diff --git a/docs/example_generation.jl b/docs/example_generation.jl
index 44795ec3..e2aa9df5 100644
--- a/docs/example_generation.jl
+++ b/docs/example_generation.jl
@@ -167,6 +167,23 @@ const examples = PlotExample[
                        m=(Shape(verts),30,RGBA(0,0,0,0.2)),
                        bg=:pink, fg=:darkblue,
                        xlim = (0,1), ylim=(0,1), leg=false))
+              ]),
+
+  PlotExample("Contours",
+              "",
+              [
+                :(x = 1:0.3:20),
+                :(y = x),
+                :(f(x,y) = sin(x)+cos(y)),
+                :(contour(x, y, f, fill=true))
+              ]),
+
+  PlotExample("Pie",
+              "",
+              [
+                :(x = ["Nerds", "Hackers", "Scientists"]),
+                :(y = [0.4, 0.35, 0.25]),
+                :(pie(x, y, title="The Julia Community", l=0.5))
               ])
   
 ]
diff --git a/src/Plots.jl b/src/Plots.jl
index 6b2d3bd7..9483d2d6 100644
--- a/src/Plots.jl
+++ b/src/Plots.jl
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ export
   vline!,
   ohlc,
   ohlc!,
+  pie,
+  pie!,
+  contour,
+  contour!,
+  surface,
+  surface!,
 
   title!,
   xlabel!,
@@ -152,6 +158,12 @@ vline(args...; kw...)      = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :vline)
 vline!(args...; kw...)     = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :vline)
 ohlc(args...; kw...)       = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :ohlc)
 ohlc!(args...; kw...)      = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :ohlc)
+pie(args...; kw...)        = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :pie)
+pie!(args...; kw...)       = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :pie)
+contour(args...; kw...)    = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :contour)
+contour!(args...; kw...)   = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :contour)
+surface(args...; kw...)    = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :surface)
+surface!(args...; kw...)   = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :surface)
 
 
 title!(s::@compat(AbstractString); kw...)                 = plot!(; title = s, kw...)
diff --git a/src/args.jl b/src/args.jl
index 979361ae..fd04bc96 100644
--- a/src/args.jl
+++ b/src/args.jl
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ const _allAxes = [:auto, :left, :right]
 const _3dTypes = [:path3d, :scatter3d]
 const _allTypes = vcat([
                         :none, :line, :path, :steppre, :steppost, :sticks, :scatter,
-                        :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :density, :bar, :hline, :vline, :ohlc, :contour
+                        :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :density, :bar, :hline, :vline, :ohlc,
+                        :contour, :pie
                        ], _3dTypes)
 @compat const _typeAliases = Dict(
     :n             => :none,
diff --git a/src/backends/plotly.jl b/src/backends/plotly.jl
index ae243f42..48bb03f0 100644
--- a/src/backends/plotly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/plotly.jl
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ function plotlyfont(font::Font)
   Dict(
       :family => font.family,
       :size   => font.pointsize,
-      :color  => font.color,
+      :color  => webcolor(font.color),
     )
 end
 
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ function get_plot_html(plt::Plot{PlotlyPackage})
   d_out[:title] = d[:title]
   d_out[:titlefont] = plotlyfont(d[:guidefont])
   d_out[:width], d_out[:height] = d[:size]
-  d_out[:margin] = Dict(:l=>20, :b=>20, :r=>10, :t=>10)
+  # d_out[:margin] = Dict(:l=>20, :b=>20, :r=>10, :t=>10)
+  d_out[:margin] = Dict(:t=>20)
   d_out[:paper_bgcolor] = bgcolor
   d_out[:plot_bgcolor] = bgcolor
   
@@ -179,6 +180,11 @@ end
 #                                    :scatter, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :density, :bar,
 #                                    :hline, :vline, :contour, :path3d, :scatter3d]
 
