diff --git a/cassandraengine/__init__.py b/cassandraengine/__init__.py
index e69de29b..af95d0b0 100644
--- a/cassandraengine/__init__.py
+++ b/cassandraengine/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from cassandraengine.columns import *
+from cassandraengine.models import Model
+
diff --git a/cassandraengine/columns.py b/cassandraengine/columns.py
index 7c90f558..747cfba9 100644
--- a/cassandraengine/columns.py
+++ b/cassandraengine/columns.py
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@ from uuid import uuid1, uuid4
 from cassandraengine.exceptions import ValidationError
 
 class BaseColumn(object):
-    """
-    The base column
-    """
 
     #the cassandra type this column maps to
     db_type = None
diff --git a/cassandraengine/exceptions.py b/cassandraengine/exceptions.py
index a6851887..4b20f7a3 100644
--- a/cassandraengine/exceptions.py
+++ b/cassandraengine/exceptions.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 #cassandraengine exceptions
-class ColumnFamilyException(BaseException): pass
+class ModelException(BaseException): pass
 class ValidationError(BaseException): pass
 
diff --git a/cassandraengine/models.py b/cassandraengine/models.py
index c3fce738..4e5bd9d3 100644
--- a/cassandraengine/models.py
+++ b/cassandraengine/models.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 
 from cassandraengine import columns
-from cassandraengine.exceptions import ColumnFamilyException
+from cassandraengine.exceptions import ModelException
 from cassandraengine.manager import Manager
 
 class BaseModel(object):
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ class BaseModel(object):
     The base model class, don't inherit from this, inherit from Model, defined below
     """
 
+    #table names will be generated automatically from it's model name and package
+    #however, you can alse define them manually here
     db_name = None
 
     def __init__(self, **values):
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ class ModelMetaClass(type):
             if isinstance(v, columns.BaseColumn):
                 if v.is_primary_key:
                     if pk_name:
-                        raise ColumnFamilyException("More than one primary key defined for {}".format(name))
+                        raise ModelException("More than one primary key defined for {}".format(name))
                     pk_name = k
                 _columns[k] = attrs.pop(k)
                 _columns[k].set_db_name(k)
@@ -96,8 +98,8 @@ class ModelMetaClass(type):
         col_names = set()
         for k,v in _columns.items():
             if v.db_field in col_names:
-                raise ColumnFamilyException("{} defines the column {} more than once".format(name, v.db_field))
-            col_names.add(k)
+                raise ModelException("{} defines the column {} more than once".format(name, v.db_field))
+            col_names.add(v.db_field)
 
         #get column family name
         cf_name = attrs.pop('db_name', None) or name