diff --git a/rest_framework/renderers.py b/rest_framework/renderers.py
index 4c15e0db3..752306add 100644
--- a/rest_framework/renderers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/renderers.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
 from rest_framework.request import clone_request
 from rest_framework.utils import encoders
 from rest_framework.utils.breadcrumbs import get_breadcrumbs
+from rest_framework.utils.formatting import get_view_name, get_view_description
 from rest_framework import exceptions, parsers, status, VERSION
 
 
@@ -438,16 +439,10 @@ class BrowsableAPIRenderer(BaseRenderer):
         return GenericContentForm()
 
     def get_name(self, view):
-        try:
-            return view.get_name()
-        except AttributeError:
-            return smart_text(view.__class__.__name__)
+        return get_view_name(view.__class__)
 
     def get_description(self, view):
-        try:
-            return view.get_description(html=True)
-        except AttributeError:
-            return smart_text(view.__doc__ or '')
+        return get_view_description(view.__class__, html=True)
 
     def render(self, data, accepted_media_type=None, renderer_context=None):
         """
diff --git a/rest_framework/routers.py b/rest_framework/routers.py
index 283add8de..c37909ff7 100644
--- a/rest_framework/routers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/routers.py
@@ -14,23 +14,31 @@ class BaseRouter(object):
     @property
     def urlpatterns(self):
         if not hasattr(self, '_urlpatterns'):
-            print self.get_urlpatterns()
             self._urlpatterns = patterns('', *self.get_urlpatterns())
         return self._urlpatterns
 
 
 class DefaultRouter(BaseRouter):
     route_list = [
-        (r'$', {'get': 'list', 'post': 'create'}, '%s-list'),
-        (r'(?P<pk>[^/]+)/$', {'get': 'retrieve', 'put': 'update', 'delete': 'destroy'}, '%s-detail'),
+        (r'$', {'get': 'list', 'post': 'create'}, 'list'),
+        (r'(?P<pk>[^/]+)/$', {'get': 'retrieve', 'put': 'update', 'delete': 'destroy'}, 'detail'),
     ]
-    extra_routes = (r'(?P<pk>[^/]+)/%s/$', '%s-%s')
+    extra_routes = r'(?P<pk>[^/]+)/%s/$'
+    name_format = '%s-%s'
 
     def get_urlpatterns(self):
         ret = []
         for prefix, viewset, base_name in self.registry:
+            # Bind regular views
+            if not getattr(viewset, '_is_viewset', False):
+                regex = prefix
+                view = viewset
+                name = base_name
+                ret.append(url(regex, view, name=name))
+                continue
+
             # Bind standard CRUD routes
-            for suffix, action_mapping, name_format in self.route_list:
+            for suffix, action_mapping, action_name in self.route_list:
 
                 # Only actions which actually exist on the viewset will be bound
                 bound_actions = {}
@@ -40,25 +48,25 @@ class DefaultRouter(BaseRouter):
 
                 # Build the url pattern
                 regex = prefix + suffix
-                view = viewset.as_view(bound_actions)
-                name = name_format % base_name
+                view = viewset.as_view(bound_actions, name_suffix=action_name)
+                name = self.name_format % (base_name, action_name)
                 ret.append(url(regex, view, name=name))
 
             # Bind any extra `@action` or `@link` routes
-            for attr in dir(viewset):
-                func = getattr(viewset, attr)
+            for action_name in dir(viewset):
+                func = getattr(viewset, action_name)
                 http_method = getattr(func, 'bind_to_method', None)
 
                 # Skip if this is not an @action or @link method
                 if not http_method:
                     continue
 
-                regex_format, name_format = self.extra_routes
+                suffix = self.extra_routes % action_name
 
                 # Build the url pattern
-                regex = regex_format % attr
-                view = viewset.as_view({http_method: attr}, **func.kwargs)
-                name = name_format % (base_name, attr)
+                regex = prefix + suffix
+                view = viewset.as_view({http_method: action_name}, **func.kwargs)
+                name = self.name_format % (base_name, action_name)
                 ret.append(url(regex, view, name=name))
 
