diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 22825df..5c402db 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,4 +13,5 @@ pmaw.code-workspace
 pmaw.egg-info
 
 /**/__pycache__
-/**/cache
\ No newline at end of file
+/**/cache
+.idea/
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b5430ad..989de33 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -135,8 +135,8 @@ A user-defined function can be provided using the `filter_fn` parameter for eith
 
 ## Unsupported Parameters
 
-- `sort='asc'` is unsupported as it can have unexpected results
-- `before` and `after` only support epoch time (float or int)
+- `order='asc'` is unsupported as it can have unexpected results
+- `until` and `since` only support epoch time (float or int)
 - `aggs` are unsupported, as **PMAW** is intended to be used for collecting large numbers of submissions or comments. Use [PSAW](https://github.com/dmarx/psaw) for aggregation requests.
 
 ### Feature Requests
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ A user-defined function can be provided using the `filter_fn` parameter for eith
 
 ### Keyword Arguments
 
-- Unlike the Pushshift API, the `before` and `after` keyword arguments must be in epoch time
+- Unlike the Pushshift API, the `until` and `since` keyword arguments must be in epoch time
 - `limit` is the number of submissions/comments to return. If set to `None` or if the set `limit` is higher than the number of available submissions/comments for the provided parameters then `limit` will be set to the amount available.
 - Other accepted parameters are covered in the Pushshift documentation for [submissions](https://github.com/pushshift/api#searching-submissions) and [comments](https://github.com/pushshift/api#searching-comments).
 
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ reddit = praw.Reddit(
 )
 
 api_praw = PushshiftAPI(praw=reddit)
-comments = api_praw.search_comments(q="quantum", subreddit="science", limit=100, before=1629990795)
+comments = api_praw.search_comments(q="quantum", subreddit="science", limit=100, until=1629990795)
 ```
 
 ## Custom Filter
@@ -339,11 +339,11 @@ If you expect that your query may be interrupted while its running, setting `saf
 from pmaw import PushshiftAPI
 
 api = PushshiftAPI()
-posts = api.search_submissions(subreddit="science", limit=700000, before=1613234822, safe_exit=True)
+posts = api.search_submissions(subreddit="science", limit=700000, until=1613234822, safe_exit=True)
 print(f'{len(posts)} posts retrieved from Pushshift')
 ```
 
-A `before` value is required to load previous responses / requests when using non-id search, as `before` is set to the current time when the `search` method is called, which would result in a different set of parameters then when you last ran the search despite all other parameters being the same.
+A `until` value is required to load previous responses / requests when using non-id search, as `until` is set to the current time when the `search` method is called, which would result in a different set of parameters then when you last ran the search despite all other parameters being the same.
 
 ### Loading Cache with Key
 
diff --git a/pmaw/PushshiftAPIBase.py b/pmaw/PushshiftAPIBase.py
index 11ecb10..e9c7e45 100644
--- a/pmaw/PushshiftAPIBase.py
+++ b/pmaw/PushshiftAPIBase.py
@@ -77,9 +77,14 @@ def _get(self, url, payload={}):
 
     @property
     def shards_are_down(self):
-        shards = self.metadata_.get('shards')
+        try:
+            shards = self.metadata_['es'].get('_shards')
+        except KeyError:
+            return True
+
         if shards is None:
-            return
+            return True
+
         return shards['successful'] != shards['total']
 
     def _multithread(self, check_total=False):
@@ -146,13 +151,13 @@ def _futures_handler(self, futures, check_total):
                         break
 
                     # handle time slicing logic
-                    if 'before' in payload and 'after' in payload:
-                        before = payload['before']
-                        after = payload['after']
+                    if 'until' in payload and 'since' in payload:
+                        until = payload['until']
+                        since = payload['since']
                         log.debug(
-                            f"Time slice from {after} - {before} returned {len(data)} results")
+                            f"Time slice from {since} - {until} returned {len(data)} results")
                         total_results = self.resp_dict.get(
-                            (after, before), 0)
+                            (since, until), 0)
                         log.debug(
                             f'{total_results} total results for this time slice')
                         # calculate remaining results
@@ -171,10 +176,10 @@ def _futures_handler(self, futures, check_total):
                             # Fix issue where Pushshift occasionally reports remaining results that it is
                             # unable to return - len(data) == 0 when this happens                    
                             if len(data) > 0:
-                                before = data[-1]['created_utc']
+                                until = data[-1]['created_utc']
                                 # generate payloads
                                 self.req.gen_slices(
-                                    url, payload, after, before, num)
+                                    url, payload, since, until, num)
 
