diff --git a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInput.java b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInput.java
index f094c67805..5eb75f990e 100644
--- a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInput.java
+++ b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInput.java
@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ public class DCInput
     /** is the entry closed to vocabulary terms? */
     private boolean closedVocabulary = false;
 
+    /** the regex to comply with, null if nothing */
+    private String regex = null;
+    
     /** allowed document types */
     private List<String> typeBind = null;
 
@@ -137,6 +140,7 @@ public class DCInput
         visibility = fieldMap.get("visibility");
         readOnly = fieldMap.get("readonly");
         vocabulary = fieldMap.get("vocabulary");
+        regex = fieldMap.get("regex");
         String closedVocabularyStr = fieldMap.get("closedVocabulary");
         closedVocabulary = "true".equalsIgnoreCase(closedVocabularyStr)
                             || "yes".equalsIgnoreCase(closedVocabularyStr);
@@ -441,5 +445,13 @@ public class DCInput
 		
 		return typeBind.contains(typeName);
 	}
+
+	public String getScope() {
+		return visibility;
+	}
+
+	public String getRegex() {
+		return regex;
+	}
 	
 }
diff --git a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInputSet.java b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInputSet.java
index 0a888b7ad4..10d310382e 100644
--- a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInputSet.java
+++ b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInputSet.java
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.BooleanUtils;
+
 /**
  * Class representing all DC inputs required for a submission, organized into pages
  *
@@ -20,24 +22,46 @@ import java.util.Map;
 
 public class DCInputSet
 {
+	/** true if it is the default configuration */
+	private boolean defaultConf;
     /** name of the input set  */
     private String formName = null; 
     /** the inputs ordered by page and row position */
     private DCInput[][] inputPages = null;
     
-        /** constructor
-         * @param formName form name
-         * @param pages pages
-         * @param listMap map
-         */
-    public DCInputSet(String formName, List<List<Map<String, String>>> pages, Map<String, List<String>> listMap)
+    /** the heading of each page */
+    private String[] headings;
+    
+    /** the mandatory flag for each page */
+    private boolean[] mandatoryFlags;
+    
+	/**
+	 * constructor
+	 * 
+	 * @param formName
+	 *            form name
+	 * @param headings
+	 * @param mandatoryFlags
+	 * @param pages
+	 *            pages
+	 * @param listMap
+	 *            map
+	 */
+	public DCInputSet(boolean defaultConf, String formName, List<String> headingsList, List<Boolean> mandatoryFlagsList,
+			List<List<Map<String, String>>> pages, Map<String, List<String>> listMap)
     {
+		this.defaultConf = defaultConf;
         this.formName = formName;
         inputPages = new DCInput[pages.size()][];
+        headings = new String[pages.size()];
+        mandatoryFlags = new boolean[pages.size()];
         for ( int i = 0; i < inputPages.length; i++ )
         {
             List<Map<String, String>> page = pages.get(i);
-            inputPages[i] = new DCInput[page.size()];
+			inputPages[i] = new DCInput[page.size()];
+			headings[i] = headingsList.get(i);
+			mandatoryFlags[i] = BooleanUtils.toBooleanDefaultIfNull(mandatoryFlagsList.get(i), true);
+            
             for ( int j = 0; j < inputPages[i].length; j++ )
             {
                 inputPages[i][j] = new DCInput(page.get(j), listMap);
@@ -196,4 +220,16 @@ public class DCInputSet
 
         return true;
     }
+
+	public boolean isPageMandatory(int idx) {
+		return mandatoryFlags[idx];
+	}
+
+	public String getPageHeading(int idx) {
+		return headings[idx];
+	}
+
+	public boolean isDefaultConf() {
+		return defaultConf;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInputsReader.java b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInputsReader.java
index 9d5d1bc15f..033ef230c0 100644
--- a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInputsReader.java
+++ b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/app/util/DCInputsReader.java
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
 import org.w3c.dom.*;
 import javax.xml.parsers.*;
 
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.BooleanUtils;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.dspace.content.MetadataSchema;
 
 /**
@@ -65,6 +67,18 @@ public class DCInputsReader
      */
     private Map<String, List<List<Map<String, String>>>> formDefns  = null;
 