         # Return a list of url patterns
diff --git a/rest_framework/utils/breadcrumbs.py b/rest_framework/utils/breadcrumbs.py
index af21ac79b..18b3b2076 100644
--- a/rest_framework/utils/breadcrumbs.py
+++ b/rest_framework/utils/breadcrumbs.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 from django.core.urlresolvers import resolve, get_script_prefix
+from rest_framework.utils.formatting import get_view_name
 
 
 def get_breadcrumbs(url):
@@ -16,11 +17,11 @@ def get_breadcrumbs(url):
             pass
         else:
             # Check if this is a REST framework view, and if so add it to the breadcrumbs
-            if isinstance(getattr(view, 'cls_instance', None), APIView):
+            if issubclass(getattr(view, 'cls', None), APIView):
                 # Don't list the same view twice in a row.
                 # Probably an optional trailing slash.
                 if not seen or seen[-1] != view:
-                    breadcrumbs_list.insert(0, (view.cls_instance.get_name(), prefix + url))
+                    breadcrumbs_list.insert(0, (get_view_name(view.cls), prefix + url))
                     seen.append(view)
 
         if url == '':
diff --git a/rest_framework/utils/formatting.py b/rest_framework/utils/formatting.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..79566db13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rest_framework/utils/formatting.py
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+"""
+Utility functions to return a formatted name and description for a given view.
+"""
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+from django.utils.html import escape
+from django.utils.safestring import mark_safe
+from rest_framework.compat import apply_markdown
+import re
+
+
+def _remove_trailing_string(content, trailing):
+    """
+    Strip trailing component `trailing` from `content` if it exists.
+    Used when generating names from view classes.
+    """
+    if content.endswith(trailing) and content != trailing:
+        return content[:-len(trailing)]
+    return content
+
+
+def _remove_leading_indent(content):
+    """
+    Remove leading indent from a block of text.
+    Used when generating descriptions from docstrings.
+    """
+    whitespace_counts = [len(line) - len(line.lstrip(' '))
+                         for line in content.splitlines()[1:] if line.lstrip()]
+
+    # unindent the content if needed
+    if whitespace_counts:
+        whitespace_pattern = '^' + (' ' * min(whitespace_counts))
+        content = re.sub(re.compile(whitespace_pattern, re.MULTILINE), '', content)
+    content = content.strip('\n')
+    return content
+
+
+def _camelcase_to_spaces(content):
+    """
+    Translate 'CamelCaseNames' to 'Camel Case Names'.
+    Used when generating names from view classes.
+    """
+    camelcase_boundry = '(((?<=[a-z])[A-Z])|([A-Z](?![A-Z]|$)))'
+    content = re.sub(camelcase_boundry, ' \\1', content).strip()
+    return ' '.join(content.split('_')).title()
+
+
+def get_view_name(cls):
+    """
+    Return a formatted name for an `APIView` class or `@api_view` function.
+    """
+    name = cls.__name__
+    name = _remove_trailing_string(name, 'View')
+    name = _remove_trailing_string(name, 'ViewSet')
+    return _camelcase_to_spaces(name)
+
+
+def get_view_description(cls, html=False):
+    """
+    Return a description for an `APIView` class or `@api_view` function.
+    """
+    description = cls.__doc__ or ''
+    description = _remove_leading_indent(description)
+    if html:
+        return markup_description(description)
+    return description
+
+
+def markup_description(description):
+    """
+    Apply HTML markup to the given description.
+    """
+    if apply_markdown:
+        description = apply_markdown(description)
+    else:
+        description = escape(description).replace('\n', '<br />')
+    return mark_safe(description)
diff --git a/rest_framework/views.py b/rest_framework/views.py
index 81cbdcbb2..12298ca52 100644
--- a/rest_framework/views.py
+++ b/rest_framework/views.py
@@ -4,51 +4,13 @@ Provides an APIView class that is used as the base of all class-based views.
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 from django.core.exceptions import PermissionDenied
 from django.http import Http404
-from django.utils.html import escape
-from django.utils.safestring import mark_safe
 from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt
 from rest_framework import status, exceptions
-from rest_framework.compat import View, apply_markdown
+from rest_framework.compat import View
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework.request import Request
 from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
-import re
-
-
-def _remove_trailing_string(content, trailing):
-    """
-    Strip trailing component `trailing` from `content` if it exists.
-    Used when generating names from view classes.
-    """
-    if content.endswith(trailing) and content != trailing:
-        return content[:-len(trailing)]
-    return content
-
-
-def _remove_leading_indent(content):
-    """
-    Remove leading indent from a block of text.
-    Used when generating descriptions from docstrings.
-    """
-    whitespace_counts = [len(line) - len(line.lstrip(' '))
-                         for line in content.splitlines()[1:] if line.lstrip()]
-
-    # unindent the content if needed
-    if whitespace_counts:
-        whitespace_pattern = '^' + (' ' * min(whitespace_counts))
-        content = re.sub(re.compile(whitespace_pattern, re.MULTILINE), '', content)
-    content = content.strip('\n')
-    return content
-
-
-def _camelcase_to_spaces(content):
-    """
-    Translate 'CamelCaseNames' to 'Camel Case Names'.
-    Used when generating names from view classes.
-    """
-    camelcase_boundry = '(((?<=[a-z])[A-Z])|([A-Z](?![A-Z]|$)))'
-    content = re.sub(camelcase_boundry, ' \\1', content).strip()
-    return ' '.join(content.split('_')).title()
+from rest_framework.utils.formatting import get_view_name, get_view_description
 
