diff --git a/members/diesel-demo/src/main.rs b/members/diesel-demo/src/main.rs
index a73b0d0..32b1f93 100644
--- a/members/diesel-demo/src/main.rs
+++ b/members/diesel-demo/src/main.rs
@@ -3,14 +3,15 @@ use diesel_demo::models::{Post, PostDraft};
 use libpt::log::{self, debug, error, trace, warn};
 
 const HELP_TEXT: &str = "\
-                help                -     show this menu\n\
+                help|?              -     show this menu\n\
                 exit                -     exit the application\n\
                 list                -     list all posts\n\
                 publish [id]        -     publish the post with the id [id]\n\
                 unpublish [id]      -     make the post with the id [id] a draft\n\
                 delete [id]         -     delete the post with the id [id]\n\
-                read [id]           -     display the post with the id [id]\n\
+                read|show [id]      -     display the post with the id [id]\n\
                 new                 -     create a new post";
+const USAGE_TEXT: &str = "Bad input: try 'help'";
 
 use colored::*;
 
@@ -40,9 +41,9 @@ fn repl(conn: &mut SqliteConnection) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     loop {
         lib::read_buf_interactive(&mut buf)?;
         buf = buf.to_uppercase();
-        if buf.starts_with("HELP") {
+        if buf.starts_with("HELP") || buf.starts_with("?") {
             println!("{}", HELP_TEXT.bright_blue())
-        } else if buf.starts_with("EXIT") {
+        } else if buf.starts_with("EXIT") || buf.is_empty() {
             break;
         } else if buf.starts_with("UNPUBLISH") {
             let id: i32 = match get_id(&buf) {
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ fn repl(conn: &mut SqliteConnection) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
                     }
                 }
             };
-        } else if buf.starts_with("READ") {
+        } else if buf.starts_with("READ") || buf.starts_with("SHOW") {
             let id: i32 = match get_id(&buf) {
                 Some(i) => i,
                 None => continue,
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@ fn repl(conn: &mut SqliteConnection) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         } else if buf.starts_with("NEW") {
             let post = PostDraft::interactive_create()?;
             let _ = post.post(conn).inspect_err(|e| {
-                error!("Could not submit the post: {e:?}");
+                error!("Could not submit the post: {}", e.to_string());
             });
         } else {
             usage()
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ fn repl(conn: &mut SqliteConnection) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
 }
 
 fn usage() {
-    println!("Bad input: try 'help'");
+    println!("{}", USAGE_TEXT.red().bold());
 }
 
 fn get_id(buf: &str) -> Option<i32> {
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ fn get_id(buf: &str) -> Option<i32> {
         Some(s) => match s.parse() {
             Ok(i) => Some(i),
             Err(e) => {
-                error!("could not parse the id: {e:?}");
+                error!("could not parse the id: {}", e.to_string());
                 None
             }
         },