diff --git a/src/args.jl b/src/args.jl
index 509c2af3..979361ae 100644
--- a/src/args.jl
+++ b/src/args.jl
@@ -133,8 +133,9 @@ _seriesDefaults[:x]               = nothing
 _seriesDefaults[:y]               = nothing
 _seriesDefaults[:z]               = nothing           # depth for contour, surface, etc
 _seriesDefaults[:zcolor]          = nothing           # value for color scale
-_seriesDefaults[:surface]         = nothing
+# _seriesDefaults[:surface]         = nothing
 _seriesDefaults[:nlevels]         = 15
+_seriesDefaults[:orientation]     = :vertical
 
 
 const _plotDefaults = Dict{Symbol, Any}()
diff --git a/src/backends/gadfly.jl b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
index bcde38a0..f4a4e93e 100644
--- a/src/backends/gadfly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ function addGadflyLine!(plt::Plot, numlayers::Int, d::Dict, geoms...)
       kwargs[:xmax] = d[:x] + w
     elseif lt == :contour
       # d[:y] = reverse(d[:y])
-      kwargs[:z] = d[:surface].surf
+      kwargs[:z] = d[:z].surf
       addGadflyContColorScale(plt, d[:linecolor])
     end
 
diff --git a/src/backends/plotly.jl b/src/backends/plotly.jl
index dff1e3c2..ae243f42 100644
--- a/src/backends/plotly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/plotly.jl
@@ -175,55 +175,87 @@ end
 # _seriesDefaults[:surface]         = nothing
 # _seriesDefaults[:nlevels]         = 15
 
-function get_series_html(plt::Plot{PlotlyPackage})
-  JSON.json([begin
-    d_out = Dict()
+# supportedTypes(::PyPlotPackage) = [:none, :line, :path, :steppre, :steppost, :sticks,
+#                                    :scatter, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :density, :bar,
+#                                    :hline, :vline, :contour, :path3d, :scatter3d]
 
-    # TODO: set the fields for each series
-    d_out[:x] = collect(d[:x])
-    d_out[:y] = collect(d[:y])
-    d_out[:name] = d[:label]
+# get a dictionary representing the series params (d is the Plots-dict, d_out is the Plotly-dict)
+function get_series_html(d::Dict)
+  d_out = Dict()
 
-    lt = d[:linetype]
-    if lt in (:line, :path, :scatter, :steppre, :steppost)
-      d_out[:type] = "scatter"
-    end
+  x, y = collect(d[:x]), collect(d[:y])
+  # d_out[:x] = collect(d[:x])
+  # d_out[:y] = collect(d[:y])
+  d_out[:name] = d[:label]
 
-    hasmarker = lt == :scatter || d[:markershape] != :none
-    hasline = lt != :scatter
+  lt = d[:linetype]
+  hasmarker = lt == :scatter || d[:markershape] != :none
+  hasline = lt != :scatter
+
+  # set the "type"
+  if lt in (:line, :path, :scatter, :steppre, :steppost)
+    d_out[:type] = "scatter"
     d_out[:mode] = if hasmarker
       hasline ? "lines+markers" : "markers"
     else
       hasline ? "lines" : "none"
     end
+    d_out[:x], d_out[:y] = x, y
+  elseif lt == :bar
+    d_out[:type] = "bar"
+    d_out[:x], d_out[:y] = x, y
+  elseif lt == :heatmap
+    d_out[:type] = "heatmap"
+    d_out[:x], d_out[:y] = x, y
+  elseif lt == :hist
+    d_out[:type] = "histogram"
+    isvert = d[:orientation] in (:vertical, :v, :vert)
+    d_out[isvert ? :x : :y] = y
+  elseif lt == :contour
+    d_out[:type] = "contour"
+    d_out[:x], d_out[:y] = x, y
+    d_out[:z] = d[:z].surf
+    # d_out[:showscale] = d[:legend]
+    d_out[:ncontours] = d[:nlevels]
+    d_out[:contours] = Dict(:coloring => d[:fillrange] != nothing ? "fill" : "lines")
+    # TODO: colorscale: [[0, 'rgb(166,206,227)'], [0.25, 'rgb(31,120,180)'], [0.45, 'rgb(178,223,138)'], [0.65, 'rgb(51,160,44)'], [0.85, 'rgb(251,154,153)'], [1, 'rgb(227,26,28)']]
+  else
+    error("Plotly: linetype $lt isn't supported.")
+  end
 
-    if hasmarker
-      d_out[:marker] = Dict(
-          # :symbol => "circle",
-          # :opacity => d[:markeropacity],
-          :size => d[:markersize],
-          :color => webcolor(d[:markercolor], d[:markeralpha]),
-          :line => Dict(
-              :color => webcolor(d[:markerstrokecolor], d[:markerstrokealpha]),
-              :width => d[:markerstrokewidth],
-            ),
-        )
-      if d[:zcolor] != nothing
-        d_out[:marker][:color] = d[:zcolor]
-        d_out[:marker][:colorscale] = :RdBu # TODO: use the markercolor gradient
-      end
+  # add "marker"
+  if hasmarker
+    d_out[:marker] = Dict(
+        # :symbol => "circle",
+        # :opacity => d[:markeropacity],
+        :size => d[:markersize],
+        :color => webcolor(d[:markercolor], d[:markeralpha]),
+        :line => Dict(
+            :color => webcolor(d[:markerstrokecolor], d[:markerstrokealpha]),
+            :width => d[:markerstrokewidth],
+          ),
+      )
+    if d[:zcolor] != nothing
+      d_out[:marker][:color] = d[:zcolor]
+      d_out[:marker][:colorscale] = :RdBu # TODO: use the markercolor gradient
     end
+  end
 
