diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index bf2c651e..7fab9be7 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -282,9 +282,9 @@
   <!-- This should be removed when the googlecode repositories are migrated to the standard Nexus OSS repository infrastructure -->
   <distributionManagement>
     <snapshotRepository>
-      <id>google-snapshots</id>
-      <name>Sonatype OSS Nexus Snapshots</name>
-      <url>https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/google-snapshots</url>
+      <id>${snapshots.id}</id>
+      <name>${snapshots.name}</name>
+      <url>${snapshots.url}</url>
     </snapshotRepository>
     <repository>
       <id>google-with-staging</id>
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/Custom.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/Custom.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..99621635
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/Custom.java
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.example;
+
+public class Custom {
+
+  private String encap;
+  
+  public Custom() {
+    encap = "encapsulated valuev";
+  }
+  
+  public Custom(String value) {
+    encap = value;
+  }
+  
+  @Override
+  public String toString() {
+    return encap.toString();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/CustomConverter.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/CustomConverter.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f9345862
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/CustomConverter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.example;
+
+import com.google.sitebricks.At;
+import com.google.sitebricks.http.Get;
+import com.google.sitebricks.http.Post;
+
+@At("/customConvertion")
+public class CustomConverter {
+
+  public static final String INITIAL_VALUE = "initial value";
+  private Custom custom;
+
+  public CustomConverter() {
+    custom = new Custom(INITIAL_VALUE);
+  }
+
+  @Get
+  public void get() {
+    System.out.println("custom converter sample.  woot!");
+  }
+
+  @Post
+  public void post() {
+    System.out.println("posted custom value: " + custom);
+  }
+
+  public Custom getTestValue() {
+    return custom;
+  }
+
+  public void setTestValue(Custom value) {
+    System.out.println("*************************** " + value);
+    custom = value;
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/CustomToStringConverter.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/CustomToStringConverter.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8c3de169
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/CustomToStringConverter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.example;
+
+import com.google.sitebricks.conversion.Converter;
+
+public class CustomToStringConverter implements Converter<String, Custom> {
+
+  @Override
+  public Custom to(String source) {
+    return new Custom(source);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public String from(Custom target) {
+    return target.toString();
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/PageWithReply.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/PageWithReply.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4ff0830b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/PageWithReply.java
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.example;
+
+import com.google.sitebricks.headless.Reply;
+import com.google.sitebricks.http.Get;
+
+public class PageWithReply {
+
+	@Get
+	public Object get() {
+		return Reply.saying().status(678);
+		
+	}
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/SitebricksConfig.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/SitebricksConfig.java
index 40111d41..04f6840f 100644
--- a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/SitebricksConfig.java
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/SitebricksConfig.java
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
 
+import org.apache.velocity.runtime.directive.VelocimacroProxy;
+
 /**
  * @author Dhanji R. Prasanna (dhanji@gmail.com)
  */
@@ -62,6 +64,7 @@ protected void configureSitebricks() {
         install(new StatModule("/stats"));
         
         converter(new DateConverters.DateStringConverter(DEFAULT_DATE_TIME_FORMAT));
+        converter(new CustomToStringConverter());
 
         install(new AwareModule() {
           @Override
@@ -82,6 +85,7 @@ private void bindExplicitly() {
         at("/repeat").show(Repeat.class);
         at("/showif").show(ShowIf.class);
         at("/dynamic.js").show(DynamicJs.class);
+        at("/pageWithReply").show(PageWithReply.class);
 
         at("/conversion").show(Conversion.class);
 
@@ -109,6 +113,8 @@ private void bindExplicitly() {
 
         // templating by extension
         at("/template").show(DecoratedPage.class);
+        at("/velocitySample").show(VelocitySample.class);
+        at("/customConvertion").show(CustomConverter.class);
 
