diff --git a/src/app/+collection-page/create-collection-page/create-collection-page.component.html b/src/app/+collection-page/create-collection-page/create-collection-page.component.html
index 9cf01f7c88..11f4f53ecd 100644
--- a/src/app/+collection-page/create-collection-page/create-collection-page.component.html
+++ b/src/app/+collection-page/create-collection-page/create-collection-page.component.html
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <div class="container">
   <div class="row">
     <div class="col-12 pb-4">
-      <ng-container *ngVar="(communityRDObs | async).payload as community">
+      <ng-container *ngVar="(communityRDObs | async)?.payload as community">
         <h2 *ngIf="!community" id="header" class="border-bottom pb-2">{{ 'collection.create.head' | translate }}</h2>
         <h2 *ngIf="community" id="sub-header" class="border-bottom pb-2">{{ 'collection.create.sub-head' | translate:{ parent: community.name } }}</h2>
       </ng-container>
diff --git a/src/app/+collection-page/create-collection-page/create-collection-page.component.ts b/src/app/+collection-page/create-collection-page/create-collection-page.component.ts
index 4f57482cbd..8f31d30441 100644
--- a/src/app/+collection-page/create-collection-page/create-collection-page.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/+collection-page/create-collection-page/create-collection-page.component.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
 import { ResponseCacheEntry } from '../../core/cache/response-cache.reducer';
 import { map } from 'rxjs/operators';
 import { RemoteData } from '../../core/data/remote-data';
+import { isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
 
 @Component({
   selector: 'ds-create-collection',
@@ -27,37 +28,34 @@ export class CreateCollectionPageComponent {
   public constructor(private collectionDataService: CollectionDataService, private communityDataService: CommunityDataService, private routeService: RouteService, private router: Router) {
     this.parentUUID$ = this.routeService.getQueryParameterValue('parent');
     this.parentUUID$.subscribe((uuid: string) => {
-      this.communityRDObs = this.communityDataService.findById(uuid);
+      if (isNotEmpty(uuid)) {
+        this.communityRDObs = this.communityDataService.findById(uuid);
+      }
     });
   }
 
   onSubmit(data: any) {
-    const collection = Object.assign(new Collection(), {
-      name: data.name,
-      metadata: [
-        { key: 'dc.description', value: data.introductory },
-        { key: 'dc.description.abstract', value: data.description },
-        { key: 'dc.rights', value: data.copyright },
-        { key: 'dc.rights.license', value: data.license }
-        // TODO: metadata for news and provenance
-      ]
-    });
     this.parentUUID$.subscribe((uuid: string) => {
-      let response$: Observable<ResponseCacheEntry>;
-      if (uuid) {
-        response$ = this.collectionDataService.create(collection, uuid);
-      } else {
-        response$ = this.collectionDataService.create(collection);
-      }
-      this.error$ = response$.pipe(
-        map((response: ResponseCacheEntry) => {
-          if (!response.response.isSuccessful && response.response instanceof ErrorResponse) {
-            return response.response;
-          } else if (response.response instanceof DSOSuccessResponse) {
-            this.router.navigateByUrl('');
-          }
-        })
-      );
+      const collection = Object.assign(new Collection(), {
+        name: data.name,
+        metadata: [
+          { key: 'dc.description', value: data.introductory },
+          { key: 'dc.description.abstract', value: data.description },
+          { key: 'dc.rights', value: data.copyright },
+          { key: 'dc.rights.license', value: data.license }
+          // TODO: metadata for news and provenance
+        ],
+        owner: Observable.of(new RemoteData(false, false, true, null, Object.assign(new Community(), {
+          id: uuid,
+          uuid: uuid
+        })))
+      });
+      this.collectionDataService.create(collection).subscribe((rd: RemoteData<Collection>) => {
+        console.log(rd);
+        if (rd.hasSucceeded) {
+          this.router.navigateByUrl('');
+        }
+      });
     });
   }
 
