diff --git a/.Rbuildignore b/.Rbuildignore
index 71a8201..ea5ba98 100644
--- a/.Rbuildignore
+++ b/.Rbuildignore
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ^.*\.Rproj$
 ^\.Rproj\.user$
 ^_README.Rmd$
+^_README.md$
 ^NEWS.md$
 ^\.travis\.yml$
 ^README.md$
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 8398d92..aabb147 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -17,4 +17,5 @@ Depends:
     ggplot2,
     grid,
     scales,
-    gridExtra
+    gridExtra,
+    RColorBrewer
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 55687f0..3485930 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 export(statebins)
 export(statebins_continuous)
+import(RColorBrewer)
 import(ggplot2)
 import(grid)
 import(gridExtra)
diff --git a/R/state_coords.R b/R/state_coords.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..325b468
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/state_coords.R
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#' @title state_coords
+#' @description simple coordinates for states to use in a 'statebin' plot
+#' \itemize{
+#'   \item \code{abbrev}. state abbreviation, including \code{DC} (chr)
+#'   \item \code{state}. capitalized state name (chr)
+#'   \item \code{col}. colum where it fits (12x8 grid) (chr)
+#'   \item \code{row}. row where it fits (12x8 grid) (chr)
+#' }
+#'
+#' @docType data
+#' @keywords datasets
+#' @name state_coords
+#' @seealso \itemize{
+#'   \item WaPo - \url{http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/states-most-threatened-by-trade/}
+#' }
+#' @note Last updated 2014-08-25
+#' @format A data frame with 51 rows and 4 variables
+NULL
+
+
diff --git a/R/statebins-package.R b/R/statebins-package.R
index 52229fe..4a9424e 100644
--- a/R/statebins-package.R
+++ b/R/statebins-package.R
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@
 #' @name statebins
 #' @docType package
 #' @author Bob Rudis (@@hrbrmstr)
-#' @import ggplot2 scales grid gridExtra
+#' @import ggplot2 scales grid gridExtra RColorBrewer
 NULL
diff --git a/R/statebins.R b/R/statebins.R
index 04702b2..d94b94f 100644
--- a/R/statebins.R
+++ b/R/statebins.R
@@ -2,19 +2,20 @@
 #' Create ggplot-based "statebin" charts in the style of \url{http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/states-most-threatened-by-trade/}
 #'
 #' This version uses a discrete scale, binned by the "breaks" parameter
-#' @param state_data
-#' @param state_col
-#' @param value_col
-#' @param text_color
-#' @param font_size
-#' @param state_border_col
-#' @param breaks
-#' @param labels
-#' @param legend_title
-#' @param legend_position
-#' @param brewer_pal
-#' @param plot_title
-#' @param title_position
+#'
+#' @param state_data data frame of states and values to plot
+#' @param state_col column name in \code{state_data} that has the states. no duplicates and can be names (e.g. "Maine") or abbreviatons (e.g. "ME")
+#' @param value_col column name in \code{state_data} that holds the values to be plotted
+#' @param text_color default "white"
+#' @param font_size font size (default = 2)
+#' @param state_border_col default "white" - this creates the "spaces" between boxes
+#' @param breaks a single number (greater than or equal to 2) giving the number of intervals into which data values are to be cut.
+#' @param labels labels for the levels \code{breaks}
+#' @param legend_title title for the legend
+#' @param legend_position "none", "top" or "bottom" (defaults to "top")
+#' @param brewer_pal which named RColorBrewer palette to use
+#' @param plot_title title for the plot
+#' @param title_position where to put the title ("bottom" or "top" or " " for none); if "bottom", you get back a grob vs a ggplot object
 #' @return ggplot2 object or grob
 #' @export
 statebins <- function(state_data, state_col="state", value_col="value",
@@ -40,9 +41,9 @@ statebins <- function(state_data, state_col="state", value_col="value",
 
   st.dat$fill_color <- cut(st.dat[, value_col], breaks=breaks, labels=labels)
 
-  gg <- ggplot(st.dat, aes(x=col, y=row, label=abbrev))
-  gg <- gg + geom_tile(aes(fill=fill_color))
-  gg <- gg + geom_tile(color=state_border_col, aes(fill=fill_color), size=3, show_guide=FALSE)
+  gg <- ggplot(st.dat, aes_string(x="col", y="row", label="abbrev"))
+  gg <- gg + geom_tile(aes_string(fill="fill_color"))
+  gg <- gg + geom_tile(color=state_border_col, aes_string(fill="fill_color"), size=3, show_guide=FALSE)
   gg <- gg + geom_text(color=text_color, size=font_size)
   gg <- gg + scale_y_reverse()
   gg <- gg + scale_fill_brewer(palette=brewer_pal, name=legend_title)
@@ -76,18 +77,19 @@ statebins <- function(state_data, state_col="state", value_col="value",
 