         embed(HelloWorld.class).as("Hello");
       }
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/VelocitySample.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/VelocitySample.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..00e64b9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/example/VelocitySample.java
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.example;
+
+import com.google.sitebricks.http.Get;
+
+public class VelocitySample {
+
+    public static final String MSG = "Yaba Daba Doo!";
+
+    @Get
+    public void get() {
+        System.out.println("velocity sample.  woot!");
+    }
+
+    public String getName() {
+        return "fred flinstone";
+    }
+
+    public String getMessage() {
+        return MSG;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/CustomConverter.html b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/CustomConverter.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2a96231c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/CustomConverter.html
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+<html>
+<head>
+<title>custom conversion sample</title>
+</head>
+<body>
+<h1>velocity sample</h1>
+
+<form>
+	<input type="text" value="${testValue}" name="testValue" id="testValue"/>
+	<button type="submit" id="submit">submit</button>
+</form>
+
+
+</body>
+
+</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/PageWithReply.html b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/PageWithReply.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ab84e84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/PageWithReply.html
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<html>
+<body>
+<p>for this test, the template will never be displayed because the page get method will always return a non-200 status code Reply</p>
+</body>
+</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/VelocitySample.vm b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/VelocitySample.vm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aefe3361
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/VelocitySample.vm
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<html>
+<head>
+<title>velocity sample</title>
+</head>
+<body>
+<h1>velocity sample</h1>
+<h2>$page.name</h2>
+<h2>$page.message</h2>
+</body>
+
+</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/velocity.properties b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/velocity.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ca9dd56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/main/resources/velocity.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+resource.loader = class 
+class.resource.loader.class = org.apache.velocity.runtime.resource.loader.ClasspathResourceLoader 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/CustomConverterAcceptanceTest.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/CustomConverterAcceptanceTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a12d1896
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/CustomConverterAcceptanceTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.acceptance;
+
+import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
+import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
+import org.testng.annotations.Test;
+
+import com.google.sitebricks.acceptance.page.CustomConversionPage;
+import com.google.sitebricks.acceptance.util.AcceptanceTest;
+import com.google.sitebricks.example.CustomConverter;
+
+@Test(suiteName = AcceptanceTest.SUITE)
+public class CustomConverterAcceptanceTest {
+
+  public void hasConvertedTypes() {
+    WebDriver driver = AcceptanceTest.createWebDriver();
+    CustomConversionPage page = CustomConversionPage.open(driver);
+    
+    WebElement testValueInputField = page.getTestValue();
+    String testValue = testValueInputField.getAttribute("value");
+    assert testValue.equals(CustomConverter.INITIAL_VALUE) : "expected " + CustomConverter.INITIAL_VALUE + " but was " + testValue;
+    
+    
+    String expected = "new value from test";
+    testValueInputField.sendKeys(expected);
+    testValueInputField.submit();
+    System.out.println(driver.getPageSource());
+
+    assert testValueInputField.getAttribute("value").equals(CustomConverter.INITIAL_VALUE + expected) : "expected " + CustomConverter.INITIAL_VALUE + expected + " but was " + testValue;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/PageWithReplyAcceptanceTest.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/PageWithReplyAcceptanceTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ca807f51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/PageWithReplyAcceptanceTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.acceptance;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
+import java.net.URL;
+
+import org.testng.annotations.Test;
+
+import com.google.sitebricks.acceptance.util.AcceptanceTest;
+
+@Test(suiteName = AcceptanceTest.SUITE)
+public class PageWithReplyAcceptanceTest {
+
+  public void shouldReturnCustomStatusCode() throws IOException {
+    URL url = new URL(AcceptanceTest.BASE_URL + "/pageWithReply");
+    
+    HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
+    int expected = 678;