diff --git a/src/app/+community-page/create-community-page/create-community-page.component.html b/src/app/+community-page/create-community-page/create-community-page.component.html
index 53ca4f5020..06fd643530 100644
--- a/src/app/+community-page/create-community-page/create-community-page.component.html
+++ b/src/app/+community-page/create-community-page/create-community-page.component.html
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <div class="container">
   <div class="row">
     <div class="col-12 pb-4">
-      <ng-container *ngVar="(communityRDObs | async).payload as community">
+      <ng-container *ngVar="(communityRDObs | async)?.payload as community">
         <h2 *ngIf="!community" id="header" class="border-bottom pb-2">{{ 'community.create.head' | translate }}</h2>
         <h2 *ngIf="community" id="sub-header" class="border-bottom pb-2">{{ 'community.create.sub-head' | translate:{ parent: community.name } }}</h2>
       </ng-container>
diff --git a/src/app/+community-page/create-community-page/create-community-page.component.ts b/src/app/+community-page/create-community-page/create-community-page.component.ts
index 8f2f61ab80..04d5b8fd39 100644
--- a/src/app/+community-page/create-community-page/create-community-page.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/+community-page/create-community-page/create-community-page.component.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { map } from 'rxjs/operators';
 import { RouteService } from '../../shared/services/route.service';
 import { Router } from '@angular/router';
 import { RemoteData } from '../../core/data/remote-data';
+import { isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
 
 @Component({
   selector: 'ds-create-community',
@@ -25,36 +26,33 @@ export class CreateCommunityPageComponent {
   public constructor(private communityDataService: CommunityDataService, private routeService: RouteService, private router: Router) {
     this.parentUUID$ = this.routeService.getQueryParameterValue('parent');
     this.parentUUID$.subscribe((uuid: string) => {
-      this.communityRDObs = this.communityDataService.findById(uuid);
+      if (isNotEmpty(uuid)) {
+        this.communityRDObs = this.communityDataService.findById(uuid);
+      }
     });
   }
 
   onSubmit(data: any) {
-    const community = Object.assign(new Community(), {
-      name: data.name,
-      metadata: [
-        { key: 'dc.description', value: data.introductory },
-        { key: 'dc.description.abstract', value: data.description },
-        { key: 'dc.rights', value: data.copyright }
-        // TODO: metadata for news
-      ]
-    });
     this.parentUUID$.subscribe((uuid: string) => {
-      let response$: Observable<ResponseCacheEntry>;
-      if (uuid) {
-        response$ = this.communityDataService.create(community, uuid);
-      } else {
-        response$ = this.communityDataService.create(community);
-      }
-      this.error$ = response$.pipe(
-        map((response: ResponseCacheEntry) => {
-          if (!response.response.isSuccessful && response.response instanceof ErrorResponse) {
-            return response.response;
-          } else if (response.response instanceof DSOSuccessResponse) {
-            this.router.navigateByUrl('');
-          }
-        })
-      );
+      const community = Object.assign(new Community(), {
+        name: data.name,
+        metadata: [
+          { key: 'dc.description', value: data.introductory },
+          { key: 'dc.description.abstract', value: data.description },
+          { key: 'dc.rights', value: data.copyright }
+          // TODO: metadata for news
+        ],
+        owner: Observable.of(new RemoteData(false, false, true, null, Object.assign(new Community(), {
+          id: uuid,
+          uuid: uuid
+        })))
+      });
+      this.communityDataService.create(community).subscribe((rd: RemoteData<Community>) => {
+        console.log(rd);
+        if (rd.hasSucceeded) {
+          this.router.navigateByUrl('');
+        }
+      });
     });
   }
 
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/collection-data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/collection-data.service.ts
index 70c11ca5fc..dc3635595a 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/collection-data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/collection-data.service.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { RequestService } from './request.service';
 import { HALEndpointService } from '../shared/hal-endpoint.service';
 import { AuthService } from '../auth/auth.service';
 import { Community } from '../shared/community.model';
+import { NotificationsService } from '../../shared/notifications/notifications.service';
 
 @Injectable()
 export class CollectionDataService extends ComColDataService<NormalizedCollection, Collection> {
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/comcol-data.service.spec.ts b/src/app/core/data/comcol-data.service.spec.ts
index 5f440dd442..9cc44e65db 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/comcol-data.service.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/comcol-data.service.spec.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import { NormalizedObject } from '../cache/models/normalized-object.model';
 import { HALEndpointService } from '../shared/hal-endpoint.service';
 import { Community } from '../shared/community.model';
 import { AuthService } from '../auth/auth.service';
+import { NotificationsService } from '../../shared/notifications/notifications.service';
 
 const LINK_NAME = 'test';
 
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/comcol-data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/comcol-data.service.ts
index 745879be1f..c47d48dc07 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/comcol-data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/comcol-data.service.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@ import { configureRequest, getResponseFromSelflink } from '../shared/operators';
 import { AuthService } from '../auth/auth.service';
 import { HttpOptions } from '../dspace-rest-v2/dspace-rest-v2.service';
 import { HttpHeaders } from '@angular/common/http';
+import { RemoteData } from './remote-data';
 
 export abstract class ComColDataService<TNormalized extends NormalizedObject, TDomain>  extends DataService<TNormalized, TDomain> {
   protected abstract cds: CommunityDataService;
   protected abstract objectCache: ObjectCacheService;
   protected abstract halService: HALEndpointService;
-  protected abstract authService: AuthService;
 
