diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 658e7d4f..e1d7069a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ First, add the package
 
 ```julia
 Pkg.add("Plots")
+
+# if you want the latest features:
+Pkg.checkout("Plots")
+
+# or for the bleeding edge:
+Pkg.checkout("Plots", "dev")
 ```
 
 then get any plotting packages you need (obviously, you should get at least one backend):
@@ -129,11 +135,20 @@ plot(1:10, Any[rand(10), sin])            # plot 2 series, y = rand(10) for the
 plot(dataset("Ecdat", "Airline"), :Cost)  # plot from a DataFrame (call `dataframes()` first to import DataFrames and initialize)
 ```
 
+All plot methods accept a number of keyword arguments (see the tables below), which follow some rules:
+- Many arguments have aliases which are replaced during preprocessing.  `c` is the same as `color`, `m` is the same as `marker`, etc.  You can choose how verbose you'd like to be.  (see the tables below)
+- There are some special arguments (`xaxis`, `yaxis`, `line`, `marker`, `fill` and the aliases `l`, `m`, `f`) which magically set many related things at once.  (see the __Tip__ below)
+- If the argument is a "matrix-type", then each column will map to a series, cycling through columns if there are fewer columns than series.  Anything else will apply the argument value to every series.
+- Many arguments accept many different types... for example the `color` (also `markercolor`, `fillcolor`, etc) argument will accept strings or symbols with a color name, or any `Colors.Colorant`, or a `ColorScheme`, or a symbol representing a `ColorGradient`, or an AbstractVector of colors/symbols/etc...
+
 You can update certain plot settings after plot creation (not supported on all backends):
 
