diff --git a/converters/base.py b/converters/base.py
index a1b0ecb..99038a0 100755
--- a/converters/base.py
+++ b/converters/base.py
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ from types import FunctionType
 
 # IPython imports
 from IPython.nbformat import current as nbformat
+from IPython.config.configurable import Configurable, SingletonConfigurable
+from IPython.utils.traitlets import List, Unicode, Type, Bool, Dict, CaselessStrEnum
 
 # Our own imports
 from .utils import remove_fake_files_url
@@ -94,8 +96,9 @@ class DocStringInheritor(type):
         return type.__new__(meta, classname, bases, newClassDict)
 
 
-class Converter(object):
-    __metaclass__ = DocStringInheritor
+
+class Converter(Configurable):
+    #__metaclass__ = DocStringInheritor
     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Class-level attributes determining the behaviour of the class but
     # probably not varying from instance to instance.
@@ -110,33 +113,44 @@ class Converter(object):
     # Instance-level attributes that are set in the constructor for this
     # class.
     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    infile = str()
-    highlight_source = True
-    infile_dir = str()
-    infile_root = str()
-    clean_name = str()
-    files_dir = str()
-    outbase = str()
+    infile = Unicode()
+
+    highlight_source = Bool(True,
+                     config=True,
+                     help="Enable syntax highlighting for code blocks.")
+
+    preamble = Unicode("" ,
+                        config=True,
+                        help="Path to a user-specified preamble file")
+
+    infile_dir = Unicode()
+    infile_root = Unicode()
+    clean_name = Unicode()
+    files_dir = Unicode()
+    outbase = Unicode()
     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Instance-level attributes that are set by other methods in the base
     # class.
     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     figures_counter = 0
-    output = unicode()
+    output = Unicode()
     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Instance-level attributes that are not actually mentioned further
     # in this class. TODO: Could they be usefully moved to a subclass?
     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    with_preamble = True
+    with_preamble = Bool(True,config=True)
     user_preamble = None
     raw_as_verbatim = False
 
-    def __init__(self, infile, highlight_source=True, exclude=[],  **kw):
+
+    def __init__(self, infile=None, config=None, exclude=[] **kw):
+        super(Converter,self).__init__(config=config)
+
+        #DocStringInheritor.__init__(self=config)
         # N.B. Initialized in the same order as defined above. Please try to
         # keep in this way for readability's sake.
         self.exclude_cells = exclude
         self.infile = infile
-        self.highlight_source = highlight_source
         self.infile_dir, infile_root = os.path.split(infile)
         self.infile_root = os.path.splitext(infile_root)[0]
         self.clean_name = clean_filename(self.infile_root)
diff --git a/nbconvert.py b/nbconvert.py
index 094a514..975334c 100755
--- a/nbconvert.py
+++ b/nbconvert.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ from IPython.external import argparse
 
 # All the stuff needed for the configurable things
 from IPython.config.application import Application, catch_config_error
-from IPython.config.configurable import Configurable
+from IPython.config.configurable import Configurable, SingletonConfigurable
 from IPython.config.loader import Config, ConfigFileNotFound
 from IPython.utils.traitlets import List, Unicode, Type, Bool, Dict, CaselessStrEnum
 
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ from converters.bloggerhtml import ConverterBloggerHTML
 from converters.rst import ConverterRST
 from converters.latex import ConverterLaTeX
 from converters.python import ConverterPy
+from converters.base import Converter
 
 
 # When adding a new format, make sure to add it to the `converters`
@@ -53,21 +54,12 @@ known_formats = ', '.join([key + " (default)" if key == default_format else key
 
 class NbconvertApp(Application):
 
-    name = Unicode('thisIsNbconvertApp',config=True)
 
     fmt = CaselessStrEnum(converters.keys(),
-                          default_value='rst', 
+                          default_value='rst',
                           config=True,
                           help="Supported conversion format")
 
-    preamble = Unicode("" ,
-                        config=True,
-                        help="Path to a user-specified preamble file")
-
-    highlight = Bool(True, 
-                     config=True,
-                     help="Enable syntax highlighting for code blocks.")
-
     exclude = List( [],
                     config=True,
                     help = 'list of cells to exclude while converting')
@@ -80,19 +72,25 @@ class NbconvertApp(Application):
 
     aliases = {
             'format':'NbconvertApp.fmt',
-            'highlight':'NbconvertApp.highlight',
-            'preamble':'NbconvertApp.preamble',
+            'highlight':'Converter.highlight_source',
+            'preamble':'Converter.preamble',
             'infile' : 'NbconvertApp.infile'
             }
 
     def __init__(self, **kwargs):
         super(NbconvertApp, self).__init__(**kwargs)
+        # ensure those are registerd
+        self.classes.insert(0,Converter)
+        self.classes.insert(0,ConverterRST)
+        self.classes.insert(0,ConverterMarkdown)
+        self.classes.insert(0,ConverterBloggerHTML)
+        self.classes.insert(0,ConverterLaTeX)
+        self.classes.insert(0,ConverterPy)
 
     def initialize(self, argv=None):
         # don't hook up crash handler before parsing command-line
         self.parse_command_line(argv)
         cl_config = self.config
-        print(self.config)
         self.update_config(cl_config)
         #self.init_crash_handler()
         #self.foo = Cnf(config=self.config)
@@ -110,14 +108,13 @@ class NbconvertApp(Application):
     def run(self):
         """Convert a notebook to html in one step"""
         ConverterClass = converters[self.fmt]
-
-        converter = ConverterClass(self.infile, highlight_source=self.highlight, preamble=self.preamble, exclude=self.exclude)
+        converter = ConverterClass(infile=self.extra_args[0],  config=self.config)
         converter.render()
 
 def main():
     """Convert a notebook to html in one step"""
     app = NbconvertApp.instance()
-    print(app.classes)
+    app.description = __doc__
     app.initialize()
     app.start()
     app.run()
@@ -126,20 +123,13 @@ def main():
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    #parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__,
-    #        formatter_class=argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter)
     # TODO: consider passing file like object around, rather than filenames
     # would allow us to process stdin, or even http streams
     #parser.add_argument('infile', nargs='?', type=argparse.FileType('r'),
     #                    default=sys.stdin)
 
-    #Require a filename as a positional argument
-    #parser.add_argument('infile', nargs=1)
     #parser.add_argument('-e', '--exclude', default='',
     #                    help='Comma-separated list of cells to exclude')
-    #parser.add_argument('-H', '--no-highlighting', action='store_false',
-    #                    help='Disable syntax highlighting for code blocks.')
-    #args = parser.parse_args()
     #exclude_cells = [s.strip() for s in args.exclude.split(',')]
 
     main()