diff --git a/CHANGELOG.txt b/CHANGELOG.txt
index 9dd8a95cc61673347b9b616b0ab097ca59fde983..d2a3e17dc17a0778aa88d24946e74f8f1bc7d04d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.txt
+++ b/CHANGELOG.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 
 Zen 6.x-2.x-dev, xxxx-xx-xx (development release)
 ------------------------
+- #547696: Update node.tpl to use ideas from D7
+- Renamed $picture to $user_picture in node.tpl.php
+- Renamed sticky class to node-sticky in node.tpl.php
 - Added $build_mode variable to node.tpl.php
 - #445814: Change primary/secondary link rendering and move secondary menu to footer
 - #445822: Simplify wrapper divs around logo, site name, slogan
diff --git a/STARTERKIT/css/nodes.css b/STARTERKIT/css/nodes.css
index 0919df17a5b509c2b5e94e8a3fdb6819325c907a..ac1d75f5a5166c23580a3a8205512fabfc78b915 100644
--- a/STARTERKIT/css/nodes.css
+++ b/STARTERKIT/css/nodes.css
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 .node-inner /* Additional wrapper for node */ {
 }
 
-.sticky /* A sticky node (displayed before others in a list) */ {
+.node-sticky /* A sticky node (displayed before others in a list) */ {
 }
 
 .node-unpublished /* Unpublished nodes */ {
diff --git a/template.php b/template.php
index 88668bec9cb5a272d4caa0256baffd0cd020c2cb..95fed812e1411d62b31edd9bd65e987eb9d8b176 100644
--- a/template.php
+++ b/template.php
@@ -191,10 +191,18 @@ function zen_preprocess_node(&$vars, $hook) {
       break;
   }
 
+  // Create the user_picture variable.
+  $vars['user_picture'] = $vars['picture'];
+
   // Special classes for nodes.
   $classes = array('node');
+  // Class for node type: "node-type-page", "node-type-story", "node-type-my-custom-type", etc.
+  $classes[] = zen_id_safe('node-type-' . $vars['type']);
+  if ($variables['promote']) {
+    $variables['classes_array'][] = 'node-promoted';
+  }
   if ($vars['sticky']) {
-    $classes[] = 'sticky';
+    $classes[] = 'node-sticky';
   }
   if (!$vars['status']) {
     $classes[] = 'node-unpublished';
@@ -209,8 +217,9 @@ function zen_preprocess_node(&$vars, $hook) {
   if ($vars['teaser']) {
     $classes[] = 'node-teaser'; // Node is displayed as teaser.
   }
-  // Class for node type: "node-type-page", "node-type-story", "node-type-my-custom-type", etc.
-  $classes[] = zen_id_safe('node-type-' . $vars['type']);
+  if (isset($variables['preview'])) {
+    $variables['classes_array'][] = 'node-preview';
+  }
   $vars['classes_array'] = $classes;
   $vars['classes'] = implode(' ', $classes); // Concatenate with spaces
 }
diff --git a/templates/node.tpl.php b/templates/node.tpl.php
index cb12dc6a7de8634e1929ecf74e1a01694f941dd4..3ff2fa3b99d8db6227ca635455e4bdb4e4b44229 100644
--- a/templates/node.tpl.php
+++ b/templates/node.tpl.php
@@ -2,24 +2,36 @@
 // $Id$
 
 /**
- * @file node.tpl.php
- *
+ * @file
  * Theme implementation to display a node.
  *
  * Available variables:
  * - $title: the (sanitized) title of the node.
  * - $content: Node body or teaser depending on $teaser flag.
- * - $picture: The authors picture of the node output from
- *   theme_user_picture().
+ * - $user_picture: The node author's picture from user-picture.tpl.php.
+ * - $picture: DEPRECATED. This variable has been renamed $user_picture in Drupal 7.
  * - $date: Formatted creation date (use $created to reformat with
  *   format_date()).
  * - $links: Themed links like "Read more", "Add new comment", etc. output
  *   from theme_links().
- * - $name: Themed username of node author output from theme_user().
+ * - $name: Themed username of node author output from theme_username().
  * - $node_url: Direct url of the current node.
  * - $terms: the themed list of taxonomy term links output from theme_links().
  * - $submitted: themed submission information output from
  *   theme_node_submitted().
+ * - $classes: String of classes that can be used to style contextually through
+ *   CSS. It can be manipulated through the variable $classes_array from
+ *   preprocess functions. The default values can be one or more of the following:
+ *   - node: The current template type, i.e., "theming hook".
+ *   - node-[type]: The current node type. For example, if the node is a
+ *     "Blog entry" it would result in "node-blog". Note that the machine
+ *     name will often be in a short form of the human readable label.
+ *   - node-teaser: Nodes in teaser form.
+ *   - node-preview: Nodes in preview mode.
+ *   The following are controlled through the node publishing options.
+ *   - node-promoted: Nodes promoted to the front page.
+ *   - node-sticky: Nodes ordered above other non-sticky nodes in teaser listings.
+ *   - node-unpublished: Unpublished nodes visible only to administrators.
  *
  * Other variables:
  * - $node: Full node object. Contains data that may not be safe.
@@ -27,6 +39,8 @@
  * - $comment_count: Number of comments attached to the node.
  * - $uid: User ID of the node author.
  * - $created: Time the node was published formatted in Unix timestamp.
+ * - $classes_array: Array of html class attribute values. It is flattened
+ *   into a string within the variable $classes.
  * - $zebra: Outputs either "even" or "odd". Useful for zebra striping in
  *   teaser listings.
  * - $id: Position of the node. Increments each time it's output.
@@ -51,12 +65,10 @@
 ?>
 <div id="node-<?php print $node->nid; ?>" class="<?php print $classes; ?>"><div class="node-inner">
 
-  <?php print $picture; ?>
+  <?php print $user_picture; ?>
 
   <?php if (!$page): ?>
-    <h2 class="title">
-      <a href="<?php print $node_url; ?>" title="<?php print $title ?>"><?php print $title; ?></a>
-    </h2>
+    <h2 class="title"><a href="<?php print $node_url; ?>"><?php print $title; ?></a></h2>
   <?php endif; ?>
 
   <?php if ($unpublished): ?>
@@ -66,13 +78,11 @@
   <?php if ($submitted || $terms): ?>
     <div class="meta">
       <?php if ($submitted): ?>
-        <div class="submitted">
-          <?php print $submitted; ?>
-        </div>
+        <span class="submitted"><?php print $submitted; ?></span>
       <?php endif; ?>
 
       <?php if ($terms): ?>
-        <div class="terms terms-inline"><?php print t(' in ') . $terms; ?></div>
+        <div class="terms terms-inline"><?php print $terms; ?></div>
       <?php endif; ?>
     </div>
   <?php endif; ?>