diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c42bd5e..1890d3d 100755
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -120,13 +120,11 @@ app/static/bootstrap
 /app/static/css/
 /app/static/js/
 /app/static/javascriptaddons/
-.idea
-/config.py
+
 instance/config.py
 .idea/
 /passwords.py
-config.py
-crons.txt
+
 getnewitems.py
 helperfunctions/
 test.py
diff --git a/config.py b/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..45e19a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import os
+
+def load_config(mode=os.environ.get('MODE')):
+
+    try:
+        print(f"mode is {mode}")
+        if mode == 'PRODUCTION':
+          
+            from prod_settings import ApplicationConfig
+            return ApplicationConfig
+        elif mode == 'DEVELOPMENT':
+        
+            from local_settings import ApplicationConfig
+            return ApplicationConfig
+        else:
+            pass
+
+    except ImportError:
+        from local_settings import ApplicationConfig
+        return ApplicationConfig
\ No newline at end of file