 
 class APIView(View):
@@ -64,13 +26,13 @@ class APIView(View):
     @classmethod
     def as_view(cls, **initkwargs):
         """
-        Override the default :meth:`as_view` to store an instance of the view
-        as an attribute on the callable function.  This allows us to discover
-        information about the view when we do URL reverse lookups.
+        Store the original class on the view function.
+
+        This allows us to discover information about the view when we do URL
+        reverse lookups.  Used for breadcrumb generation.
         """
-        # TODO: deprecate?
         view = super(APIView, cls).as_view(**initkwargs)
-        view.cls_instance = cls(**initkwargs)
+        view.cls = cls
         return view
 
     @property
@@ -90,43 +52,10 @@ class APIView(View):
             'Vary': 'Accept'
         }
 
-    def get_name(self):
-        """
-        Return the resource or view class name for use as this view's name.
-        Override to customize.
-        """
-        # TODO: deprecate?
-        name = self.__class__.__name__
-        name = _remove_trailing_string(name, 'View')
-        return _camelcase_to_spaces(name)
-
-    def get_description(self, html=False):
-        """
-        Return the resource or view docstring for use as this view's description.
-        Override to customize.
-        """
-        # TODO: deprecate?
-        description = self.__doc__ or ''
-        description = _remove_leading_indent(description)
-        if html:
-            return self.markup_description(description)
-        return description
-
-    def markup_description(self, description):
-        """
-        Apply HTML markup to the description of this view.
-        """
-        # TODO: deprecate?
-        if apply_markdown:
-            description = apply_markdown(description)
-        else:
-            description = escape(description).replace('\n', '<br />')
-        return mark_safe(description)
-
     def metadata(self, request):
         return {
-            'name': self.get_name(),
-            'description': self.get_description(),
+            'name': get_view_name(self.__class__),
+            'description': get_view_description(self.__class__),
             'renders': [renderer.media_type for renderer in self.renderer_classes],
             'parses': [parser.media_type for parser in self.parser_classes],
         }
diff --git a/rest_framework/viewsets.py b/rest_framework/viewsets.py
index 887a97223..0818c0d9f 100644
--- a/rest_framework/viewsets.py
+++ b/rest_framework/viewsets.py
@@ -15,9 +15,10 @@ class ViewSetMixin(object):
 
     view = MyViewSet.as_view({'get': 'list', 'post': 'create'})
     """
+    _is_viewset = True
 
     @classonlymethod
-    def as_view(cls, actions=None, **initkwargs):
+    def as_view(cls, actions=None, name_suffix=None, **initkwargs):
         """
         Main entry point for a request-response process.
 
@@ -57,6 +58,8 @@ class ViewSetMixin(object):
         # and possible attributes set by decorators
         # like csrf_exempt from dispatch
         update_wrapper(view, cls.dispatch, assigned=())
+
+        view.cls = cls
         return view