             except HTTPError as exc:
                 log.debug(f"Request Failed -- {exc}")
@@ -249,7 +254,14 @@ def _search(self,
                 # check to see how many results are remaining
                 self.req.req_list.appendleft((url, self.req.payload))
                 self._multithread(check_total=True)
-                total_avail = self.metadata_.get('total_results', 0)
+                if len(self.metadata_) != 0:
+                    try:
+                        total_avail = self.metadata_['es']['hits']['total']['value']
+                    except KeyError:
+                        log.info(f'Result(s) in Pushshift undetermined')
+                        total_avail = 0  # ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
+                else:
+                    total_avail = 0  # ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
                 if self.req.limit is None:
                     log.info(f'{total_avail} result(s) available in Pushshift')
diff --git a/pmaw/Request.py b/pmaw/Request.py
index 67f376b..76d7030 100644
--- a/pmaw/Request.py
+++ b/pmaw/Request.py
@@ -37,12 +37,12 @@ def __init__(self, payload, filter_fn, kind, max_results_per_request, max_ids_pe
         if filter_fn is not None and not callable(filter_fn):
             raise ValueError('filter_fn must be a callable function')
 
-        if safe_exit and self.payload.get('before', None) is None:
+        if safe_exit and self.payload.get('until', None) is None:
             # warn the user not to use safe_exit without setting before,
             # doing otherwise will make it impossible to resume without modifying 
             # future query to use before value from first run
             before = int(dt.datetime.now().timestamp())
-            payload['before'] = before
+            payload['until'] = before
             warnings.warn(f'Using safe_exit without setting before value is not recommended. Setting before to {before}')
 
         if self.praw is not None:
@@ -186,21 +186,25 @@ def _add_nec_args(self, payload):
         payload['size'] = self.max_results_per_request
 
         if 'sort' not in payload:
-            payload['sort'] = 'desc'
-        elif payload.get('sort') != 'desc':
+            payload['sort'] = 'created_utc'
+        elif payload.get('sort') != 'created_utc':
             err_msg = "Support for non-default sort has not been implemented as it may cause unexpected results"
             raise NotImplementedError(err_msg)
 
+        if 'order' not in payload:
+            payload['order'] = 'asc'
+
         if 'metadata' not in payload:
             payload['metadata'] = 'true'
-        if 'before' not in payload:
-            payload['before'] = int(dt.datetime.now().timestamp())
+        if 'until' not in payload:
+            payload['until'] = int(dt.datetime.now().timestamp())
         if 'filter' in payload:
             if not isinstance(payload['filter'], list):
                 if isinstance(payload['filter'], str):
                     payload['filter'] = [payload['filter']]
                 else:
                     payload['filter'] = list(payload['filter'])
+
             # make sure that the created_utc field is returned
             if 'created_utc' not in payload['filter']:
                 payload['filter'].append('created_utc')
@@ -255,22 +259,22 @@ def gen_url_payloads(self, url, batch_size, search_window):
                 self.req_list.extend(url_payloads)
 
             else:
-                if 'after' not in self.payload:
+                if 'since' not in self.payload:
                     search_window = dt.timedelta(days=search_window)
                     num = batch_size
-                    before = self.payload['before']
+                    before = self.payload['until']
                     after = int((dt.datetime.fromtimestamp(
                         before) - search_window).timestamp())
 
                     # set before to after for future time slices
-                    self.payload['before'] = after
+                    self.payload['until'] = after
 
                 else:
-                    before = self.payload['before']
-                    after = self.payload['after']
+                    before = self.payload['until']
+                    after = self.payload['since']
 
                     # set before to avoid repeated time slices when there are missed responses
-                    self.payload['before'] = after
+                    self.payload['until'] = after
                     num = batch_size
 
                 # generate payloads
diff --git a/pmaw/utils/slices.py b/pmaw/utils/slices.py
index a99de4d..f389107 100644
--- a/pmaw/utils/slices.py
+++ b/pmaw/utils/slices.py
@@ -3,13 +3,13 @@
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def timeslice(after, before, num):
+def timeslice(since, until, num):
     log.debug(
-        f'Generating {num} slices between {after} and {before}')
-    return [int((before-after)*i/num + after) for i in range(num+1)]
+        f'Generating {num} slices between {since} and {until}')
+    return [int((until-since)*i/num + since) for i in range(num+1)]
 
 
-def mapslice(payload, after, before):
-    payload['before'] = before
-    payload['after'] = after
+def mapslice(payload, since, until):
+    payload['until'] = until
+    payload['since'] = since
     return payload