diff --git a/vasl_templates/webapp/static/help/index.html b/vasl_templates/webapp/static/help/index.html
index 7b13a2c..7c7a1cb 100644
--- a/vasl_templates/webapp/static/help/index.html
+++ b/vasl_templates/webapp/static/help/index.html
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
     <div style="margin:1em;"> Javascript is disabled. Please enable it, then reload this page. </div>
 </noscript>
 
-<img id="loader" src='images/loader.gif' style="position:fixed;top:50%;left:50%;margin-top:-16px;margin-left:-16px;">
+<img id="loader" src='images/loader.gif' style="display:none;position:fixed;top:50%;left:50%;margin-top:-16px;margin-left:-16px;">
 
 <!-- ----------------------------------------------------------------- -->
 
diff --git a/vasl_templates/webapp/static/help/main.js b/vasl_templates/webapp/static/help/main.js
index dfbbc3f..da0e099 100644
--- a/vasl_templates/webapp/static/help/main.js
+++ b/vasl_templates/webapp/static/help/main.js
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 
 $(document).ready( function() {
 
+    // initialize
+    $( "#loader" ).fadeIn( 250, function() {
+
     // set the application name
     var $caption = $( "#app-name" ) ;
     var version = getUrlParam( "version" ) ;
@@ -71,7 +74,10 @@ $(document).ready( function() {
     var anchor = window.location.hash.substring( 1 ) ;
     if ( anchor )
         $( "a[name='" + anchor + "']" )[0].scrollIntoView() ;
-} ) ;
+
+} ) ; // nb: this closes the fadeIn() callback
+
+} ) ; // nb: this closes the $(document).ready() handler
 
 // --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/vasl_templates/webapp/static/main.js b/vasl_templates/webapp/static/main.js
index 9e3add5..2923531 100644
--- a/vasl_templates/webapp/static/main.js
+++ b/vasl_templates/webapp/static/main.js
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ EDIT_TEMPLATE_HINT = "Edit the template" ;
 
 $(document).ready( function () {
 
+    // initialize
+    $( "#loader" ).fadeIn( 250, function() {
+
     // initialize the PyQt web channel
     if ( getUrlParam( "pyqt" ) ) {
         $.getScript( "qrc:///qtwebchannel/qwebchannel.js", function() {
@@ -543,7 +546,10 @@ $(document).ready( function () {
 
     // flag that we've finished initialization
     update_page_load_status( "main" ) ;
-} ) ;
+
+} ) ; // nb: this closes the fadeIn() callback
+
+} ) ; // nb: this closes the $(document).ready() handler
 
 function init_player_droplists()
 {
diff --git a/vasl_templates/webapp/templates/index.html b/vasl_templates/webapp/templates/index.html
index cb904af..c97cb26 100644
--- a/vasl_templates/webapp/templates/index.html
+++ b/vasl_templates/webapp/templates/index.html
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
     <div style="margin:1em;"> Javascript is disabled. Please enable it, then reload this page. </div>
 </noscript>
 
-<img id="loader" src="{{url_for('static',filename='images/loader.gif')}}" style="position:fixed;top:50%;left:50%;margin-top:-16px;margin-left:-16px;z-index:999;">
+<img id="loader" src="{{url_for('static',filename='images/loader.gif')}}" style="display:none;position:fixed;top:50%;left:50%;margin-top:-16px;margin-left:-16px;z-index:999;">
 
 <!-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
 
diff --git a/vasl_templates/webapp/tests/test_turn_track.py b/vasl_templates/webapp/tests/test_turn_track.py
index 0bc3d00..2f86e1e 100644
--- a/vasl_templates/webapp/tests/test_turn_track.py
+++ b/vasl_templates/webapp/tests/test_turn_track.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import Select
 from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys
 
 from vasl_templates.webapp.tests.utils import \
-    init_webapp, get_turn_track_nturns, set_turn_track_nturns, select_droplist_val, get_droplist_vals, \
+    init_webapp, refresh_webapp, get_turn_track_nturns, set_turn_track_nturns, select_droplist_val, get_droplist_vals, \
     SwitchFrame, unload_table, wait_for, wait_for_elem, wait_for_clipboard, find_child
 from vasl_templates.webapp.tests.test_scenario_persistence import load_scenario, save_scenario
 
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ def test_turn_track_persistence( webapp, webdriver ):
     assert _generate_turn_track_snippet( None ) == expected
 
     # reset the scenario
-    webdriver.refresh()
+    refresh_webapp()
     assert not find_child( "button.generate[data-id='turn_track']" ).is_displayed()
 
     # load the scenario and generate the snippet
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ def test_turn_track_droplist( webapp, webdriver ):
     # save and reload the scenario
     find_child( ".ui-dialog.turn-track" ).send_keys( Keys.ESCAPE )
     saved_scenario = save_scenario()
-    webdriver.refresh()
+    refresh_webapp()
     load_scenario( saved_scenario )
     assert _unload_turn_track_droplist() == expected
 
diff --git a/vasl_templates/webapp/tests/utils.py b/vasl_templates/webapp/tests/utils.py
index f06729f..168651f 100644
--- a/vasl_templates/webapp/tests/utils.py
+++ b/vasl_templates/webapp/tests/utils.py
@@ -72,7 +72,10 @@ def init_webapp( webapp, webdriver, **options ):
     # reset the user settings
     webdriver.delete_all_cookies()
 
-# - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+def refresh_webapp():
+    """Refresh the webapp."""
+    _webdriver.refresh()
+    _wait_for_webapp()
 
 def _wait_for_webapp():
     """Wait for the webapp to finish initialization."""