diff --git a/htdocs/lib/user.php b/htdocs/lib/user.php
index 338087575a7d749ef39ce21cd9d2b27934c24c65..512f1a496c80ae24001bbe1fc7dca9712774c746 100644
--- a/htdocs/lib/user.php
+++ b/htdocs/lib/user.php
@@ -2023,6 +2023,9 @@ function build_onlinelist_html(&$data, $page) {
         'count' => $data['count'],
         'limit' => $data['limit'],
         'offset' => $data['offset'],
+        'datatable' => 'onlinelist',
+        'jsonscript' => 'user/online.json.php',
+        'setlimit' => true,
         'resultcounttextsingular' => $resultcounttextsingular,
         'resultcounttextplural' => $resultcounttextplural,
         'extradata' => array('page' => $page),
diff --git a/htdocs/theme/raw/templates/user/online.tpl b/htdocs/theme/raw/templates/user/online.tpl
index 3f29ce08ba4c35fe5eb3b8edc9c968c5fce57670..d4fdb99722df40390b180a597ceee478fbf924ae 100644
--- a/htdocs/theme/raw/templates/user/online.tpl
+++ b/htdocs/theme/raw/templates/user/online.tpl
@@ -6,4 +6,9 @@
     </div>
 </div>
 {$data.pagination|safe}
+{if $data.pagination_js}
+    <script type="application/javascript">
+    {$data.pagination_js|safe}
+    </script>
+{/if}
 {include file="footer.tpl"}
diff --git a/htdocs/user/online.json.php b/htdocs/user/online.json.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..33aa09648a04a35a08a6aa7172ac7b80c8849b1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/htdocs/user/online.json.php
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ *
+ * @package    mahara
+ * @subpackage core
+ * @author     Stacey Walker
+ * @license    http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL version 3 or later
+ * @copyright  For copyright information on Mahara, please see the README file distributed with this software.
+ *
+ */
+
+define('INTERNAL', 1);
+define('JSON', 1);
+require(dirname(dirname(__FILE__)) . '/init.php');
+
+$offset = param_integer('offset', 0);
+$limit  = param_integer('limit', 10);
+$setlimit = param_boolean('setlimit', false);
+$data = get_onlineusers($limit, $offset);
+build_onlinelist_html($data, 'online');
+
+
+json_reply(false, array(
+    'message' => null,
+    'data' => array(
+        'tablerows' => $data['tablerows'],
+        'pagination' => $data['pagination'],
+        'pagination_js' => $data['pagination_js'],
+        'count' => $data['count'],
+        'results' => $data['count'] . ' ' . ($data['count'] == 1 ? get_string('result') : get_string('results')),
+        'offset' => $offset,
+        'setlimit' => $setlimit,
+    )
+));
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/htdocs/user/online.php b/htdocs/user/online.php
index d6ee66980f3f0c9a671938e9c5dcb239403f373b..c8cd82dd484e59e2b4ba7dd8d02d1ef4b9eb9fb5 100644
--- a/htdocs/user/online.php
+++ b/htdocs/user/online.php
@@ -17,8 +17,14 @@ define('SECTION_PLUGINNAME', 'user');
 define('SECTION_PAGE', 'onlineusers');
 
 $offset = param_integer('offset', 0);
-$limit  = 10;
-
+$limit  = param_integer('limit', 10);
+$userlimit = get_account_preference($USER->get('id'), 'viewsperpage');
+if ($limit > 0 && $limit != $userlimit) {
+    $USER->set_account_preference('viewsperpage', $limit);
+}
+else {
+    $limit = $userlimit;
+}
 $data = get_onlineusers($limit, $offset);
 build_onlinelist_html($data, 'online');