diff --git a/config/initializers/column_definition.rb b/config/initializers/column_definition.rb
index 31fa564cc..ec8438adf 100644
--- a/config/initializers/column_definition.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/column_definition.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,19 @@
+# prior to MySQL5.7, MySQL would silently convert a column that is part of a primary key and is
+# DEFAULT NULL into NOT NULL with a default value of 0 (non standard behavior and not a recommended 
+# practice) As of MySQL 5.7, this column is converted to NOT NULL, but without a default value, 
+# throwing an error.
+
+# the below customization both prevents that error and standardizes all of the DBs primary key data 
+# with a SQL compliant syntax. All the primary keys will be sequential numbers starting from 1. 
+
+# Plese keep in mind the compatability of this initializer with your db - if you do not want
+# all of your primary keys to be sequential numbers then you can customize this function further 
+
+# or, alternatively, 
+
+# This can also be removed if DEFAULT NULL is removed from all columns;
+# Read more at https://github.com/publiclab/mapknitter/pull/323
+
 class ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::ColumnDefinition
   def sql_type
     type.to_sym == :primary_key ? 'int(11) auto_increment PRIMARY KEY' : base.type_to_sql(type.to_sym, limit, precision, scale) rescue type
diff --git a/config/initializers/duration.rb b/config/initializers/duration.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d38feb3b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/duration.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# pulled from https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/v3.2.22.5/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/numeric/time.rb
+
+class Numeric
+  def days
+    ActiveSupport::Duration.new(24.hours * self, [[:days, self]])
+  end
+  alias :day :days
+
+  def weeks
+    ActiveSupport::Duration.new(7.days * self, [[:days, self * 7]])
+  end
+  alias :week :weeks
+
+  def fortnights
+    ActiveSupport::Duration.new(2.weeks * self, [[:days, self * 14]])
+  end
+  alias :fortnight :fortnights
+end
+
+# pulled from https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/v3.2.22.5/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/integer/time.rb
+
+class Integer
+  def months
+    ActiveSupport::Duration.new(30.days * self, [[:months, self]])
+  end
+  alias :month :months
+
+  def years
+    ActiveSupport::Duration.new(365.25.days * self, [[:years, self]])
+  end
+  alias :year :years
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/config/initializers/visitor.rb b/config/initializers/visitor.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9f93ea9a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/visitor.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# this is a customization created to bridge incompatabilities when upgrading Ruby 2.1.2
+# to 2.4.4 with Rails 3.2. 
+
+#explanation 
+# Ruby 2.4 unifies Fixnum and Bignum into Integer: https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/12005
+# Ruby ~2.3 `1234.class` is `Fixnum` and `123456789012345678901234567890.class` is `Bignum`.
+# Ruby 2.4+ `1234.class` is `Integer` and `123456789012345678901234567890.class` is `Integer`.
+
+# So for compatability with 2.4 arel defined a visit_Integer method
+
+# Arel is now bundled in the Active Record gem, and maintained in the rails/rails repository. 
+# This code can be deleted on update to `activerecord >= 6.0`, which is available in Rails 6.0
+
+module Arel
+  module Visitors
+    class DepthFirst < Arel::Visitors::Visitor
+      alias :visit_Integer :terminal
+    end
+
+    class Dot < Arel::Visitors::Visitor
+      alias :visit_Integer :visit_String
+    end
+
+    class ToSql < Arel::Visitors::Visitor
+      alias :visit_Integer :literal
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file