+    int actual = connection.getResponseCode();
+
+    assert actual == expected : "expected custom response code '" + expected + "' but was '" + actual + "'";
+  }
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/VelocitySampleAcceptanceTest.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/VelocitySampleAcceptanceTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..72be5382
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/VelocitySampleAcceptanceTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.acceptance;
+
+import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
+import org.testng.annotations.Test;
+
+import com.google.sitebricks.acceptance.page.VelocitySamplePage;
+import com.google.sitebricks.acceptance.util.AcceptanceTest;
+
+@Test(suiteName = AcceptanceTest.SUITE)
+public class VelocitySampleAcceptanceTest {
+
+    public void shouldRenderDynamicTextFromVelocitySample() {
+        WebDriver driver = AcceptanceTest.createWebDriver();
+        VelocitySamplePage page = VelocitySamplePage.open(driver, "/velocitySample");
+
+        assertVelocitySampleContent(page);
+    }
+
+    private void assertVelocitySampleContent(VelocitySamplePage page) {
+        String title = page.getTitle();
+        assert title.equals("velocity sample") : title + " != \"velocity sample\"\n" + page.getContent();
+        assert page.hasMessage() : "did not have dynamic text";
+    }
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/page/CustomConversionPage.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/page/CustomConversionPage.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a7aaccf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/page/CustomConversionPage.java
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.acceptance.page;
+
+import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
+import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
+import org.openqa.selenium.support.PageFactory;
+
+import com.google.sitebricks.acceptance.util.AcceptanceTest;
+
+public class CustomConversionPage {
+
+  private WebElement testValue;
+
+  public static CustomConversionPage open(WebDriver driver) {
+    driver.get(AcceptanceTest.BASE_URL + "/customConvertion");
+    return PageFactory.initElements(driver, CustomConversionPage.class);
+  }
+
+  public WebElement getTestValue() {
+    return testValue;
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/page/VelocitySamplePage.java b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/page/VelocitySamplePage.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ae49ecde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks-acceptance-tests/src/test/java/com/google/sitebricks/acceptance/page/VelocitySamplePage.java
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.acceptance.page;
+
+import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
+import org.openqa.selenium.support.PageFactory;
+
+import com.google.sitebricks.acceptance.util.AcceptanceTest;
+import com.google.sitebricks.example.VelocitySample;
+
+public class VelocitySamplePage {
+    private final WebDriver driver;
+
+    public VelocitySamplePage(WebDriver driver) {
+        this.driver = driver;
+    }
+
+    public static VelocitySamplePage open(WebDriver driver, String url) {
+        driver.get(AcceptanceTest.BASE_URL + url);
+        return PageFactory.initElements(driver, VelocitySamplePage.class);
+    }
+
+    public String getTitle() {
+        return driver.getTitle();
+    }
+
+    public boolean hasMessage() {
+//        System.out.println(driver.getPageSource());
+        return driver.getPageSource().contains(VelocitySample.MSG);
+    }
+
+    public String getContent() {
+        return driver.getPageSource();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks-async/pom.xml b/sitebricks-async/pom.xml
index 1d38cb05..d4a66bb1 100644
--- a/sitebricks-async/pom.xml
+++ b/sitebricks-async/pom.xml
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@
        standard Nexus OSS repository infrastructure -->
   <distributionManagement>
     <snapshotRepository>
-      <id>google-snapshots</id>
-      <name>Sonatype OSS Nexus Snapshots</name>
-      <url>https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/google-snapshots</url>
+      <id>${snapshots.id}</id>
+      <name>${snapshots.name}</name>
+      <url>${snapshots.url}</url>
     </snapshotRepository>
     <repository>
       <id>google-with-staging</id>
diff --git a/sitebricks/pom.xml b/sitebricks/pom.xml
index 8c2173e3..9aee8ed5 100644
--- a/sitebricks/pom.xml
+++ b/sitebricks/pom.xml
@@ -16,6 +16,22 @@
       <classifier>jdk15</classifier>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+		<groupId>org.apache.velocity</groupId>
+		<artifactId>velocity</artifactId>
+		<version>1.7</version>
+	</dependency>
+	<dependency>
+		<groupId>org.apache.velocity</groupId>
+		<artifactId>velocity-tools</artifactId>
+		<version>2.0</version>
+	</dependency>
+	<dependency>
+		<groupId>oro</groupId>
+		<artifactId>oro</artifactId>
+		<version>2.0.8</version>
+		<scope>runtime</scope>
+	</dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.google.sitebricks</groupId>
       <artifactId>sitebricks-converter</artifactId>
@@ -132,13 +148,30 @@
     </dependency>
 
