diff --git a/docs/vuepress.config.js b/docs/vuepress.config.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..309faee8fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/vuepress.config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+module.exports = {
+  data: {
+    title: 'VuePress'
+  }
+}
diff --git a/lib/app/Content.js b/lib/app/Content.js
index 001cb6c4a7..eaf33e7cbf 100644
--- a/lib/app/Content.js
+++ b/lib/app/Content.js
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 export default {
   created () {
     if (this.$ssrContext) {
-      this.$ssrContext.title = getMetadata(this, 'title') || 'VuePress'
-      this.$ssrContext.lang = getMetadata(this, 'lang') || 'en'
+      this.$ssrContext.title = getTitle(this)
+      this.$ssrContext.lang = getLang(this)
     }
   },
   mounted () {
     const updateMeta = () => {
-      document.title = getMetadata(this, 'title') || 'VuePress'
-      document.documentElement.lang = getMetadata(this, 'lang') || 'en'
+      document.title = getTitle(this)
+      document.documentElement.lang = getLang(this)
     }
     this.$watch('$page', updateMeta)
     updateMeta()
@@ -24,6 +24,21 @@ export default {
   }
 }
 
-function getMetadata (vm, key) {
-  return vm.$page.frontmatter[key] || vm.$page[key] || vm.$site[key]
+function getTitle (vm) {
+  const selfTitle = (
+    vm.$page.frontmatter.title || // explicit title
+    vm.$page.title // inferred title
+  )
+  const siteTitle = vm.$site.title
+  return siteTitle
+    ? selfTitle
+      ? siteTitle + ' | ' + selfTitle
+      : siteTitle
+    : selfTitle
+      ? selfTitle
+      : 'VuePress'
+}
+
+function getLang (vm) {
+  return vm.$page.frontmatter.lang
 }
diff --git a/lib/default-theme/Layout.vue b/lib/default-theme/Layout.vue
index ecf4585292..50d273d14e 100644
--- a/lib/default-theme/Layout.vue
+++ b/lib/default-theme/Layout.vue
@@ -34,3 +34,19 @@ export default {
 
 <style src="prismjs/themes/prism-tomorrow.css"></style>
 <style src="./nprogress.css"></style>
+<style>
+.theme-container {
+  font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif;
+}
+
+pre[class*="language-"] {
+  line-height: 1.4;
+  border-radius: 5px;
+}
+
+pre[class*="language-"] code {
+  font-family: source-code-pro, Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, "Courier New", monospace;
+  font-size: 14px;
+  -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
+}
+</style>
diff --git a/lib/markdown/highlight.js b/lib/markdown/highlight.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e9c35dbe40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/markdown/highlight.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+const prism = require('prismjs')
+const loadLanguages = require('prismjs/components/index')
+
+module.exports = (str, lang) => {
+  if (lang === 'vue') {
+    lang = 'html'
+  }
+  if (!prism.languages[lang]) {
+    try {
+      loadLanguages([lang])
+    } catch (e) {
+      throw new Error(`[vuepress] Syntax highlight for language "${lang}" is not supported.`)
+      return ''
+    }
+  }
+  if (prism.languages[lang]) {
+    let res = prism.highlight(str, prism.languages[lang], lang)
+    return `<pre class="language-${lang}"><code v-pre>${res}</code></pre>`
+  }
+  return ''
+}
diff --git a/lib/markdown/index.js b/lib/markdown/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..be0045c563
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/markdown/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+const highlight = require('./highlight')
+const convertRouterLink = require('./link')
+const container = require('markdown-it-container')
+
+// TODO extract <style> blocks and <script> blocks
+// TODO support inline demo
+
+module.exports = require('markdown-it')({
+  html: true,
+  typographer: true,
+  highlight
+})
+.use(convertRouterLink)
+.use(container, 'tip')
+.use(container, 'warning')
+.use(container, 'danger')
diff --git a/lib/markdown/link.js b/lib/markdown/link.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4f17c6b59d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/markdown/link.js
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+module.exports = md => {
+  let hasOpenLink = false
+
+  md.renderer.rules.link_open = (tokens, idx, options, env, self) => {
+    const token = tokens[idx]
+    const hrefIndex = token.attrIndex('href')
+    if (hrefIndex >= 0) {
+      const link = token.attrs[hrefIndex]
+      const href = link[1]
+      if (!/^https?:/.test(href) && /\.(md|html)$/.test(href)) {
+        hasOpenLink = true
+        tokens[idx] = toRouterLink(token, link)
+      }
+    }
+    return self.renderToken(tokens, idx, options)
+  }
+
+  function toRouterLink (token, link) {
+    link[0] = 'to'
+    link[1] = link[1].replace(/\.md$/, '.html')
+    return Object.assign({}, token, {
+      tag: 'router-link'
+    })
+  }
+
+  md.renderer.rules.link_close = (tokens, idx, options, env, self) => {
+    const token = tokens[idx]
+    if (hasOpenLink) {
+      token.tag = 'router-link'
+      hasOpenLink = false
+    }
+    return self.renderToken(tokens, idx, options)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/lib/prepare.js b/lib/prepare.js
index 9a4364cdc2..3ce5ff3ab5 100644
--- a/lib/prepare.js
+++ b/lib/prepare.js
@@ -31,26 +31,45 @@ module.exports = async function prepare (sourceDir) {
 
