diff --git a/src/app/composer/qgscomposerhtmlwidget.cpp b/src/app/composer/qgscomposerhtmlwidget.cpp
index 3a31f5ede46..72a3b81a4c3 100644
--- a/src/app/composer/qgscomposerhtmlwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/app/composer/qgscomposerhtmlwidget.cpp
@@ -20,11 +20,23 @@
 #include "qgscomposition.h"
 #include <QFileDialog>
 #include <QSettings>
+#include <Qsci/qsciscintilla.h>
+#include <Qsci/qscilexerhtml.h>
 
 QgsComposerHtmlWidget::QgsComposerHtmlWidget( QgsComposerHtml* html, QgsComposerFrame* frame ): QgsComposerItemBaseWidget( 0, html ), mHtml( html ), mFrame( frame )
 {
   setupUi( this );
 
+  //setup html editor
+  mHtmlEditor = new QsciScintilla( this );
+  mHtmlEditor->setLexer( new QsciLexerHTML );
+  mHtmlEditor->setFolding( QsciScintilla::BoxedFoldStyle );
+  //hide the line numbers
+  mHtmlEditor->setMarginWidth( 1, 0 );
+
+  connect( mHtmlEditor, SIGNAL( textChanged() ), this, SLOT( htmlEditorChanged() ) );
+  htmlEditorLayout->addWidget( mHtmlEditor );
+
   blockSignals( true );
   mResizeModeComboBox->addItem( tr( "Use existing frames" ), QgsComposerMultiFrame::UseExistingFrames );
   mResizeModeComboBox->addItem( tr( "Extend to next page" ), QgsComposerMultiFrame::ExtendToNextPage );
@@ -62,7 +74,7 @@ void QgsComposerHtmlWidget::blockSignals( bool block )
   mResizeModeComboBox->blockSignals( block );
   mUseSmartBreaksCheckBox->blockSignals( block );
   mMaxDistanceSpinBox->blockSignals( block );
-  mHtmlTextEdit->blockSignals( block );
+  mHtmlEditor->blockSignals( block );
   mRadioManualSource->blockSignals( block );
   mRadioUrlSource->blockSignals( block );
 }
@@ -149,14 +161,14 @@ void QgsComposerHtmlWidget::on_mMaxDistanceSpinBox_valueChanged( double val )
   mHtml->setMaxBreakDistance( val );
 }
 
-void QgsComposerHtmlWidget::on_mHtmlTextEdit_textChanged()
+void QgsComposerHtmlWidget::htmlEditorChanged()
 {
   if ( !mHtml )
   {
     return;
   }
 
-  mHtml->setHtml( mHtmlTextEdit->toPlainText() );
+  mHtml->setHtml( mHtmlEditor->text() );
 }
 
 void QgsComposerHtmlWidget::on_mRadioManualSource_clicked( bool checked )
@@ -167,7 +179,7 @@ void QgsComposerHtmlWidget::on_mRadioManualSource_clicked( bool checked )
   }
 
   mHtml->setContentMode( checked ? QgsComposerHtml::ManualHtml : QgsComposerHtml::Url );
-  mHtmlTextEdit->setEnabled( checked );
+  mHtmlEditor->setEnabled( checked );
   mUrlLineEdit->setEnabled( !checked );
   mFileToolButton->setEnabled( !checked );
 
@@ -182,7 +194,7 @@ void QgsComposerHtmlWidget::on_mRadioUrlSource_clicked( bool checked )
   }
 
   mHtml->setContentMode( checked ? QgsComposerHtml::Url : QgsComposerHtml::ManualHtml );
-  mHtmlTextEdit->setEnabled( !checked );
+  mHtmlEditor->setEnabled( !checked );
   mUrlLineEdit->setEnabled( checked );
   mFileToolButton->setEnabled( checked );
 
@@ -236,12 +248,12 @@ void QgsComposerHtmlWidget::setGuiElementValues()
   mMaxDistanceSpinBox->setValue( mHtml->maxBreakDistance() );
 
   mAddFramePushButton->setEnabled( mHtml->resizeMode() == QgsComposerMultiFrame::UseExistingFrames );
-  mHtmlTextEdit->setPlainText( mHtml->html() );
+  mHtmlEditor->setText( mHtml->html() );
 
