diff --git a/attract/application/__init__.py b/attract/application/__init__.py
index ae8af7ac..d783e9af 100644
--- a/attract/application/__init__.py
+++ b/attract/application/__init__.py
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ from bson import ObjectId
 from datetime import datetime
 from datetime import timedelta
 
+
+RFC1123_DATE_FORMAT = '%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S GMT'
+
+
 class SystemUtility():
     def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
         raise TypeError("Base class may not be instantiated")
@@ -126,6 +130,13 @@ class ValidateCustomFields(Validator):
         lookup['_id'] = ObjectId(self.document['node_type'])
         node_type = node_types.find_one(lookup)
 
+        # TODO make this REAL!
+        try:
+            value['time']['start'] = datetime.strptime(
+                value['time']['start'], RFC1123_DATE_FORMAT)
+        except:
+            pass
+
         v = Validator(node_type['dyn_schema'])
         val = v.validate(value)
         if val:
diff --git a/attract/manage.py b/attract/manage.py
index cf993242..a7549240 100644
--- a/attract/manage.py
+++ b/attract/manage.py
@@ -132,9 +132,15 @@ def populate_node_types(old_ids={}):
                 "schema": {
                     "users": {
                         "type": "list",
+                        "schema": {
+                            "type": "string",
+                        }
                     },
                     "groups": {
                         "type": "list",
+                        "schema": {
+                            "type": "string",
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             },