   </dependencies>
+  
+  <build>
+    <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
+        <executions>
+           <execution>
+             <goals>
+               <goal>jar</goal>
+             </goals>
+          </execution>
+       </executions>
+      </plugin>
+    </plugins>
+  </build>
+  
 
   <!-- This should be removed when the googlecode repositories are migrated to the standard Nexus OSS repository infrastructure -->
   <distributionManagement>
     <snapshotRepository>
-      <id>google-snapshots</id>
-      <name>Sonatype OSS Nexus Snapshots</name>
-      <url>https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/google-snapshots</url>
+      <id>${snapshots.id}</id>
+      <name>${snapshots.name}</name>
+      <url>${snapshots.url}</url>
     </snapshotRepository>
     <repository>
       <id>google-with-staging</id>
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/ScanAndCompileBootstrapper.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/ScanAndCompileBootstrapper.java
index 50a1a41d..2a5aab5e 100644
--- a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/ScanAndCompileBootstrapper.java
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/ScanAndCompileBootstrapper.java
@@ -115,12 +115,14 @@ public void start() {
   }
 
   private void extendedPages(Set<Page> pagesToCompile) {
+    Set<Page> pageExtensions = Sets.newHashSet();
     for (Page page : pagesToCompile) {
       if (page.pageClass().isAnnotationPresent(Decorated.class)) {
         // recursively add extension pages
-        analyseExtension(pagesToCompile, page.pageClass());
+        analyseExtension(pageExtensions, page.pageClass());
       }
     }
+    pagesToCompile.addAll(pageExtensions);
   }
 
   //processes all explicit bindings, including static resources.
@@ -206,8 +208,9 @@ private Set<PageBook.Page> scanPagesToCompile(Set<Class<?>> set) {
     return pagesToCompile;
   }
 
-  private void analyseExtension(Set<PageBook.Page> pagesToCompile, Class<?> extendClass) {
+  private void analyseExtension(Set<PageBook.Page> pagesToCompile, final Class<?> extendClassArgument) {
     // store the page with a special page name used by ExtendWidget
+    Class<?> extendClass = extendClassArgument;
     pagesToCompile.add(pageBook.decorate(extendClass));
     
     // recursively analyse super class
@@ -221,7 +224,7 @@ else if (extendClass.isAnnotationPresent(Show.class)) {
         return;
       }
     }
-    throw new IllegalStateException("Could not find super class annotated with @Show");
+    throw new IllegalStateException("Could not find super class annotated with @Show on parent of class: " + extendClassArgument);
   }
 
   private void compilePages(Set<PageBook.Page> pagesToCompile) {
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/Template.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/Template.java
index 27bf3014..68e6b828 100644
--- a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/Template.java
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/Template.java
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ public String getText() {
   }
 
   public static enum Kind {
-    HTML, XML, FLAT, MVEL, FREEMARKER;
+    HTML, XML, FLAT, MVEL, FREEMARKER, VELOCITY;
 
     /**
      * Returns whether a given template should be treated as html, xml or flat
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ else if (template.endsWith(".mvel"))
         return MVEL;
       else if (template.endsWith(".fml"))
         return FREEMARKER;
+      else if (template.endsWith(".vm"))
+          return VELOCITY;
       else
         return FLAT;
     }
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/TemplateLoader.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/TemplateLoader.java
index 2566d2d1..f0ff815c 100644
--- a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/TemplateLoader.java
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/TemplateLoader.java
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ public class TemplateLoader {
   private final Provider<ServletContext> context;
 
   private final String[] fileNameTemplates = new String[] { "%s.html", "%s.xhtml", "%s.xml",
-      "%s.txt", "%s.fml", "%s.mvel" };
+      "%s.txt", "%s.fml", "%s.mvel", "%s.vm" };
 
   @Inject
   public TemplateLoader(Provider<ServletContext> context) {
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/Compilers.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/Compilers.java
index 684f5683..055dd6e4 100644
--- a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/Compilers.java
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/Compilers.java
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ public interface Compilers {
   Renderable compileMvel(Class<?> page, String template);
 
   Renderable compileFreemarker( Class<?> page, String text );
+  
+  Renderable compileVelocity(Class<?> page, String template);
 
   /**
    * Performs static analysis of the given page class to
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/StandardCompilers.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/StandardCompilers.java
index 087c53ea..db0e1aeb 100644
--- a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/StandardCompilers.java
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/StandardCompilers.java
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 package com.google.sitebricks.compiler;
 