   /**
    * Get the scoped endpoint URL by fetching the object with
@@ -66,36 +66,21 @@ export abstract class ComColDataService<TNormalized extends NormalizedObject, TD
     }
   }
 
-  public create(comcol: TDomain, parentUUID?: string): Observable<ResponseCacheEntry> {
-    return this.halService.getEndpoint(this.linkPath).pipe(
-      isNotEmptyOperator(),
-      distinctUntilChanged(),
-      map((endpointURL: string) => {
-        const options: HttpOptions = Object.create({});
-        const headers = new HttpHeaders();
-        headers.append('Authentication', this.authService.buildAuthHeader());
-        options.headers = headers;
-        return new PostRequest(this.requestService.generateRequestId(), endpointURL + ((parentUUID) ? this.buildCreateParams(comcol, parentUUID) : this.buildCreateParams(comcol)), options);
-      }),
-      configureRequest(this.requestService),
-      map((request: RestRequest) => request.href),
-      getResponseFromSelflink(this.responseCache)
+  public buildCreateParams(comcol): Observable<string> {
+    return comcol.owner.pipe(
+      map((rd: RemoteData<Community | Collection>) => {
+        let urlParams = '?name=' + comcol.name;
+        if (rd.payload.id) {
+          urlParams += '&parent=' + rd.payload.id;
+        }
+        if (comcol.metadata) {
+          for (const i of Object.keys(comcol.metadata)) {
+            urlParams += '&' + comcol.metadata[i].key + '=' + comcol.metadata[i].value;
+          }
+        }
+        return urlParams;
+      })
     );
   }
 
-  public buildCreateParams(comcol: TDomain, parentUUID?: string): string {
-    if (comcol instanceof Community || comcol instanceof Collection) {
-      let urlParams = '?name=' + comcol.name;
-      if (parentUUID) {
-        urlParams += '&parent=' + parentUUID;
-      }
-      if (comcol.metadata) {
-        for (const i of Object.keys(comcol.metadata)) {
-          urlParams += '&' + comcol.metadata[i].key + '=' + comcol.metadata[i].value;
-        }
-      }
-      return urlParams;
-    }
-  }
-
 }
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/community-data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/community-data.service.ts
index 9d6af5ee6f..d367b15f6b 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/community-data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/community-data.service.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { ComColDataService } from './comcol-data.service';
 import { RequestService } from './request.service';
 import { HALEndpointService } from '../shared/hal-endpoint.service';
 import { AuthService } from '../auth/auth.service';
+import { NotificationsService } from '../../shared/notifications/notifications.service';
 
 @Injectable()
 export class CommunityDataService extends ComColDataService<NormalizedCommunity, Community> {
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts
index f532ff05ba..b3b69fdd54 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Store } from '@ngrx/store';
 import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
-import { hasValue, isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
+import { hasValue, isNotEmpty, isNotEmptyOperator } from '../../shared/empty.util';
 import { RemoteDataBuildService } from '../cache/builders/remote-data-build.service';
 import { ResponseCacheService } from '../cache/response-cache.service';
 import { CoreState } from '../core.reducers';
@@ -8,9 +8,30 @@ import { HALEndpointService } from '../shared/hal-endpoint.service';
 import { URLCombiner } from '../url-combiner/url-combiner';
 import { PaginatedList } from './paginated-list';
 import { RemoteData } from './remote-data';
-import { FindAllOptions, FindAllRequest, FindByIDRequest, GetRequest } from './request.models';
+import {
+  FindAllOptions,
+  FindAllRequest,
+  FindByIDRequest,
+  GetRequest,
+  PostRequest,
+  RestRequest
+} from './request.models';
 import { RequestService } from './request.service';
 import { NormalizedObject } from '../cache/models/normalized-object.model';
+import { distinctUntilChanged, map, share, withLatestFrom } from 'rxjs/operators';
+import {
+  configureRequest,
+  filterSuccessfulResponses,
+  getRequestFromSelflink,
+  getResponseFromSelflink
+} from '../shared/operators';
+import { ResponseCacheEntry } from '../cache/response-cache.reducer';
+import { HttpOptions } from '../dspace-rest-v2/dspace-rest-v2.service';
+import { HttpHeaders } from '@angular/common/http';
+import { ErrorResponse, GenericSuccessResponse } from '../cache/response-cache.models';
+import { BrowseEntry } from '../shared/browse-entry.model';
+import { AuthService } from '../auth/auth.service';
+import { NotificationsService } from '../../shared/notifications/notifications.service';
 