 ```julia
 plot!(title = "New Title", xlabel = "New xlabel", ylabel = "New ylabel")
 plot!(xlims = (0, 5.5), ylims = (-2.2, 6), xticks = 0:0.5:10, yticks = [0,1,5,10])
+
+# using shorthands:
+xaxis!("mylabel", :log10, :flip)
 ```
 
 With `subplot`, create multiple plots at once, with flexible layout options:
@@ -170,9 +185,9 @@ vline!(args...; kw...)     = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :vline)
 ohlc(args...; kw...)       = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :ohlc)
 ohlc!(args...; kw...)      = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :ohlc)
 
-title!(s::@compat(AbstractString))                 = plot!(title = s)
-xlabel!(s::@compat(AbstractString))                = plot!(xlabel = s)
-ylabel!(s::@compat(AbstractString))                = plot!(ylabel = s)
+title!(s::AbstractString)                 = plot!(title = s)
+xlabel!(s::AbstractString)                = plot!(xlabel = s)
+ylabel!(s::AbstractString)                = plot!(ylabel = s)
 xlims!{T<:Real,S<:Real}(lims::Tuple{T,S}) = plot!(xlims = lims)
 ylims!{T<:Real,S<:Real}(lims::Tuple{T,S}) = plot!(ylims = lims)
 xticks!{T<:Real}(v::AVec{T})              = plot!(xticks = v)
@@ -190,45 +205,50 @@ Keyword | Default | Type | Aliases
 ---- | ---- | ---- | ----
 `:annotation` | `nothing` | Series | `:ann`, `:annotate`, `:annotations`, `:anns`  
 `:axis` | `left` | Series | `:axiss`  
+`:background_color` | `RGB{U8}(1.0,1.0,1.0)` | Plot | `:background`, `:bg`, `:bg_color`, `:bgcolor`  
 `:color` | `auto` | Series | `:c`, `:colors`  
+`:color_palette` | `auto` | Plot | `:palette`  
+`:fill` | `nothing` | Series | `:area`, `:f`  
 `:fillcolor` | `match` | Series | `:fc`, `:fcolor`, `:fillcolors`  
 `:fillrange` | `nothing` | Series | `:fillranges`, `:fillrng`  
+`:foreground_color` | `auto` | Plot | `:fg`, `:fg_color`, `:fgcolor`, `:foreground`  
 `:group` | `nothing` | Series | `:g`, `:groups`  
 `:heatmap_c` | `(0.15,0.5)` | Series | `:heatmap_cs`  
 `:label` | `AUTO` | Series | `:lab`, `:labels`  
+`:layout` | `nothing` | Plot |   
+`:legend` | `true` | Plot | `:leg`  
+`:line` | `nothing` | Series | `:l`  
 `:linestyle` | `solid` | Series | `:linestyles`, `:ls`, `:s`, `:style`  
 `:linetype` | `path` | Series | `:linetypes`, `:lt`, `:t`, `:type`  
 `:linewidth` | `1` | Series | `:linewidths`, `:lw`, `:w`, `:width`  
+`:marker` | `nothing` | Series | `:m`, `:mark`  
 `:markercolor` | `match` | Series | `:markercolors`, `:mc`, `:mcolor`  
 `:markershape` | `none` | Series | `:markershapes`, `:shape`  
 `:markersize` | `6` | Series | `:markersizes`, `:ms`, `:msize`  
-`:nbins` | `100` | Series | `:nb`, `:nbin`, `:nbinss`  
-`:reg` | `false` | Series | `:regression`, `:regs`  
-`:z` | `nothing` | Series | `:zs`  
-`:background_color` | `RGB{U8}(1.0,1.0,1.0)` | Plot | `:background`, `:bg`, `:bg_color`, `:bgcolor`  
-`:color_palette` | `auto` | Plot | `:palette`  
-`:foreground_color` | `auto` | Plot | `:fg`, `:fg_color`, `:fgcolor`, `:foreground`  
-`:layout` | `nothing` | Plot |   
-`:legend` | `true` | Plot | `:leg`  
 `:n` | `-1` | Plot |   
+`:nbins` | `100` | Series | `:nb`, `:nbin`, `:nbinss`  
 `:nc` | `-1` | Plot |   
 `:nr` | `-1` | Plot |   
 `:pos` | `(0,0)` | Plot |   
+`:reg` | `false` | Series | `:regression`, `:regs`  
 `:show` | `false` | Plot | `:display`, `:gui`  
 `:size` | `(600,400)` | Plot | `:windowsize`, `:wsize`  
 `:title` | `` | Plot |   
 `:windowtitle` | `Plots.jl` | Plot | `:wtitle`  
+`:xaxis` | `nothing` | Plot |   
 `:xflip` | `false` | Plot |   
 `:xlabel` | `` | Plot | `:xlab`  
 `:xlims` | `auto` | Plot | `:xlim`, `:xlimit`, `:xlimits`  
 `:xscale` | `identity` | Plot |   
 `:xticks` | `auto` | Plot | `:xtick`  
+`:yaxis` | `nothing` | Plot |   
 `:yflip` | `true` | Plot |   
 `:ylabel` | `` | Plot | `:ylab`  
 `:ylims` | `auto` | Plot | `:ylim`, `:ylimit`, `:ylimits`  
 `:yrightlabel` | `` | Plot | `:y2lab`, `:y2label`, `:ylab2`, `:ylabel2`, `:ylabelright`, `:ylabr`, `:yrlab`  
 `:yscale` | `identity` | Plot |   
 `:yticks` | `auto` | Plot | `:ytick`  
+`:z` | `nothing` | Series | `:zs`  
 
 
 Plot types:
@@ -316,9 +336,9 @@ __Tip__: Call `gui()` to display the plot in a window.  Interactivity depends on
 - [x] Plot vectors/matrices/functions
 - [x] Plot DataFrames
 - [x] Grouping
-- [ ] Annotations
-- [ ] Scales
-- [ ] Categorical Inputs (strings, etc... for hist, bar? or can split one series into multiple?)
+- [x] Annotations
+- [x] Scales
+- [x] Categorical Inputs (strings, etc... for hist, bar? or can split one series into multiple?)
 - [ ] Custom markers
 - [ ] Special plots (boxplot, ohlc?)
 - [x] Subplots
diff --git a/docs/example_generation.jl b/docs/example_generation.jl
index 3bf51c6b..924bc7cb 100644
--- a/docs/example_generation.jl
+++ b/docs/example_generation.jl
@@ -251,11 +251,15 @@ function buildReadme()
 
   # build keyword arg table
   table = "Keyword | Default | Type | Aliases \n---- | ---- | ---- | ----\n"
-  for d in (Plots._seriesDefaults, Plots._plotDefaults)
-    for k in Plots.sortedkeys(d)
-      aliasstr = createStringOfMarkDownSymbols(aliases(Plots._keyAliases, k))
-      table = string(table, "`:$k` | `$(d[k])` | $(d==Plots._seriesDefaults ? "Series" : "Plot") | $aliasstr  \n")
-    end
+  allseries = merge(Plots._seriesDefaults, @compat(Dict(:line=>nothing, :marker=>nothing, :fill=>nothing)))
+  allplots = merge(Plots._plotDefaults, @compat(Dict(:xaxis=>nothing, :yaxis=>nothing)))
+  alldefs = merge(allseries, allplots)
+  for k in Plots.sortedkeys(alldefs)
+  # for d in (Plots._seriesDefaults, Plots._plotDefaults)
+  #   for k in Plots.sortedkeys(d)
+    aliasstr = createStringOfMarkDownSymbols(aliases(Plots._keyAliases, k))
+    table = string(table, "`:$k` | `$(alldefs[k])` | $(haskey(allseries,k) ? "Series" : "Plot") | $aliasstr  \n")
+    # end
   end
   readme = replace(readme, "[[KEYWORD_ARGS_TABLE]]", table)
 
diff --git a/docs/gadfly_examples.md b/docs/gadfly_examples.md
index 148558af..c753071b 100644
--- a/docs/gadfly_examples.md
+++ b/docs/gadfly_examples.md
@@ -39,9 +39,9 @@ plot(0:0.01:4π,[sin,cos])
 Or make a parametric plot (i.e. plot: (fx(u), fy(u))) with plot(fx, fy, umin, umax).
 
