage.setItem("home_server_url", json.home_server);
+      localStorage.setItem("home_server", json.home_server);
       localStorage.setItem("user_id", json.user_id);
       localStorage.setItem("access_token", json.access_token);
       localStorage.setItem("device_id", json.device_id);
diff --git a/src/synapse/dataProvider.js b/src/synapse/dataProvider.js
index 00d14be..de29f08 100644
--- a/src/synapse/dataProvider.js
+++ b/src/synapse/dataProvider.js
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@ const resourceMap = {
     }),
     data: "users",
     total: json => json.total,
+    create: data => ({
+      endpoint: `/_synapse/admin/v2/users/${data.id}`,
+      body: data,
+      method: "PUT",
+    }),
     delete: id => ({
       endpoint: `/_synapse/admin/v1/deactivate/${id}`,
       body: { erase: true },
@@ -41,23 +46,19 @@ const resourceMap = {
     }),
     data: "rooms",
     total: json => json.total_rooms,
-    create: params => {
-      let invitees = params.data.invitees;
-      return {
-        method: "POST",
-        endpoint: "/_matrix/client/r0/createRoom",
-        body: {
-          name: params.data.name,
-          room_alias_name: params.data.canonical_alias,
-          visibility: params.data.public ? "public" : "private",
-          invite:
-            Array.isArray(invitees) && invitees.length > 0
-              ? invitees
-              : undefined,
-        },
-        map: r => ({ id: r.room_id }),
-      };
-    },
+    create: data => ({
+      endpoint: "/_matrix/client/r0/createRoom",
+      body: {
+        name: data.name,
+        room_alias_name: data.canonical_alias,
+        visibility: data.public ? "public" : "private",
+        invite:
+          Array.isArray(data.invitees) && data.invitees.length > 0
+            ? data.invitees
+            : undefined,
+      },
+      method: "POST",
+    })
   },
   connections: {
     path: "/_synapse/admin/v1/whois",
@@ -67,6 +68,20 @@ const resourceMap = {
     }),
     data: "connections",
   },
+  servernotices: {
+    map: n => ({ id: n.event_id }),
+    create: data => ({
+      endpoint: "/_synapse/admin/v1/send_server_notice",
+      body: {
+        user_id: data.id,
+        content: {
+          msgtype: "m.text",
+          body: data.body,
+        },
+      },
+      method: "POST",
+    }),
+  },
 };
 
 function filterNullValues(key, value) {
@@ -200,25 +215,16 @@ const dataProvider = {
     if (!homeserver || !(resource in resourceMap)) return Promise.reject();
 
     const res = resourceMap[resource];
+    if (!("create" in res)) return Promise.reject();
 
-    if ("create" in res) {
-      const create = res["create"](params);
-      const endpoint_url = homeserver + create.endpoint;
-      return jsonClient(endpoint_url, {
-        method: create.method,
-        body: JSON.stringify(create.body, filterNullValues),
-      }).then(({ json }) => ({
-        data: create.map(json),
-      }));
-    } else {
-      const endpoint_url = homeserver + res.path;
-      return jsonClient(`${endpoint_url}/${params.data.id}`, {
-        method: "PUT",
-        body: JSON.stringify(params.data, filterNullValues),
-      }).then(({ json }) => ({
-        data: res.map(json),
-      }));
-    }
+    const create = res["create"](params.data);
+    const endpoint_url = homeserver + create.endpoint;
+    return jsonClient(endpoint_url, {
+      method: create.method,
+      body: JSON.stringify(create.body, filterNullValues),
+    }).then(({ json }) => ({
+      data: res.map(json),
+    }));
   },
 
   delete: (resource, params) => {