+    /**
+     * Reference to the forms page headings, computed from the forms
+     * definition file
+     */
+    private Map<String, List<String>> formPageHeadings  = null;
+
+    /**
+     * Reference to the forms mandatory flags, computed from the forms
+     * definition file
+     */
+    private Map<String, List<Boolean>> formMandatoryFlags = null;
+    
     /**
      * Reference to the value-pairs map, computed from the forms definition file
      */
@@ -110,7 +124,9 @@ public class DCInputsReader
         whichForms = new HashMap<String, String>();
         formDefns  = new HashMap<String, List<List<Map<String, String>>>>();
         valuePairs = new HashMap<String, List<String>>();
-
+        formMandatoryFlags = new HashMap<String, List<Boolean>>();
+        formPageHeadings = new HashMap<String, List<String>>();
+        
         String uri = "file:" + new File(fileName).getAbsolutePath();
 
         try
@@ -193,7 +209,8 @@ public class DCInputsReader
         {
             throw new DCInputsReaderException("Missing the " + formName  + " form");
         }
-        lastInputSet = new DCInputSet(formName, pages, valuePairs);
+		lastInputSet = new DCInputSet(StringUtils.equals(whichForms.get(DEFAULT_COLLECTION), formName), formName,
+				formPageHeadings.get(formName), formMandatoryFlags.get(formName), pages, valuePairs);
         return lastInputSet;
     }
     
@@ -365,7 +382,11 @@ public class DCInputsReader
                     throw new SAXException("form element has no name attribute");
                 }
                 List<List<Map<String, String>>> pages = new ArrayList<List<Map<String, String>>>(); // the form contains pages
+                List<String> pageHeadings = new ArrayList<String>();
+                List<Boolean> mandatoryFlags = new ArrayList<Boolean>();
                 formDefns.put(formName, pages);
+                formPageHeadings.put(formName, pageHeadings);
+                formMandatoryFlags.put(formName, mandatoryFlags);
                 NodeList pl = nd.getChildNodes();
                 int lenpg = pl.getLength();
                 for (int j = 0; j < lenpg; j++)
@@ -379,6 +400,8 @@ public class DCInputsReader
                         {
                             throw new SAXException("Form " + formName + " has no identified pages");
                         }
+                        pageHeadings.add(getAttribute(npg, "heading"));
+                        mandatoryFlags.add(BooleanUtils.toBoolean(getAttribute(npg, "mandatory")));
                         List<Map<String, String>> page = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();
                         pages.add(page);
                         NodeList flds = npg.getChildNodes();
diff --git a/dspace/config/input-forms.dtd b/dspace/config/input-forms.dtd
index bb6a3f762b..10c47976f9 100644
--- a/dspace/config/input-forms.dtd
+++ b/dspace/config/input-forms.dtd
@@ -13,8 +13,11 @@
  <!ELEMENT form (page)+ >
  <!ATTLIST form name NMTOKEN #REQUIRED>
  <!ELEMENT page (field)+ >
- <!ATTLIST page number NMTOKEN #REQUIRED>
- <!ELEMENT field (dc-schema, dc-element, dc-qualifier?, language?, repeatable?, label, type-bind?, input-type, hint, required?, vocabulary?, visibility?) >
+ <!ATTLIST page 
+ 				number NMTOKEN #REQUIRED
+ 				heading NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
+ 				mandatory NMTOKEN #IMPLIED>
+ <!ELEMENT field (dc-schema, dc-element, dc-qualifier?, language?, repeatable?, label, type-bind?, input-type, hint, required?, regex?, vocabulary?, visibility?) >
  <!ELEMENT dc-schema (#PCDATA) >
  <!ELEMENT dc-element (#PCDATA) >
  <!ELEMENT dc-qualifier (#PCDATA) >
@@ -27,6 +30,7 @@
   
  <!ELEMENT hint (#PCDATA) >
  <!ELEMENT required (#PCDATA)>
+ <!ELEMENT regex (#PCDATA) >
 
  <!ELEMENT form-value-pairs (value-pairs)* >
  <!ELEMENT value-pairs (pair)+ >