 #' Create ggplot-based "statebin" charts in the style of \url{http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/states-most-threatened-by-trade/}
 #'
-#' This version uses a discrete scale, binned by the "breaks" parameter
-#' @param state_data
-#' @param state_col
-#' @param value_col
-#' @param text_color
-#' @param font_size
-#' @param state_border_col
-#' @param legend_title
-#' @param legend_position
-#' @param brewer_pal
-#' @param plot_title
-#' @param title_position
+#' This version uses a continuous scale akin to \link{scale_fill_distiller}
+#'
+#' @param state_data data frame of states and values to plot
+#' @param state_col column name in \code{state_data} that has the states. no duplicates and can be names (e.g. "Maine") or abbreviatons (e.g. "ME")
+#' @param value_col column name in \code{state_data} that holds the values to be plotted
+#' @param text_color default "white"
+#' @param font_size font size (default = 2)
+#' @param state_border_col default "white" - this creates the "spaces" between boxes
+#' @param legend_title title for the legend
+#' @param legend_position "none", "top" or "bottom" (defaults to "top")
+#' @param brewer_pal which named RColorBrewer palette to use
+#' @param plot_title title for the plot
+#' @param title_position where to put the title ("bottom" or "top" or " " for none); if "bottom", you get back a grob vs a ggplot object
 #' @return ggplot2 object or grob
 #' @export
 statebins_continuous <- function(state_data, state_col="state", value_col="value",
@@ -110,14 +112,14 @@ statebins_continuous <- function(state_data, state_col="state", value_col="value
 
   st.dat <- merge(state_coords, state_data, by.x=merge.x, by.y=state_col)
 
-  gg <- ggplot(st.dat, aes(x=col, y=row, label=abbrev))
+  gg <- ggplot(st.dat, aes_string(x="col", y="row", label="abbrev"))
   gg <- gg + geom_tile(aes_string(fill=value_col))
   gg <- gg + geom_tile(color=state_border_col,
                        aes_string(fill=value_col), size=3, show_guide=FALSE)
   gg <- gg + geom_text(color=text_color, size=font_size)
   gg <- gg + scale_y_reverse()
   gg <- gg + continuous_scale("fill", "distiller",
-                   gradient_n_pal(brewer_pal(type, brewer_pal)(6), NULL, "Lab"), na.value = "grey50", name=legend_title)
+                   gradient_n_pal(brewer_pal("seq", brewer_pal)(6), NULL, "Lab"), na.value = "grey50", name=legend_title)
   gg <- gg + coord_equal()
   gg <- gg + labs(x="", y="", title="")
   gg <- gg + theme_bw()
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 42544e4..3e69cc4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-statesquares is ...
+statebins is an alternative to choropleth maps for US States
 
 The following functions are implemented:
 
 -   `statebins` -
+-   `statebins_continuous` -
 
 ### News
 
@@ -18,14 +19,7 @@ devtools::install_github("hrbrmstr/statebins")
 
 ``` {.r}
 library(statebins)
-```
-
-    ## Loading required package: ggplot2
-    ## Loading required package: grid
-    ## Loading required package: scales
-    ## Loading required package: gridExtra
 
-``` {.r}
 # current verison
 packageVersion("statebins")
 ```
@@ -33,11 +27,13 @@ packageVersion("statebins")
     ## [1] '1.0'
 
 ``` {.r}
+# the original wapo data
+
 dat <- read.csv("http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/states-most-threatened-by-trade/states.csv?cache=1", stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
 
 gg <- statebins(dat, "state", "avgshare94_00", breaks=4, 
                 labels=c("0-1", "1-2", "2-3", "3-4"),
-                legend_title="State Groups",
+                legend_title="State Groups", font_size=3, 
                 brewer_pal="Blues", text_color="black", 
                 plot_title="1994-2000", title_position="bottom")
 
@@ -49,14 +45,25 @@ gg
 ``` {.r}
 gg2 <- statebins_continuous(dat, "state", "avgshare01_07",
                 legend_title="States", legend_position="none",
-                brewer_pal="OrRd", text_color="black", 
-                plot_title="1994-2000", title_position="bottom")
+                brewer_pal="OrRd", text_color="black", font_size=3, 
+                plot_title="2001-2007", title_position="bottom")
 
 gg2
 ```
 
 ![plot of chunk unnamed-chunk-3](./_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-32.png)
 
+``` {.r}
+gg3 <- statebins_continuous(dat, "state", "avgshare08_12",
+                legend_title="States", legend_position="none",
+                brewer_pal="Purples", text_color="black", font_size=3, 
+                plot_title="2008-2012", title_position="bottom")
+
+gg3
+```
+
+![plot of chunk unnamed-chunk-3](./_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-33.png)
+
 ### Test Results
 