 export abstract class DataService<TNormalized extends NormalizedObject, TDomain> {
   protected abstract responseCache: ResponseCacheService;
@@ -19,6 +40,7 @@ export abstract class DataService<TNormalized extends NormalizedObject, TDomain>
   protected abstract store: Store<CoreState>;
   protected abstract linkPath: string;
   protected abstract halService: HALEndpointService;
+  protected abstract authService: AuthService;
 
   public abstract getScopedEndpoint(scope: string): Observable<string>
 
@@ -91,21 +113,37 @@ export abstract class DataService<TNormalized extends NormalizedObject, TDomain>
     return this.rdbService.buildSingle<TNormalized, TDomain>(href);
   }
 
-  // TODO implement, after the structure of the REST server's POST response is finalized
-  // create(dso: DSpaceObject): Observable<RemoteData<TDomain>> {
-  //   const postHrefObs = this.getEndpoint();
-  //
-  //   // TODO ID is unknown at this point
-  //   const idHrefObs = postHrefObs.map((href: string) => this.getFindByIDHref(href, dso.id));
-  //
-  //   postHrefObs
-  //     .filter((href: string) => hasValue(href))
-  //     .take(1)
-  //     .subscribe((href: string) => {
-  //       const request = new RestRequest(this.requestService.generateRequestId(), href, RestRequestMethod.Post, dso);
-  //       this.requestService.configure(request);
-  //     });
-  //
-  //   return this.rdbService.buildSingle<TNormalized, TDomain>(idHrefObs, this.normalizedResourceType);
-  // }
+  public create(dso: TDomain): Observable<RemoteData<TDomain>> {
+    const request$ = this.halService.getEndpoint(this.linkPath).pipe(
+      isNotEmptyOperator(),
+      distinctUntilChanged(),
+      withLatestFrom(this.buildCreateParams(dso)),
+      map(([endpointURL, params]) => {
+        const options: HttpOptions = Object.create({});
+        const headers = new HttpHeaders();
+        headers.append('Authentication', this.authService.buildAuthHeader());
+        options.headers = headers;
+        return new PostRequest(this.requestService.generateRequestId(), endpointURL + params, options);
+      }),
+      configureRequest(this.requestService),
+      share()
+    );
+
+    const href$ = request$.pipe(map((request: RestRequest) => request.href));
+
+    const requestEntry$ = href$.pipe(getRequestFromSelflink(this.requestService));
+    const responseCache$ = href$.pipe(getResponseFromSelflink(this.responseCache));
+
+    const payload$ = responseCache$.pipe(
+      filterSuccessfulResponses(),
+      map((entry: ResponseCacheEntry) => entry.response),
+      map((response: GenericSuccessResponse<TDomain>) => response.payload),
+      distinctUntilChanged()
+    );
+
+    return this.rdbService.toRemoteDataObservable(requestEntry$, responseCache$, payload$);
+  }
+
+  public abstract buildCreateParams(dso: TDomain): Observable<string>;
+
 }
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/item-data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/item-data.service.ts
index 6b0937d8e4..d1db71b78d 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/item-data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/item-data.service.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ import { URLCombiner } from '../url-combiner/url-combiner';
 import { DataService } from './data.service';
 import { RequestService } from './request.service';
 import { HALEndpointService } from '../shared/hal-endpoint.service';
+import { NotificationsService } from '../../shared/notifications/notifications.service';
+import { AuthService } from '../auth/auth.service';
 
 @Injectable()
 export class ItemDataService extends DataService<NormalizedItem, Item> {
@@ -26,7 +28,8 @@ export class ItemDataService extends DataService<NormalizedItem, Item> {
     protected rdbService: RemoteDataBuildService,
     protected store: Store<CoreState>,
     private bs: BrowseService,
-    protected halService: HALEndpointService) {
+    protected halService: HALEndpointService,
+    protected authService: AuthService) {
     super();
   }
 
@@ -41,4 +44,9 @@ export class ItemDataService extends DataService<NormalizedItem, Item> {
     }
   }
 
+  buildCreateParams(dso: Item): Observable<string> {
+    // TODO: Build parameters for creating an Item on the REST service
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
 }