+import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+import java.util.Map;
+
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Singleton;
 import com.google.sitebricks.Bricks;
@@ -9,6 +13,9 @@
 import com.google.sitebricks.Template;
 import com.google.sitebricks.TemplateLoader;
 import com.google.sitebricks.compiler.template.MvelTemplateCompiler;
+import com.google.sitebricks.compiler.template.VelocityContextProvider;
+import com.google.sitebricks.compiler.template.VelocityEngineProvider;
+import com.google.sitebricks.compiler.template.VelocityTemplateCompiler;
 import com.google.sitebricks.compiler.template.freemarker.FreemarkerTemplateCompiler;
 import com.google.sitebricks.headless.Reply;
 import com.google.sitebricks.rendering.Decorated;
@@ -16,10 +23,6 @@
 import com.google.sitebricks.routing.PageBook;
 import com.google.sitebricks.routing.SystemMetrics;
 
-import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
-import java.lang.reflect.Method;
-import java.util.Map;
-
 /**
  * A factory for internal template compilers.
  *
@@ -32,15 +35,20 @@ class StandardCompilers implements Compilers {
   private final SystemMetrics metrics;
   private final Map<String, Class<? extends Annotation>> httpMethods;
   private final TemplateLoader loader;
+private final VelocityEngineProvider velocityEngineProvider;
+private final VelocityContextProvider velocityContextProvider;
 
   @Inject
   public StandardCompilers(WidgetRegistry registry, PageBook pageBook, SystemMetrics metrics,
-                           @Bricks Map<String, Class<? extends Annotation>> httpMethods, TemplateLoader loader) {
+                           @Bricks Map<String, Class<? extends Annotation>> httpMethods, TemplateLoader loader, VelocityEngineProvider velocityEngineProvider,
+                           VelocityContextProvider velocityContextProvider) {
     this.registry = registry;
     this.pageBook = pageBook;
     this.metrics = metrics;
     this.httpMethods = httpMethods;
     this.loader = loader;
+	this.velocityEngineProvider = velocityEngineProvider;
+  this.velocityContextProvider = velocityContextProvider;
   }
 
   public Renderable compileXml(Class<?> page, String template) {
@@ -67,6 +75,11 @@ public Renderable compileMvel(Class<?> page, String template) {
   public Renderable compileFreemarker( Class<?> page, String template ) {
     return new FreemarkerTemplateCompiler(page).compile(template);
   }
+  
+  @Override
+  public Renderable compileVelocity(Class<?> page, String template) {
+      return new VelocityTemplateCompiler(velocityEngineProvider, velocityContextProvider).compile(template);
+  }
 
   // TODO(dhanji): Feedback errors as return rather than throwing.
   public void analyze(Class<?> page) {
@@ -151,8 +164,10 @@ public Renderable compile(Class<?> templateClass) {
       case FREEMARKER:
         widget = compileFreemarker(templateClass, template.getText());
         break;
+      case VELOCITY:
+    	widget = compileVelocity(templateClass, template.getText());
+        break;
     }
     return widget;
   }
-
 }
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/template/VelocityContextProvider.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/template/VelocityContextProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..63a0000a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/template/VelocityContextProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.compiler.template;
+
+import javax.inject.Provider;
+import javax.inject.Singleton;
+
+import org.apache.velocity.VelocityContext;
+import org.apache.velocity.tools.ToolManager;
+
+public class VelocityContextProvider implements Provider<VelocityContext> {
+
+  @Override
+  @Singleton
+  public VelocityContext get() {
+    try {
+      ToolManager velocityToolManager = new ToolManager();
+      velocityToolManager.configure("velocity-tools.xml");
+      return new VelocityContext(velocityToolManager.createContext());
+    } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+      return new VelocityContext();
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/template/VelocityEngineProvider.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/template/VelocityEngineProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..270339a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/template/VelocityEngineProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.compiler.template;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.Properties;
+
+import javax.inject.Singleton;
+
+import org.apache.velocity.app.VelocityEngine;
+
+import com.google.inject.Provider;
+
+
+public class VelocityEngineProvider implements Provider<VelocityEngine> {
+
+    @Override
+    @Singleton
+    public VelocityEngine get() {
+        Properties properties = new Properties();
+        try {
+            InputStream propertyStream = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/velocity.properties");
+            if (propertyStream != null)
+                properties.load(propertyStream);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+
+        VelocityEngine velocityEngine = new VelocityEngine(properties);
+        return velocityEngine;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/template/VelocityTemplateCompiler.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/template/VelocityTemplateCompiler.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4278d737
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/compiler/template/VelocityTemplateCompiler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package com.google.sitebricks.compiler.template;
+
+import java.io.StringWriter;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import javax.inject.Inject;
+
+import org.apache.velocity.VelocityContext;
+
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
+import com.google.sitebricks.Renderable;
+import com.google.sitebricks.Respond;
+
+public class VelocityTemplateCompiler {
+
+    private final VelocityEngineProvider provider;
+    private final VelocityContextProvider velocityContextProvider;
+
+    @Inject
+    public VelocityTemplateCompiler(VelocityEngineProvider provider, VelocityContextProvider velocityContextProvider) {
+        this.provider = provider;
+        this.velocityContextProvider = velocityContextProvider;
+    }
+
+    public Renderable compile(final String templateContent) {
+
+        return new Renderable() {
+
+            @Override
+            public void render(Object bound, Respond respond) {
+              VelocityContext context = velocityContextProvider.get();
+                context.put("page", bound);
+                StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
+                provider.get().evaluate(context, writer, "", templateContent);
+                respond.write(writer.toString());
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public <T extends Renderable> Set<T> collect(Class<T> clazz) {
+                return ImmutableSet.of();
+            }
+        };
+    }
+}
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/rendering/control/DecorateWidget.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/rendering/control/DecorateWidget.java
index 3e487b46..69490a1a 100644
--- a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/rendering/control/DecorateWidget.java
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/rendering/control/DecorateWidget.java
@@ -22,7 +22,12 @@ public class DecorateWidget implements Renderable {
   private ThreadLocal<Class<?>> templateClassLocal = new ThreadLocal<Class<?>>();
   
