diff --git a/NUL b/NUL
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lua/git-dashboard-nvim/heatmap/utils.lua b/lua/git-dashboard-nvim/heatmap/utils.lua
index 7e96b91..abe68a2 100644
--- a/lua/git-dashboard-nvim/heatmap/utils.lua
+++ b/lua/git-dashboard-nvim/heatmap/utils.lua
@@ -70,20 +70,6 @@ HeatmapUtils.generate_ascii_heatmap = function(
     ascii_heatmap = ascii_heatmap .. "\n\n"
   end
 
-  -- add highlights to the heatmap based on the config settings
-  vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("FileType", {
-    pattern = { "dashboard", "alpha" },
-    callback = function()
-      Highlights.add_highlights(config, current_date_info, branch_label, title)
-
-      -- hide cursor
-      if config.hide_cursor == true then
-        vim.api.nvim_command("hi Cursor blend=100")
-        vim.api.nvim_command("set guicursor+=a:Cursor/lCursor")
-      end
-    end,
-  })
-
   -- horizontal heatmap
   if config.is_horizontal then
     -- add month labels
@@ -204,6 +190,20 @@ HeatmapUtils.generate_ascii_heatmap = function(
     ascii_heatmap = string.rep("\n", padding) .. ascii_heatmap
   end
 
+  -- add highlights to the heatmap based on the config settings
+  vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("FileType", {
+    pattern = { "dashboard", "alpha" },
+    callback = function()
+      Highlights.add_highlights(config, current_date_info, branch_label, title)
+
+      -- hide cursor
+      if config.hide_cursor == true then
+        vim.api.nvim_command("hi Cursor blend=100")
+        vim.api.nvim_command("set guicursor+=a:Cursor/lCursor")
+      end
+    end,
+  })
+
   return ascii_heatmap
 end
 
diff --git a/lua/git-dashboard-nvim/highlights/init.lua b/lua/git-dashboard-nvim/highlights/init.lua
index 813ecc2..9f6e200 100644
--- a/lua/git-dashboard-nvim/highlights/init.lua
+++ b/lua/git-dashboard-nvim/highlights/init.lua
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+--[[
+
+Sets the highlights for the dashboard header section
+Highlights will only be applied to the DashboardHeader section of the buffer
+For for dashboard.nvim the containedin option works well, but for alpha.nvim 
+it doesn't prevent the highlights from being applied to the entire buffer
+so we added temporary whitespace to the beginning of the match to prevent 
+easily matching other sections of the buffer
+
+]]
+
 Highlights = {}
 
 ---@param group_name string
@@ -5,7 +16,13 @@ Highlights = {}
 ---@param fg_color string
 Highlights._add_highlight_group = function(group_name, match, fg_color)
   vim.cmd("highlight " .. group_name .. " guifg=" .. fg_color)
-  vim.cmd('call matchadd("' .. group_name .. '", "' .. match .. '")')
+
+  -- Ensure proper escaping of special characters in `match`
+  local pattern = vim.fn.escape(match, "/")
+
+  -- Construct the syntax match command, using containedin ensures that the match is only applied to the DashboardHeader section
+  local cmd = string.format("syntax match %s /%s/ containedin=DashboardHeader", group_name, pattern)
+  vim.cmd(cmd)
 end
 
 ---@param config Config
@@ -28,8 +45,8 @@ Highlights.add_highlights = function(config, current_date_info, branch_label, ti
 
   for i = 1, #config.days do
     Highlights._add_highlight_group(
-      "DashboardHeaderDay",
-      config.days[i]:sub(1, 3),
+      "DashboardHeaderDay" .. i,
+      "   " .. config.days[i]:sub(1, 3) .. config.day_label_gap,
       config.colors.days_and_months_labels
     )
   end
@@ -37,7 +54,7 @@ Highlights.add_highlights = function(config, current_date_info, branch_label, ti
   for i = 1, current_date_info.current_month do
     Highlights._add_highlight_group(
       "DashboardHeaderMonth",
-      config.months[i]:sub(1, 3),
+      config.months[i]:sub(1, 3) .. " ",
       config.colors.days_and_months_labels
     )
   end
@@ -51,20 +68,21 @@ Highlights.add_highlights = function(config, current_date_info, branch_label, ti
   end
 
   -- add highlight to match any number
-  vim.cmd("call matchadd('DashboardHeaderMonth', '\\d\\+')")
+  -- vim.cmd("call matchadd('DashboardHeaderMonth', '\\d\\+')")
+  Highlights._add_highlight_group(
+    "DashboardHeaderMonth",
+    "\\d\\+",
+    config.colors.days_and_months_labels
+  )
 
   Highlights._add_highlight_group("DashboardHeaderTitle", title, config.colors.dashboard_title)
 
   Highlights._add_highlight_group(
     "DashboardHeaderBranch",
-    branch_label,
+    "   " .. branch_label,
     config.colors.branch_highlight
   )
-  vim.cmd.autocmd(
-    "BufLeave",
-    "*",
-    "highlight clear DashboardHeaderEmptySquare | highlight clear DashboardHeaderDay | highlight clear DashboardHeaderMonth | highlight clear DashboardHeaderFilledSquare | highlight clear DashboardHeaderTitle | highlight clear DashboardHeaderBranch"
-  )
+
   -- set cursor color to white when leaving the buffer
   vim.cmd.autocmd("BufLeave", "*", "highlight Cursor blend=0")
   vim.cmd.autocmd("BufLeave", "*", "set guicursor+=a:Cursor/lCursor")
diff --git a/tests/unit/config_spec.lua b/tests/unit/config_spec.lua
index 813014f..57d29e9 100644
--- a/tests/unit/config_spec.lua
+++ b/tests/unit/config_spec.lua
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ describe("config", function()
         branch_highlight = "#8DC07C",
         dashboard_title = "#a3cc96",
       },
+      basepoints = { "master", "main" },
+      use_git_username_as_author = false,
     })
   end)
 
@@ -145,6 +147,8 @@ describe("config", function()
         branch_highlight = "#8DC07C",
         dashboard_title = "#a3cc96",
       },
+      basepoints = { "master", "main" },
+      use_git_username_as_author = false,
     })
   end)
 end)