diff --git a/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_baseWidget.js b/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_baseWidget.js
index 0c94c9b37e..017622618d 100644
--- a/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_baseWidget.js
+++ b/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_baseWidget.js
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ require("./et2_core_interfaces");
 require("./et2_core_common");
 var et2_core_DOMWidget_1 = require("./et2_core_DOMWidget");
 var et2_core_inheritance_1 = require("./et2_core_inheritance");
+var et2_core_widget_1 = require("./et2_core_widget");
 /**
  * Class which manages the DOM node itself. The simpleWidget class is derrived
  * from et2_DOMWidget and implements the getDOMNode function. A setDOMNode
@@ -273,8 +274,11 @@ var et2_container = /** @class */ (function (_super) {
      * Constructor
      */
     function et2_container(_parent, _attrs, _child) {
+        var _this = 
         // Call the inherited constructor
-        return _super.call(this, _parent, _attrs, et2_core_inheritance_1.ClassWithAttributes.extendAttributes(et2_core_DOMWidget_1.et2_DOMWidget._attributes, _child || {})) || this;
+        _super.call(this, _parent, _attrs, et2_core_inheritance_1.ClassWithAttributes.extendAttributes(et2_core_DOMWidget_1.et2_DOMWidget._attributes, _child || {})) || this;
+        _this.setDOMNode(document.createElement("div"));
+        return _this;
     }
     /**
      * The destroy function destroys all children of the widget, removes itself
@@ -295,6 +299,8 @@ var et2_container = /** @class */ (function (_super) {
     };
     return et2_container;
 }(et2_baseWidget));
+// Register widget for attributes, but not for any xml tags
+et2_core_widget_1.et2_register_widget(et2_container, []);
 /**
  * Container object for not-yet supported widgets
  *
@@ -354,4 +360,6 @@ var et2_placeholder = /** @class */ (function (_super) {
     };
     return et2_placeholder;
 }(et2_baseWidget));
+// Register widget, but no tags
+et2_core_widget_1.et2_register_widget(et2_placeholder, []);
 //# sourceMappingURL=et2_core_baseWidget.js.map
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_baseWidget.ts b/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_baseWidget.ts
index 44e6fada90..21feac8761 100644
--- a/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_baseWidget.ts
+++ b/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_baseWidget.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import './et2_core_interfaces';
 import './et2_core_common';
 import {et2_DOMWidget} from './et2_core_DOMWidget';
 import {ClassWithAttributes} from "./et2_core_inheritance";
-import {et2_widget, WidgetConfig} from "./et2_core_widget";
+import {et2_register_widget, et2_widget, WidgetConfig} from "./et2_core_widget";
 
 /**
  * Class which manages the DOM node itself. The simpleWidget class is derrived
@@ -337,6 +337,8 @@ class et2_container extends et2_baseWidget
 	{
 		// Call the inherited constructor
 		super(_parent, _attrs, ClassWithAttributes.extendAttributes(et2_DOMWidget._attributes, _child || {}));
+
+		this.setDOMNode(document.createElement("div"));
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -362,6 +364,8 @@ class et2_container extends et2_baseWidget
 		}
 	}
 }
+// Register widget for attributes, but not for any xml tags
+et2_register_widget(et2_container, []);
 
 /**
  * Container object for not-yet supported widgets
@@ -446,4 +450,5 @@ class et2_placeholder extends et2_baseWidget implements et2_IDetachedDOM
 		this.placeDiv = jQuery(_nodes[0]);
 	}
 }
-
+// Register widget, but no tags
+et2_register_widget(et2_placeholder, []);
diff --git a/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_widget.js b/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_widget.js
index d5b3744859..faeb19360a 100644
--- a/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_widget.js
+++ b/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_widget.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ var et2_core_inheritance_1 = require("./et2_core_inheritance");
 var et2_registry = {};
 var et2_attribute_registry = {};
 /**
- * Registers the widget class defined by the given constructor and associates it
+ * Registers the widget class defined by the given constructor, registers all its class attributes, and associates it
  * with the types in the _types array.
  *
  * @param {function} _constructor constructor
diff --git a/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_widget.ts b/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_widget.ts
index d9092ae822..56c3595492 100644
--- a/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_widget.ts
+++ b/api/js/etemplate/et2_core_widget.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ var et2_attribute_registry = {};
 
 
 /**
- * Registers the widget class defined by the given constructor and associates it
+ * Registers the widget class defined by the given constructor, registers all its class attributes, and associates it
  * with the types in the _types array.
  *
  * @param {function} _constructor constructor
diff --git a/api/js/etemplate/et2_widget_box.js b/api/js/etemplate/et2_widget_box.js
index 8666aa8df0..48f43af9b2 100644
--- a/api/js/etemplate/et2_widget_box.js
+++ b/api/js/etemplate/et2_widget_box.js
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ Object.defineProperty(exports, "__esModule", { value: true });
 */
 var et2_core_widget_1 = require("./et2_core_widget");
 var et2_core_baseWidget_1 = require("./et2_core_baseWidget");
-var et2_core_xml_1 = require("./et2_core_xml");
 /**
  * Class which implements box and vbox tag
  *
@@ -81,7 +80,7 @@ var et2_box = /** @class */ (function (_super) {
                 continue;
             }
             // Create the new element, if no expansion needed
-            var id = et2_core_xml_1.et2_readAttrWithDefault(node, "id", "");
+            var id = et2_readAttrWithDefault(node, "id", "");
             if (id.indexOf('$') < 0 || widgetType != 'box') {
                 this.createElementFromNode(node);
                 childIndex++;
diff --git a/api/js/etemplate/et2_widget_box.ts b/api/js/etemplate/et2_widget_box.ts
index 3c49d9d47a..df79061fab 100644
--- a/api/js/etemplate/et2_widget_box.ts
+++ b/api/js/etemplate/et2_widget_box.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 
 import {et2_register_widget, WidgetConfig} from "./et2_core_widget";
 import {et2_baseWidget} from "./et2_core_baseWidget";
-import {et2_readAttrWithDefault} from './et2_core_xml'
 
 /**
  * Class which implements box and vbox tag