+function plotly_colorscale(grad::ColorGradient)
+  [[grad.values[i], webcolor(grad.colors[i])] for i in 1:length(grad.colors)]
+end
+plotly_colorscale(c) = plotly_colorscale(ColorGradient(:bluesreds))
+
 # 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()
@@ -219,6 +225,12 @@ function get_series_html(d::Dict)
     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)']]
+    d_out[:colorscale] = plotly_colorscale(d[:linecolor])
+  elseif lt == :pie
+    d_out[:type] = "pie"
+    d_out[:labels] = x
+    d_out[:values] = y
+    d_out[:hoverinfo] = "label+percent+name"
   else
     error("Plotly: linetype $lt isn't supported.")
   end
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index 81a4d93c..15cc094a 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -376,29 +376,30 @@ function Base.getindex(plt::Plot{PyPlotPackage}, i::Integer)
   # mapping[:x], mapping[:y]
 end
 
-function Base.setindex!(plt::Plot{PyPlotPackage}, xy::Tuple, i::Integer)
+function Base.setindex!{X,Y}(plt::Plot{PyPlotPackage}, xy::Tuple{X,Y}, i::Integer)
   series = plt.seriesargs[i][:serieshandle]
+  x, y = xy
   try
-    series[:set_data](xy...)
+    series[:set_data](x, y)
   catch
-    series[:set_offsets](hcat(xy...))
+    series[:set_offsets](hcat(x, y))
   end
 
   ax = series[:axes]
   if plt.plotargs[:xlims] == :auto
     xmin, xmax = ax[:get_xlim]()
-    ax[:set_xlim](min(xmin, minimum(xy[1])), max(xmax, maximum(xy[1])))
+    ax[:set_xlim](min(xmin, minimum(x)), max(xmax, maximum(x)))
   end
   if plt.plotargs[:ylims] == :auto
     ymin, ymax = ax[:get_ylim]()
-    ax[:set_ylim](min(ymin, minimum(xy[2])), max(ymax, maximum(xy[2])))
+    ax[:set_ylim](min(ymin, minimum(y)), max(ymax, maximum(y)))
   end
 
-  # getLeftAxis(plt)[:relim]()
-  # getRightAxis(plt)[:relim]()
-  # for mapping in getGadflyMappings(plt, i)
-  #   mapping[:x], mapping[:y] = xy
-  # end
+  plt
+end
+
+function Base.setindex!{X,Y,Z}(plt::Plot{PyPlotPackage}, xyz::Tuple{X,Y,Z}, i::Integer)
+  warn("setindex not implemented for xyz")
   plt
 end
 
diff --git a/src/backends/supported.jl b/src/backends/supported.jl
index 5e11bdb1..10a8de25 100644
--- a/src/backends/supported.jl
+++ b/src/backends/supported.jl
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ supportedStyles(::PlottingPackage) = [:solid]
 supportedMarkers(::PlottingPackage) = [:none]
 supportedScales(::PlottingPackage) = [:identity]
 subplotSupported(::PlottingPackage) = false
+stringsSupported(::PlottingPackage) = false
 
 supportedAxes() = supportedAxes(backend())
 supportedTypes() = supportedTypes(backend())
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ supportedStyles() = supportedStyles(backend())
 supportedMarkers() = supportedMarkers(backend())
 supportedScales() = supportedScales(backend())
 subplotSupported() = subplotSupported(backend())
+stringsSupported() = stringsSupported(backend())
 