 ```julia
-plot(sin,(x->begin  # /home/tom/.julia/v0.4/Plots/docs/example_generation.jl, line 39:
+plot(sin,(x->begin  # /home/tom/.julia/v0.4/Plots/docs/example_generation.jl, line 40:
             sin(2x)
-        end),0,2π,leg=false,fill=(0,:orange))
+        end),0,2π,line=4,leg=false,fill=(0,:orange))
 ```
 
 ![](../img/gadfly/gadfly_example_3.png)
diff --git a/docs/immerse_examples.md b/docs/immerse_examples.md
index 2a883f77..0557893c 100644
--- a/docs/immerse_examples.md
+++ b/docs/immerse_examples.md
@@ -39,9 +39,9 @@ plot(0:0.01:4π,[sin,cos])
 Or make a parametric plot (i.e. plot: (fx(u), fy(u))) with plot(fx, fy, umin, umax).
 
 ```julia
-plot(sin,(x->begin  # /home/tom/.julia/v0.4/Plots/docs/example_generation.jl, line 39:
+plot(sin,(x->begin  # /home/tom/.julia/v0.4/Plots/docs/example_generation.jl, line 40:
             sin(2x)
-        end),0,2π,leg=false,fill=(0,:orange))
+        end),0,2π,line=4,leg=false,fill=(0,:orange))
 ```
 
 ![](../img/immerse/immerse_example_3.png)
diff --git a/docs/pyplot_examples.md b/docs/pyplot_examples.md
index f70c449f..d2e21b45 100644
--- a/docs/pyplot_examples.md
+++ b/docs/pyplot_examples.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Examples for backend: pyplot
 
-- Supported arguments: `annotation`, `axis`, `background_color`, `color`, `fillrange`, `fillcolor`, `foreground_color`, `group`, `label`, `layout`, `legend`, `linestyle`, `linetype`, `linewidth`, `markershape`, `markercolor`, `markersize`, `n`, `nbins`, `nc`, `nr`, `show`, `size`, `title`, `windowtitle`, `x`, `xlabel`, `xlims`, `xticks`, `y`, `ylabel`, `ylims`, `yrightlabel`, `yticks`, `xscale`, `yscale`, `xflip`, `yflip`
+- Supported arguments: `annotation`, `axis`, `background_color`, `color`, `color_palette`, `fillrange`, `fillcolor`, `foreground_color`, `group`, `label`, `layout`, `legend`, `linestyle`, `linetype`, `linewidth`, `markershape`, `markercolor`, `markersize`, `n`, `nbins`, `nc`, `nr`, `show`, `size`, `title`, `windowtitle`, `x`, `xlabel`, `xlims`, `xticks`, `y`, `ylabel`, `ylims`, `yrightlabel`, `yticks`, `xscale`, `yscale`, `xflip`, `yflip`, `z`
 - Supported values for axis: `:auto`, `:left`, `:right`
 - Supported values for linetype: `:none`, `:line`, `:path`, `:step`, `:stepinverted`, `:sticks`, `:scatter`, `:heatmap`, `:hexbin`, `:hist`, `:bar`, `:hline`, `:vline`
 - Supported values for linestyle: `:auto`, `:solid`, `:dash`, `:dot`, `:dashdot`
@@ -39,9 +39,9 @@ plot(0:0.01:4π,[sin,cos])
 Or make a parametric plot (i.e. plot: (fx(u), fy(u))) with plot(fx, fy, umin, umax).
 