 async function resolveOptions (sourceDir) {
   const configPath = path.resolve(sourceDir, 'vuepress.config.js')
-  const siteConfig = fs.existsSync(configPath) ? require(configPath) : {}
+  const userConfig = fs.existsSync(configPath) ? require(configPath) : {}
+
+  const hasTheme = userConfig.theme || fs.existsSync(path.resolve(sourceDir, '_theme'))
 
   const options = {
-    siteConfig,
     sourceDir,
-    publicPath: siteConfig.baseUrl || '/',
-    themePath: path.resolve(__dirname, 'default-theme/Layout.vue'),
-    notFoundPath: path.resolve(__dirname, 'default-theme/NotFound.vue'),
+    publicPath: userConfig.baseUrl || '/',
     pages: await globby(['**/*.md'], { cwd: sourceDir })
   }
 
-  // resolve theme
-  const themePath = path.resolve(sourceDir, '_theme/Layout.vue')
-  if (fs.existsSync(themePath)) {
-    options.themePath = themePath
-  }
+  if (!hasTheme) {
+    // use default theme
+    options.siteConfig = userConfig
+    options.themePath = path.resolve(__dirname, 'default-theme/Layout.vue')
+    options.notFoundPath = path.resolve(__dirname, 'default-theme/NotFound.vue')
+  } else {
+    // resolve theme
+    const themeDir = userConfig.theme
+      ? path.resolve(__dirname, `../../${userConfig.theme}`)
+      : path.resolve(sourceDir, '_theme')
+    const themeConfigPath = path.resolve(themeDir, 'config.js')
+    const themeConfig = fs.existsSync(themeConfigPath)
+      ? require(themeConfigPath)
+      : {}
+    options.siteConfig = Object.assign(themeConfig, userConfig)
+
+    const themePath = path.resolve(themeDir, 'Layout.vue')
+    if (fs.existsSync(themePath)) {
+      options.themePath = themePath
+    } else {
+      throw new Error('[vuepress] Custom theme must have a Layout.vue file.')
+    }
 
-  const notFoundPath = path.resolve(sourceDir, '_theme/NotFound.vue')
-  if (fs.existsSync(notFoundPath)) {
-    options.notFoundPath = notFoundPath
+    const notFoundPath = path.resolve(themeDir, '/NotFound.vue')
+    if (fs.existsSync(notFoundPath)) {
+      options.notFoundPath = notFoundPath
+    } else {
+      throw new Error('[vuepress] Custom theme must have a NotFound.vue file.')
+    }
   }
 
   const pagesData = options.pages.map(file => {
@@ -75,7 +94,7 @@ async function resolveOptions (sourceDir) {
     return data
   })
 
-  options.siteData = Object.assign({}, siteConfig.data, {
+  options.siteData = Object.assign({}, userConfig.data, {
     pages: pagesData
   })
 
diff --git a/lib/webpack/markdownLoader.js b/lib/webpack/markdownLoader.js
index d3192efbd9..3e55ed591c 100644
--- a/lib/webpack/markdownLoader.js
+++ b/lib/webpack/markdownLoader.js
@@ -1,35 +1,8 @@
-const prism = require('prismjs')
+const md = require('../markdown')
 const frontmatter = require('yaml-front-matter')
-const loadLanguages = require('prismjs/components/index')
-
-const md = require('markdown-it')({
-  html: true,
-  typographer: true,
-  highlight: (str, lang) => {
-    if (lang === 'vue') {
-      lang = 'html'
-    }
-    if (!prism.languages[lang]) {
-      try {
-        loadLanguages([lang])
-      } catch (e) {
-        throw new Error(`[vuepress] Syntax highlight for language "${lang}" is not supported.`)
-        return ''
-      }
-    }
-    if (prism.languages[lang]) {
-      let res = prism.highlight(str, prism.languages[lang], lang)
-      return `<pre class="language-${lang}"><code v-pre>${res}</code></pre>`
-    }
-    return ''
-  }
-})
-
-// TODO containers (warning, tip, etc.)
-// TODO translate links to router-link & translate md links to html
-// TODO support using code blocks as demo
 
 module.exports = function (src) {
+  currentFile = this.resourcePath
   const content = frontmatter.loadFront(src).__content
   const html = md.render(content)
   return `<template><div class="markdown">${html}</div></template>`