 ``` {.r}
@@ -66,7 +73,7 @@ library(testthat)
 date()
 ```
 
-    ## [1] "Mon Aug 25 22:25:49 2014"
+    ## [1] "Mon Aug 25 22:36:21 2014"
 
 ``` {.r}
 test_dir("tests/")
diff --git a/_README.Rmd b/_README.Rmd
index 4eb2e32..ffe7df5 100644
--- a/_README.Rmd
+++ b/_README.Rmd
@@ -7,15 +7,16 @@ output:
     variant: markdown_github
 ---
 
-statesquares is ...
+statebins is an alternative to choropleth maps for US States
 
 The following functions are implemented:
 
 - `statebins` -
+- `statebins_continuous` -
 
 ### News
 
-- Version `1.0.0`  released
+- Version `1.0.0` released
 
 ### Installation
 
@@ -29,17 +30,19 @@ options(width=120)
 
 ### Usage
 
-```{r}
+```{r message=FALSE}
 library(statebins)
 
 # current verison
 packageVersion("statebins")
 
+# the original wapo data
+
 dat <- read.csv("http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/states-most-threatened-by-trade/states.csv?cache=1", stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
 
 gg <- statebins(dat, "state", "avgshare94_00", breaks=4, 
                 labels=c("0-1", "1-2", "2-3", "3-4"),
-                legend_title="State Groups",
+                legend_title="State Groups", font_size=3, 
                 brewer_pal="Blues", text_color="black", 
                 plot_title="1994-2000", title_position="bottom")
 
@@ -47,11 +50,18 @@ gg
 
 gg2 <- statebins_continuous(dat, "state", "avgshare01_07",
                 legend_title="States", legend_position="none",
-                brewer_pal="OrRd", text_color="black", 
-                plot_title="1994-2000", title_position="bottom")
+                brewer_pal="OrRd", text_color="black", font_size=3, 
+                plot_title="2001-2007", title_position="bottom")
 