 ```julia
-plot(sin,(x->begin  # /home/tom/.julia/v0.4/Plots/docs/example_generation.jl, line 39:
+plot(sin,(x->begin  # /home/tom/.julia/v0.4/Plots/docs/example_generation.jl, line 40:
             sin(2x)
-        end),0,2π,leg=false,fill=(0,:orange))
+        end),0,2π,line=4,leg=false,fill=(0,:orange))
 ```
 
 ![](../img/pyplot/pyplot_example_3.png)
diff --git a/docs/qwt_examples.md b/docs/qwt_examples.md
index c432fba2..b48bf72e 100644
--- a/docs/qwt_examples.md
+++ b/docs/qwt_examples.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Examples for backend: qwt
 
-- Supported arguments: `annotation`, `axis`, `background_color`, `color`, `fillrange`, `fillcolor`, `foreground_color`, `group`, `heatmap_c`, `label`, `layout`, `legend`, `linestyle`, `linetype`, `linewidth`, `markershape`, `markercolor`, `markersize`, `n`, `nbins`, `nc`, `nr`, `pos`, `reg`, `show`, `size`, `title`, `windowtitle`, `x`, `xlabel`, `xlims`, `xticks`, `y`, `ylabel`, `ylims`, `yrightlabel`, `yticks`, `xscale`, `yscale`
+- Supported arguments: `annotation`, `axis`, `background_color`, `color`, `color_palette`, `fillrange`, `fillcolor`, `foreground_color`, `group`, `heatmap_c`, `label`, `layout`, `legend`, `linestyle`, `linetype`, `linewidth`, `markershape`, `markercolor`, `markersize`, `n`, `nbins`, `nc`, `nr`, `pos`, `reg`, `show`, `size`, `title`, `windowtitle`, `x`, `xlabel`, `xlims`, `xticks`, `y`, `ylabel`, `ylims`, `yrightlabel`, `yticks`, `xscale`, `yscale`
 - Supported values for axis: `:auto`, `:left`, `:right`
 - Supported values for linetype: `:none`, `:line`, `:path`, `:steppre`, `:steppost`, `:sticks`, `:scatter`, `:heatmap`, `:hexbin`, `:hist`, `:bar`, `:hline`, `:vline`
 - Supported values for linestyle: `:auto`, `:solid`, `:dash`, `:dot`, `:dashdot`, `:dashdotdot`
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ plot(0:0.01:4π,[sin,cos])
 Or make a parametric plot (i.e. plot: (fx(u), fy(u))) with plot(fx, fy, umin, umax).
 
 ```julia
-plot(sin,(x->begin  # /home/tom/.julia/v0.4/Plots/docs/example_generation.jl, line 39:
+plot(sin,(x->begin  # /home/tom/.julia/v0.4/Plots/docs/example_generation.jl, line 40:
             sin(2x)
         end),0,2π,line=4,leg=false,fill=(0,:orange))
 ```
diff --git a/docs/readme_template.md b/docs/readme_template.md
index 72723812..515ff761 100644
--- a/docs/readme_template.md
+++ b/docs/readme_template.md
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ First, add the package
 
 ```julia
 Pkg.add("Plots")
+
+# if you want the latest features:
+Pkg.checkout("Plots")
+
+# or for the bleeding edge:
+Pkg.checkout("Plots", "dev")
 ```
 
 then get any plotting packages you need (obviously, you should get at least one backend):
@@ -129,11 +135,20 @@ plot(1:10, Any[rand(10), sin])            # plot 2 series, y = rand(10) for the
 plot(dataset("Ecdat", "Airline"), :Cost)  # plot from a DataFrame (call `dataframes()` first to import DataFrames and initialize)
 ```
 
