diff --git a/src/AJAXChat.php b/src/AJAXChat.php
index 404e533..eac2922 100644
--- a/src/AJAXChat.php
+++ b/src/AJAXChat.php
@@ -10,19 +10,19 @@
 // Ajax Chat backend logic:
 class AJAXChat {
 
-    private $db;
-    private $_config;
-    private $_requestVars;
-    private $_infoMessages;
-    private $_channels;
-    private $_allChannels;
-    private $_view;
-    private $_lang;
-    private $_invitations;
-    private $_customVars;
-    private $_sessionNew;
-    private $_onlineUsersData;
-    private $_bannedUsersData;
+    protected $db;
+    protected $_config;
+    protected $_requestVars;
+    protected $_infoMessages;
+    protected $_channels;
+    protected $_allChannels;
+    protected $_view;
+    protected $_lang;
+    protected $_invitations;
+    protected $_customVars;
+    protected $_sessionNew;
+    protected $_onlineUsersData;
+    protected $_bannedUsersData;
 
     function __construct() {
         // Initialize configuration settings:
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class AJAXChat {
 
     function initConfig() {
         $config = null;
-        if(!include_once AJAX_CHAT_PATH . '/config/config.php')) {
+        if(!include_once AJAX_CHAT_PATH . '/config/config.php') {
             print('<strong>Error:</strong> Configuration file could not be loaded.');
             exit;
         }
diff --git a/src/AJAXChatDataBase.php b/src/AJAXChatDataBase.php
index d42e2a0..df38ee7 100644
--- a/src/AJAXChatDataBase.php
+++ b/src/AJAXChatDataBase.php
@@ -15,18 +15,10 @@ class AJAXChatDataBase {
     function __construct(&$dbConnectionConfig) {
         switch($dbConnectionConfig['type']) {
             case 'mysqli':
-                $this->_db = new AJAXChatDatabaseMySQLi($dbConnectionConfig);
-                break;
-            case 'mysql':
-                $this->_db = new AJAXChatDatabaseMySQL($dbConnectionConfig);
+                $this->_db = new AJAXChatDataBaseMySQLi($dbConnectionConfig);
                 break;
             default:
-                // Use MySQLi if available, else MySQL (and check the type of a given database connection object):
-                if(function_exists('mysqli_connect') && (!$dbConnectionConfig['link'] || is_object($dbConnectionConfig['link']))) {
-                    $this->_db = new AJAXChatDatabaseMySQLi($dbConnectionConfig);
-                } else {
-                    $this->_db = new AJAXChatDatabaseMySQL($dbConnectionConfig);
-                }
+                $this->_db = new AJAXChatDataBaseMySQLi($dbConnectionConfig);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/AJAXChatEncoding.php b/src/AJAXChatEncoding.php
index b8bdb52..6194139 100644
--- a/src/AJAXChatEncoding.php
+++ b/src/AJAXChatEncoding.php
@@ -93,20 +93,10 @@ class AJAXChatEncoding {
     }
 
     public static function decodeEntities($str, $encoding='UTF-8', $htmlEntitiesMap=null) {
-        // Due to PHP bug #25670, html_entity_decode does not work with UTF-8 for PHP versions < 5:
-        if(function_exists('html_entity_decode') && version_compare(phpversion(), 5, '>=')) {
-            // Replace numeric and literal entities:
-            $str = html_entity_decode($str, ENT_QUOTES, $encoding);
-            // Replace additional literal HTML entities if an HTML entities map is given:
-            if($htmlEntitiesMap) {
-                $str = strtr($str, $htmlEntitiesMap);
-            }
-        } else {
-            // Replace numeric entities:
-            $str = preg_replace('~&#([0-9]+);~e', 'AJAXChatEncoding::unicodeChar("\\1")', $str);
-            $str = preg_replace('~&#x([0-9a-f]+);~ei', 'AJAXChatEncoding::unicodeChar(hexdec("\\1"))', $str);
-            // Replace literal entities:
-            $htmlEntitiesMap = $htmlEntitiesMap ? $htmlEntitiesMap : array_flip(get_html_translation_table(HTML_ENTITIES, ENT_QUOTES));
+        // Replace numeric and literal entities:
+        $str = html_entity_decode($str, ENT_QUOTES, $encoding);
+        // Replace additional literal HTML entities if an HTML entities map is given:
+        if($htmlEntitiesMap) {
             $str = strtr($str, $htmlEntitiesMap);
         }
         return $str;