 gg2
 
+gg3 <- statebins_continuous(dat, "state", "avgshare08_12",
+                legend_title="States", legend_position="none",
+                brewer_pal="Purples", text_color="black", font_size=3, 
+                plot_title="2008-2012", title_position="bottom")
+
+gg3
+
 ```
 
 ### Test Results
diff --git a/_README.md b/_README.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 89a7a96..0000000
--- a/_README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,75 +0,0 @@
-statesquares is ...
-
-The following functions are implemented:
-
--   `statebins` -
-
-### News
-
--   Version `1.0.0` released
-
-### Installation
-
-``` {.r}
-devtools::install_github("hrbrmstr/statebins")
-```
-
-### Usage
-
-``` {.r}
-library(statebins)
-```
-
-    ## Loading required package: ggplot2
-    ## Loading required package: grid
-    ## Loading required package: scales
-    ## Loading required package: gridExtra
-
-``` {.r}
-# current verison
-packageVersion("statebins")
-```
-
-    ## [1] '1.0'
-
-``` {.r}
-dat <- read.csv("http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/states-most-threatened-by-trade/states.csv?cache=1", stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
-
-gg <- statebins(dat, "state", "avgshare94_00", breaks=4, 
-                labels=c("0-1", "1-2", "2-3", "3-4"),
-                legend_title="State Groups",
-                brewer_pal="Blues", text_color="black", 
-                plot_title="1994-2000", title_position="bottom")
-
-gg
-```
-
-![plot of chunk unnamed-chunk-3](./_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-31.png)
-
-``` {.r}
-gg2 <- statebins_continuous(dat, "state", "avgshare01_07",
-                legend_title="States", legend_position="none",
-                brewer_pal="OrRd", text_color="black", 
-                plot_title="1994-2000", title_position="bottom")
-
-gg2
-```
-
-![plot of chunk unnamed-chunk-3](./_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-32.png)
-
-### Test Results
-
-``` {.r}
-library(statebins)
-library(testthat)
-
-date()
-```
-
-    ## [1] "Mon Aug 25 22:27:38 2014"
-
-``` {.r}
-test_dir("tests/")
-```
-
-    ## basic functionality :
diff --git a/_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-31.png b/_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-31.png
index 87aa632..590d4b3 100644
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diff --git a/_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-32.png b/_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-32.png
index c339fcb..22bc13e 100644
Binary files a/_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-32.png and b/_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-32.png differ
diff --git a/_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-33.png b/_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-33.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e56de8
Binary files /dev/null and b/_README_files/figure-markdown_github/unnamed-chunk-33.png differ
diff --git a/man/state_coords.Rd b/man/state_coords.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..13b418b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/state_coords.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2 (4.0.1.99): do not edit by hand
+\docType{data}
+\name{state_coords}
+\alias{state_coords}
+\title{state_coords}
+\format{A data frame with 51 rows and 4 variables}
+\description{
+simple coordinates for states to use in a 'statebin' plot
+\itemize{
+  \item \code{abbrev}. state abbreviation, including \code{DC} (chr)
+  \item \code{state}. capitalized state name (chr)
+  \item \code{col}. colum where it fits (12x8 grid) (chr)
+  \item \code{row}. row where it fits (12x8 grid) (chr)
+}
+}
+\note{
+Last updated 2014-08-25
+}
+\seealso{
+\itemize{
+  \item WaPo - \url{http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/states-most-threatened-by-trade/}
+}
+}
+\keyword{datasets}
+
diff --git a/man/statebins.Rd b/man/statebins.Rd
index 4515080..966fd7a 100644
--- a/man/statebins.Rd
+++ b/man/statebins.Rd
@@ -3,15 +3,46 @@
 \name{statebins}
 \alias{statebins}
 \alias{statebins-package}
-\title{A package to ...}
+\title{statebins is an alternative to choropleth maps for US States}
 \usage{
 statebins(state_data, state_col = "state", value_col = "value",
-  text_color = "white", state_border_col = "white", breaks = 5,
-  labels = 1:4, legend_title = "Legend", legend_position = "top",
-  brewer_pal = "PuBu", plot_title = "", title_position = "bottom")
+  text_color = "white", font_size = 2, state_border_col = "white",
+  breaks = 5, labels = 1:4, legend_title = "Legend",
+  legend_position = "top", brewer_pal = "PuBu", plot_title = "",
+  title_position = "bottom")
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{state_data}{data frame of states and values to plot}
+
+\item{state_col}{column name in \code{state_data} that has the states. no duplicates and can be names (e.g. "Maine") or abbreviatons (e.g. "ME")}
+
+\item{value_col}{column name in \code{state_data} that holds the values to be plotted}
+
+\item{text_color}{default "white"}
+
+\item{font_size}{font size (default = 2)}
+
+\item{state_border_col}{default "white" - this creates the "spaces" between boxes}
+
+\item{breaks}{a single number (greater than or equal to 2) giving the number of intervals into which data values are to be cut.}
+
+\item{labels}{labels for the levels \code{breaks}}
+
+\item{legend_title}{title for the legend}
+
+\item{legend_position}{"none", "top" or "bottom" (defaults to "top")}
+
+\item{brewer_pal}{which named RColorBrewer palette to use}
+
+\item{plot_title}{title for the plot}
+
+\item{title_position}{where to put the title ("bottom" or "top" or " " for none); if "bottom", you get back a grob vs a ggplot object}
+}
+\value{
+ggplot2 object or grob
 }
 \description{
-A package to ...
+statebins is an alternative to choropleth maps for US States
 
 This version uses a discrete scale, binned by the "breaks" parameter
 }
diff --git a/man/statebins_continuous.Rd b/man/statebins_continuous.Rd
index e4ed6e6..1a421cb 100644
--- a/man/statebins_continuous.Rd
+++ b/man/statebins_continuous.Rd
@@ -4,11 +4,37 @@
 \title{Create ggplot-based "statebin" charts in the style of \url{http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/states-most-threatened-by-trade/}}
 \usage{
 statebins_continuous(state_data, state_col = "state", value_col = "value",
-  text_color = "white", state_border_col = "white",
+  text_color = "white", font_size = 2, state_border_col = "white",
   legend_title = "Legend", legend_position = "top", brewer_pal = "PuBu",
   plot_title = "", title_position = "bottom")
 }
+\arguments{
+\item{state_data}{data frame of states and values to plot}
+
+\item{state_col}{column name in \code{state_data} that has the states. no duplicates and can be names (e.g. "Maine") or abbreviatons (e.g. "ME")}
+
+\item{value_col}{column name in \code{state_data} that holds the values to be plotted}
+
+\item{text_color}{default "white"}
+
+\item{font_size}{font size (default = 2)}
+
+\item{state_border_col}{default "white" - this creates the "spaces" between boxes}
+
+\item{legend_title}{title for the legend}
+
+\item{legend_position}{"none", "top" or "bottom" (defaults to "top")}
+
+\item{brewer_pal}{which named RColorBrewer palette to use}
+
+\item{plot_title}{title for the plot}
+
+\item{title_position}{where to put the title ("bottom" or "top" or " " for none); if "bottom", you get back a grob vs a ggplot object}
+}
+\value{
+ggplot2 object or grob
+}
 \description{
-This version uses a discrete scale, binned by the "breaks" parameter
+This version uses a continuous scale akin to \link{scale_fill_distiller}
 }