   mRadioUrlSource->setChecked( mHtml->contentMode() == QgsComposerHtml::Url );
   mUrlLineEdit->setEnabled( mHtml->contentMode() == QgsComposerHtml::Url );
   mFileToolButton->setEnabled( mHtml->contentMode() == QgsComposerHtml::Url );
   mRadioManualSource->setChecked( mHtml->contentMode() == QgsComposerHtml::ManualHtml );
-  mHtmlTextEdit->setEnabled( mHtml->contentMode() == QgsComposerHtml::ManualHtml );
+  mHtmlEditor->setEnabled( mHtml->contentMode() == QgsComposerHtml::ManualHtml );
   blockSignals( false );
 }
diff --git a/src/app/composer/qgscomposerhtmlwidget.h b/src/app/composer/qgscomposerhtmlwidget.h
index c0732486b10..5f812fafbee 100644
--- a/src/app/composer/qgscomposerhtmlwidget.h
+++ b/src/app/composer/qgscomposerhtmlwidget.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 class QgsComposerHtml;
 class QgsComposerFrame;
+class QsciScintilla;
 
 class QgsComposerHtmlWidget: public QgsComposerItemBaseWidget, private Ui::QgsComposerHtmlWidgetBase
 {
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ class QgsComposerHtmlWidget: public QgsComposerItemBaseWidget, private Ui::QgsCo
     void on_mResizeModeComboBox_currentIndexChanged( int index );
     void on_mUseSmartBreaksCheckBox_toggled( bool checked );
     void on_mMaxDistanceSpinBox_valueChanged( double val );
-    void on_mHtmlTextEdit_textChanged();
+    void htmlEditorChanged();
     void on_mRadioManualSource_clicked( bool checked );
     void on_mRadioUrlSource_clicked( bool checked );
 
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ class QgsComposerHtmlWidget: public QgsComposerItemBaseWidget, private Ui::QgsCo
 
     QgsComposerHtml* mHtml;
     QgsComposerFrame* mFrame;
+    QsciScintilla *mHtmlEditor;
 };
 
 #endif // QGSCOMPOSERHTMLWIDGET_H
diff --git a/src/core/composer/qgscomposerhtml.cpp b/src/core/composer/qgscomposerhtml.cpp
index ee75e61ae53..4dbe78b87e5 100644
--- a/src/core/composer/qgscomposerhtml.cpp
+++ b/src/core/composer/qgscomposerhtml.cpp
@@ -391,7 +391,11 @@ bool QgsComposerHtml::readXML( const QDomElement& itemElem, const QDomDocument&
   QString urlString = itemElem.attribute( "url" );
   if ( !urlString.isEmpty() )
   {
-    setUrl( QUrl( urlString ) );
+    mUrl = urlString;
   }
+  loadHtml();
+
+  //since frames had to be created before, we need to emit a changed signal to refresh the widget
+  emit changed();
   return true;
 }
diff --git a/src/ui/qgscomposerhtmlwidgetbase.ui b/src/ui/qgscomposerhtmlwidgetbase.ui
index 9f081ea54ef..819972f7135 100644
--- a/src/ui/qgscomposerhtmlwidgetbase.ui
+++ b/src/ui/qgscomposerhtmlwidgetbase.ui
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@
        <rect>
         <x>0</x>
         <y>0</y>
-        <width>391</width>
-        <height>519</height>
+        <width>407</width>
+        <height>360</height>
        </rect>
       </property>
       <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="mainLayout">
@@ -62,15 +62,15 @@
          <property name="collapsed" stdset="0">
           <bool>false</bool>
          </property>
-         <layout class="QFormLayout" name="formLayout">
-          <item row="1" column="0">
+         <layout class="QGridLayout" name="gridLayout_2">
+          <item row="0" column="0">
            <widget class="QRadioButton" name="mRadioUrlSource">
             <property name="text">
              <string>URL</string>
             </property>
            </widget>
           </item>
-          <item row="1" column="1">
+          <item row="0" column="1">
            <layout class="QHBoxLayout" name="horizontalLayout">
             <item>
              <widget class="QLineEdit" name="mUrlLineEdit"/>
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
             </item>
            </layout>
           </item>
-          <item row="2" column="0" colspan="2">
+          <item row="1" column="0" colspan="2">
            <widget class="QRadioButton" name="mRadioManualSource">
             <property name="text">
              <string>Source:</string>
@@ -92,15 +92,15 @@
            </widget>
           </item>
           <item row="3" column="0" colspan="2">
-           <widget class="QPlainTextEdit" name="mHtmlTextEdit"/>
-          </item>
-          <item row="4" column="0" colspan="2">
            <widget class="QPushButton" name="mReloadPushButton">
             <property name="text">
              <string>Refresh HTML</string>
             </property>
            </widget>
           </item>
+          <item row="2" column="0" colspan="2">
+           <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="htmlEditorLayout"/>
+          </item>
          </layout>
         </widget>
        </item>