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -428,7 +430,7 @@ supportedArgs(::PlotlyPackage) = [
     # :axis,
     :background_color,
     :color_palette,
-    # :fillrange,
+    :fillrange,
     # :fillcolor,
     # :fillalpha,
     :foreground_color,
@@ -471,19 +473,18 @@ supportedArgs(::PlotlyPackage) = [
     :yscale,
     # :xflip,
     # :yflip,
-    # :z,
+    :z,
     :tickfont,
     :guidefont,
     :legendfont,
     :grid,
-    # :surface,
-    # :nlevels,
+    :nlevels,
   ]
 supportedAxes(::PlotlyPackage) = [:auto, :left]
-supportedTypes(::PlotlyPackage) = [:none, :path, :scatter] #,:steppre, :steppost, :sticks, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :bar, :hline, :vline, :contour]
+supportedTypes(::PlotlyPackage) = [:none, :path, :scatter, :heatmap, :hist, :bar, :contour, :pie] #,:steppre, :steppost, :sticks, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :bar, :hline, :vline, :contour]
 supportedStyles(::PlotlyPackage) = [:auto, :solid] #, :dash, :dot, :dashdot, :dashdotdot]
 supportedMarkers(::PlotlyPackage) = [:none, :auto, :ellipse] #, :rect, :diamond, :utriangle, :dtriangle, :cross, :xcross, :star5] #vcat(_allMarkers, Shape)
 supportedScales(::PlotlyPackage) = [:identity, :log] #, :log, :log2, :log10, :asinh, :sqrt]
 subplotSupported(::PlotlyPackage) = false
-
+stringsSupported(::PlotlyPackage) = true
 
diff --git a/src/backends/web.jl b/src/backends/web.jl
index a123c2b4..f0a39f93 100644
--- a/src/backends/web.jl
+++ b/src/backends/web.jl
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ end
 
 function standalone_html_window(plt::PlottingObject; kw...)
     html = standalone_html(plt; kw...)
-    println(html)
+    # println(html)
     filename = string(tempname(), ".html")
     output = open(filename, "w")
     write(output, html)
diff --git a/src/colors.jl b/src/colors.jl
index 2de46a89..0799e4a7 100644
--- a/src/colors.jl
+++ b/src/colors.jl
@@ -328,7 +328,10 @@ end
 
 make255(x) = round(Int, 255 * x)
 
-function webcolor(c::Colorant)
+function webcolor(c::Color)
+  @sprintf("rgb(%d, %d, %d)", [make255(f(c)) for f in [red,green,blue]]...)
+end
+function webcolor(c::TransparentColor)
   @sprintf("rgba(%d, %d, %d, %1.3f)", [make255(f(c)) for f in [red,green,blue]]..., alpha(c))
 end
 webcolor(cs::ColorScheme) = webcolor(getColor(cs))
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index b3d92330..5f392639 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -101,8 +101,10 @@ function plot!(plt::Plot, args...; kw...)
   for (i,di) in enumerate(seriesArgList)
     plt.n += 1
 
-    setTicksFromStringVector(d, di, :x, :xticks)
-    setTicksFromStringVector(d, di, :y, :yticks)
+    if !stringsSupported()
+      setTicksFromStringVector(d, di, :x, :xticks)
+      setTicksFromStringVector(d, di, :y, :yticks)
+    end
 
     # remove plot args
     for k in keys(_plotDefaults)
@@ -238,6 +240,9 @@ convertToAnyVector(s::Surface; kw...) = Any[s], nothing
 # vector of OHLC
 convertToAnyVector(v::AVec{OHLC}; kw...) = Any[v], nothing
 
+# dates
+convertToAnyVector{D<:Union{Date,DateTime}}(dts::AVec{D}; kw...) = Any[dts], nothing
+
 # list of things (maybe other vectors, functions, or something else)
 function convertToAnyVector(v::AVec; kw...)
   if all(x -> typeof(x) <: Real, v)
diff --git a/src/plotter.jl b/src/plotter.jl
index ebbb1f7f..a5c22aec 100644
--- a/src/plotter.jl
+++ b/src/plotter.jl
@@ -240,7 +240,12 @@ function backend()
       try
         # @eval include(joinpath(Pkg.dir("Plots"), "src", "backends", "web.jl"))
         # @eval include(joinpath(Pkg.dir("Plots"), "src", "backends", "plotly.jl"))
-        @eval import JSON
+        @eval begin
+          import JSON
+          JSON._print(io::IO, state::JSON.State, dt::Union{Date,DateTime}) = print(io, '"', dt, '"')
+          # JSON.json(dt::Union{Date,DateTime}) = string(dt)
+          # JSON.json{D<:Union{Date,DateTime}}(dts::AVec{D}) = map(string, dts)
+        end
       catch err
         warn("Couldn't setup Plotly")
         rethrow(err)