-    if hasline
-      d_out[:line] = Dict(
-          :color => webcolor(d[:linecolor], d[:linealpha]),
-          :width => d[:linewidth],
-          # :dash => "solid",
-        )
-    end
-    
-    d_out
-  end for d in plt.seriesargs])
+  # add "line"
+  if hasline
+    d_out[:line] = Dict(
+        :color => webcolor(d[:linecolor], d[:linealpha]),
+        :width => d[:linewidth],
+        # :dash => "solid",
+      )
+  end
+
+  d_out
+end
+
+# get a list of dictionaries, each representing the series params
+function get_series_html(plt::Plot{PlotlyPackage})
+  JSON.json(map(get_series_html, plt.seriesargs))
 end
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -249,6 +281,12 @@ end
 
 function Base.writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"image/png", plt::PlottingObject{PlotlyPackage})
   # TODO: write a png to io
+  println("png")
+end
+
+function Base.writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"text/html", plt::PlottingObject{PlotlyPackage})
+  println("html")
+  html_head(plt) * html_body(plt)
 end
 
 function Base.display(::PlotsDisplay, plt::Plot{PlotlyPackage})
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index 4767eeaf..81a4d93c 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ function _add_series(pkg::PyPlotPackage, plt::Plot; kw...)
     # NOTE: x/y are backwards in pyplot, so we switch the x and y args (also y is reversed), 
     #       and take the transpose of the surface matrix
     x, y = d[:x], d[:y]
-    surf = d[:surface].surf'
+    surf = d[:z].surf'
     handle = plotfunc(x, y, surf, d[:nlevels]; extra_kwargs...)
     if d[:fillrange] != nothing
       handle = ax[:contourf](x, y, surf, d[:nlevels]; cmap = getPyPlotColorMap(d[:fillcolor], d[:fillalpha]))
diff --git a/src/backends/supported.jl b/src/backends/supported.jl
index a6926f8e..5e11bdb1 100644
--- a/src/backends/supported.jl
+++ b/src/backends/supported.jl
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ supportedArgs(::GadflyPackage) = [
     :guidefont,
     :legendfont,
     :grid,
-    :surface,
+    # :surface,
     :nlevels,
   ]
 supportedAxes(::GadflyPackage) = [:auto, :left]
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ supportedArgs(::PyPlotPackage) = [
     :guidefont,
     :legendfont,
     :grid,
-    :surface,
+    # :surface,
     :nlevels,
     :fillalpha,
     :linealpha,
diff --git a/src/backends/web.jl b/src/backends/web.jl
index c4fb48c8..a123c2b4 100644
--- a/src/backends/web.jl
+++ b/src/backends/web.jl
@@ -3,21 +3,6 @@
 
 # CREDIT: parts of this implementation were inspired by @joshday's PlotlyLocal.jl
 
-using JSON
-
-# const _html_template = mt"""
-# <!DOCTYPE html>
-# <html>
-#     <head>
-#         <title>{{:title}}</title>
-#         {{:head}}
-#     </head>
-#     <body>
-#         {{:body}}
-#     </body>
-# </html>
-# """
-
 
 function standalone_html(plt::PlottingObject; title::AbstractString = get(plt.plotargs, :window_title, "Plots.jl"))
     """
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index e65556d1..b3d92330 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ function createKWargsList{T<:Real}(plt::PlottingObject, x::AVec, y::AVec, zmat::
   surf = Surface(convert(Matrix{Float64}, zmat))
   # surf = Array(Any,1,1)
   # surf[1,1] = convert(Matrix{Float64}, zmat)
-  createKWargsList(plt, x, y; kw..., surface = surf, linetype = :contour)
+  createKWargsList(plt, x, y; kw..., z = surf, linetype = :contour)
 end
 
 function createKWargsList(plt::PlottingObject, surf::Surface; kw...)
diff --git a/src/plotter.jl b/src/plotter.jl
index 261cfe03..ebbb1f7f 100644
--- a/src/plotter.jl
+++ b/src/plotter.jl
@@ -48,8 +48,10 @@ include("backends/unicodeplots.jl")
 include("backends/pyplot.jl")
 include("backends/immerse.jl")
 include("backends/winston.jl")
+
+include("backends/web.jl")
 include("backends/bokeh.jl")
-# include("backends/plotly.jl")
+include("backends/plotly.jl")
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
@@ -236,8 +238,9 @@ function backend()
 
     elseif currentBackendSymbol == :plotly
       try
-        @eval include(joinpath(Pkg.dir("Plots"), "src", "backends", "web.jl"))
-        @eval include(joinpath(Pkg.dir("Plots"), "src", "backends", "plotly.jl"))
+        # @eval include(joinpath(Pkg.dir("Plots"), "src", "backends", "web.jl"))
+        # @eval include(joinpath(Pkg.dir("Plots"), "src", "backends", "plotly.jl"))
+        @eval import JSON
       catch err
         warn("Couldn't setup Plotly")
         rethrow(err)