+All plot methods accept a number of keyword arguments (see the tables below), which follow some rules:
+- Many arguments have aliases which are replaced during preprocessing.  `c` is the same as `color`, `m` is the same as `marker`, etc.  You can choose how verbose you'd like to be.  (see the tables below)
+- There are some special arguments (`xaxis`, `yaxis`, `line`, `marker`, `fill` and the aliases `l`, `m`, `f`) which magically set many related things at once.  (see the __Tip__ below)
+- If the argument is a "matrix-type", then each column will map to a series, cycling through columns if there are fewer columns than series.  Anything else will apply the argument value to every series.
+- Many arguments accept many different types... for example the `color` (also `markercolor`, `fillcolor`, etc) argument will accept strings or symbols with a color name, or any `Colors.Colorant`, or a `ColorScheme`, or a symbol representing a `ColorGradient`, or an AbstractVector of colors/symbols/etc...
+
 You can update certain plot settings after plot creation (not supported on all backends):
 
 ```julia
 plot!(title = "New Title", xlabel = "New xlabel", ylabel = "New ylabel")
 plot!(xlims = (0, 5.5), ylims = (-2.2, 6), xticks = 0:0.5:10, yticks = [0,1,5,10])
+
+# using shorthands:
+xaxis!("mylabel", :log10, :flip)
 ```
 
 With `subplot`, create multiple plots at once, with flexible layout options:
@@ -234,9 +249,9 @@ __Tip__: Call `gui()` to display the plot in a window.  Interactivity depends on
 - [x] Plot vectors/matrices/functions
 - [x] Plot DataFrames
 - [x] Grouping
-- [ ] Annotations
-- [ ] Scales
-- [ ] Categorical Inputs (strings, etc... for hist, bar? or can split one series into multiple?)
+- [x] Annotations
+- [x] Scales
+- [x] Categorical Inputs (strings, etc... for hist, bar? or can split one series into multiple?)
 - [ ] Custom markers
 - [ ] Special plots (boxplot, ohlc?)
 - [x] Subplots
diff --git a/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_3.png b/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_3.png
index 940e90ab..5d66f615 100644
Binary files a/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_3.png and b/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_3.png differ
diff --git a/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_4.png b/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_4.png
index a9ca4c71..6397070d 100644
Binary files a/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_4.png and b/img/gadfly/gadfly_example_4.png differ
diff --git a/img/immerse/immerse_example_3.png b/img/immerse/immerse_example_3.png
index 940e90ab..5d66f615 100644
Binary files a/img/immerse/immerse_example_3.png and b/img/immerse/immerse_example_3.png differ
diff --git a/img/immerse/immerse_example_4.png b/img/immerse/immerse_example_4.png
index 5ef6812a..69f15fd2 100644
Binary files a/img/immerse/immerse_example_4.png and b/img/immerse/immerse_example_4.png differ
diff --git a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_11.png b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_11.png
index 2bbb971a..a6cc6a4d 100644
Binary files a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_11.png and b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_11.png differ
diff --git a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_13.png b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_13.png
index 551eca56..24a9a382 100644
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diff --git a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_3.png b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_3.png
index 9b0926f7..f9068f08 100644
Binary files a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_3.png and b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_3.png differ
diff --git a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_4.png b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_4.png
index 678a4d8c..66cffe1b 100644
Binary files a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_4.png and b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_4.png differ
diff --git a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_9.png b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_9.png
index e0940937..a4ca8a0a 100644
Binary files a/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_9.png and b/img/pyplot/pyplot_example_9.png differ
diff --git a/img/supported/Plots.supportGraphArgs.png b/img/supported/Plots.supportGraphArgs.png
index ce47043e..52874a48 100644
Binary files a/img/supported/Plots.supportGraphArgs.png and b/img/supported/Plots.supportGraphArgs.png differ
diff --git a/src/args.jl b/src/args.jl
index 73996f7b..555f284e 100644
--- a/src/args.jl
+++ b/src/args.jl
@@ -214,6 +214,7 @@ end
     :mcolor       => :markercolor,
     :ms           => :markersize,
     :msize        => :markersize,
+    :f            => :fill,
     :area         => :fill,
     :fillrng      => :fillrange,
     :fc           => :fillcolor,