diff --git a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/filenbmanager.py b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/filenbmanager.py
index 9f93f95..974696a 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/filenbmanager.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/filenbmanager.py
@@ -86,11 +86,11 @@ class FileNotebookManager(NotebookManager):
     def list_notebooks(self, path):
         """List all notebooks in the notebook dir."""
         notebook_names = self.get_notebook_names(path)
-        notebook_mapping = []
+        notebooks = []
         for name in notebook_names:
             model = self.notebook_model(name, path, content=False)
-            notebook_mapping.append(model)
-        return notebook_mapping
+            notebooks.append(model)
+        return notebooks
 
     def change_notebook(self, data, notebook_name, notebook_path=None):
         """Changes notebook"""
diff --git a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py
index 9f57723..318ebbc 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/nbmanager.py
@@ -73,11 +73,13 @@ class NotebookManager(LoggingConfigurable):
         return name, path
 
     def url_encode(self, path):
-        parts = path.split('/')
+        parts = os.path.split(path)
+        #parts = path.split('/')
         return os.path.join(*[quote(p) for p in parts])
 
     def url_decode(self, path):
-        parts = path.split('/')
+        parts = os.path.split(path)
+        #parts = path.split('/')
         return os.path.join(*[unquote(p) for p in parts])
 
     def _notebook_dir_changed(self, new):
@@ -127,11 +129,6 @@ class NotebookManager(LoggingConfigurable):
         """
         raise NotImplementedError('must be implemented in a subclass')
 
-
-    def notebook_exists(self, notebook_path):
-        """Does a notebook exist?"""
-
-
     def notebook_model(self, notebook_name, notebook_path=None, content=True):
         """ Creates the standard notebook model """
         last_modified, contents = self.read_notebook_object(notebook_name, notebook_path)
diff --git a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/tests/test_nbmanager.py b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/tests/test_nbmanager.py
index ab633df..b4accf5 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/notebooks/tests/test_nbmanager.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/notebooks/tests/test_nbmanager.py
@@ -35,12 +35,12 @@ class TestFileNotebookManager(TestCase):
 class TestNotebookManager(TestCase):
     def test_named_notebook_path(self):
         nm = NotebookManager()
-        
+
         # doesn't end with ipynb, should just be path
         name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('hello')
         self.assertEqual(name, None)
         self.assertEqual(path, '/hello/')
-        
+
         name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('/')
         self.assertEqual(name, None)
         self.assertEqual(path, '/')
@@ -48,17 +48,43 @@ class TestNotebookManager(TestCase):
         name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(name, 'hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(path, '/')
-        
+
         name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('/hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(name, 'hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(path, '/')
-        
+
         name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('/this/is/a/path/hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(name, 'hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(path, '/this/is/a/path/')
-        
+
         name, path = nm.named_notebook_path('path/without/leading/slash/hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(name, 'hello.ipynb')
         self.assertEqual(path, '/path/without/leading/slash/')
 
+    def test_url_encode(self):
+        nm = NotebookManager()
+
+        # changes path or notebook name with special characters to url encoding
+        # these tests specifically encode paths with spaces
+        path = nm.url_encode('/this is a test/for spaces/')
+        self.assertEqual(path, '/this%20is%20a%20test/for%20spaces/')
+
+        path = nm.url_encode('notebook with space.ipynb')
+        self.assertEqual(path, 'notebook%20with%20space.ipynb')
+
+        path = nm.url_encode('/path with a/notebook and space.ipynb')
+        self.assertEqual(path, '/path%20with%20a/notebook%20and%20space.ipynb')
 
+    def test_url_decode(self):
+        nm = NotebookManager()
+        
+        # decodes a url string to a plain string
+        # these tests decode paths with spaces
+        path = nm.url_decode('/this%20is%20a%20test/for%20spaces/')
+        self.assertEqual(path, '/this is a test/for spaces/')
+        
+        path = nm.url_decode('notebook%20with%20space.ipynb')
+        self.assertEqual(path, 'notebook with space.ipynb')
+        
+        path = nm.url_decode('/path%20with%20a/notebook%20and%20space.ipynb')
+        self.assertEqual(path, '/path with a/notebook and space.ipynb')