   public static String embedNameFor(Class<?> pageClass) {
-    return pageClass.getName().toLowerCase() + "-extend";
+    String lowerCaseClassName = pageClass.getName().toLowerCase();
+    int indexOf = lowerCaseClassName.indexOf("$$enhancerbyguice");
+    if (indexOf > 0) {
+      lowerCaseClassName = lowerCaseClassName.substring(0, indexOf);
+    }
+    return lowerCaseClassName + "-extend";
   }
   
   public DecorateWidget(WidgetChain chain, String expression, Evaluator evaluator){
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/rendering/control/EmbeddedRespondFactory.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/rendering/control/EmbeddedRespondFactory.java
index 74857d2d..cc010649 100644
--- a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/rendering/control/EmbeddedRespondFactory.java
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/rendering/control/EmbeddedRespondFactory.java
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@
  * @author Dhanji R. Prasanna (dhanji@gmail com)
  */
 @Immutable class EmbeddedRespondFactory {
-  private final Respond respond = new StringBuilderRespond(new Object());
 
   public EmbeddedRespond get(Map<String, ArgumentWidget> arguments) {
+    Respond respond = new StringBuilderRespond(new Object());
     return new EmbeddedRespond(arguments, respond);
   }
 }
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/routing/DefaultPageBook.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/routing/DefaultPageBook.java
index f3199fd5..17c3d928 100644
--- a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/routing/DefaultPageBook.java
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/routing/DefaultPageBook.java
@@ -1,5 +1,24 @@
 package com.google.sitebricks.routing;
 
+import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+import java.lang.reflect.Type;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+
+import net.jcip.annotations.GuardedBy;
+import net.jcip.annotations.ThreadSafe;
+
+import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
+
+import com.google.common.base.Objects;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.collect.HashMultimap;
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
@@ -25,22 +44,6 @@
 import com.google.sitebricks.http.negotiate.Negotiation;
 import com.google.sitebricks.rendering.Strings;
 import com.google.sitebricks.rendering.control.DecorateWidget;
-import net.jcip.annotations.GuardedBy;
-import net.jcip.annotations.ThreadSafe;
-import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
-
-import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
-import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
-import java.lang.reflect.Method;
-import java.lang.reflect.Type;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Collection;
-import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.Set;
-import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
 /**
  * contains active uri/widget mappings
@@ -597,13 +600,20 @@ public boolean equals(Object o) {
 
       Page that = (Page) o;
 
-      return this.clazz.equals(that.pageClass());
+      return this.clazz.equals(that.pageClass()) && isDecorated() == that.isDecorated();
     }
 
     @Override
     public int hashCode() {
       return clazz.hashCode();
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return Objects.toStringHelper(PageTuple.class).add("clazz", clazz).add("isDecorated", extension)
+                .add("uri", uri).toString();
+    }
+
   }
 
   private static class MethodTuple implements Action {
diff --git a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/routing/WidgetRoutingDispatcher.java b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/routing/WidgetRoutingDispatcher.java
index 9a19f9cc..9ebc2728 100644
--- a/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/routing/WidgetRoutingDispatcher.java
+++ b/sitebricks/src/main/java/com/google/sitebricks/routing/WidgetRoutingDispatcher.java
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 package com.google.sitebricks.routing;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import net.jcip.annotations.Immutable;
+
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Provider;
 import com.google.inject.Singleton;
@@ -8,12 +12,10 @@
 import com.google.sitebricks.binding.FlashCache;
 import com.google.sitebricks.binding.RequestBinder;
 import com.google.sitebricks.headless.HeadlessRenderer;
+import com.google.sitebricks.headless.Reply;
 import com.google.sitebricks.headless.Request;
 import com.google.sitebricks.rendering.resource.ResourcesService;
 import com.google.sitebricks.routing.PageBook.Page;
-import net.jcip.annotations.Immutable;
-
-import java.io.IOException;
 
 /**
  * @author Dhanji R. Prasanna (dhanji@gmail.com)
@@ -29,9 +31,8 @@ class WidgetRoutingDispatcher implements RoutingDispatcher {
 
   @Inject
   public WidgetRoutingDispatcher(PageBook book, RequestBinder binder,
-                                 ResourcesService resourcesService,
-                                 Provider<FlashCache> flashCacheProvider,
-                                 HeadlessRenderer headlessRenderer) {
+      ResourcesService resourcesService,
+      Provider<FlashCache> flashCacheProvider, HeadlessRenderer headlessRenderer) {
     this.headlessRenderer = headlessRenderer;
     this.book = book;
     this.binder = binder;
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ public WidgetRoutingDispatcher(PageBook book, RequestBinder binder,
   public Object dispatch(Request request, Events event) throws IOException {
     String uri = request.path();
 
-    //first try dispatching as a static resource service
+    // first try dispatching as a static resource service
     Respond respond = resourcesService.serve(uri);
 
     if (null != respond)
@@ -62,24 +63,22 @@ public Object dispatch(Request request, Events event) throws IOException {
     if (null == page)
       page = book.get(uri);
 
-    //could not dispatch as there was no match
+    // could not dispatch as there was no match
     if (null == page)
       return null;
 
     final Object instance = page.instantiate();
     if (page.isHeadless()) {
       return bindAndReply(request, page, instance);
-    } else {
-      respond = new StringBuilderRespond(instance);
-
-      //fire events and render reponders
-      bindAndRespond(request, page, respond, instance);
     }
 
-    return respond;
+    // fire events and render reponders
+    return bindAndRespond(request, page, instance, uri);
+
   }
 
-  private Object bindAndReply(Request request, Page page, Object instance) throws IOException {
+  private Object bindAndReply(Request request, Page page, Object instance)
+      throws IOException {
     // bind request (sets request params, etc).
     binder.bind(request, instance);
 
@@ -87,15 +86,16 @@ private Object bindAndReply(Request request, Page page, Object instance) throws
     return fireEvent(request, page, instance);
   }
 
-  private void bindAndRespond(Request request, PageBook.Page page, Respond respond,
-                              Object instance) {
-    //bind request
+  private Object bindAndRespond(Request request, PageBook.Page page,
+      Object instance, String uri) throws IOException {
+    Respond respond = new StringBuilderRespond(instance);
+    // bind request
     binder.bind(request, instance);
 
-    //fire get/post events
+    // fire get/post events
     final Object redirect = fireEvent(request, page, instance);
 
-    //render to respond
+    // render to respond
     if (null != redirect) {
 
       if (redirect instanceof String)
@@ -105,19 +105,28 @@ else if (redirect instanceof Class) {
 
         // should never be null coz it is validated on compile.
         respond.redirect(contextualize(request, targetPage.getUri()));
+      } else if (redirect instanceof Reply) {
+        // page wants to be headless
+        return redirect;
       } else {
         // Handle page-chaining driven redirection.
         PageBook.Page targetPage = book.forInstance(redirect);
+        String redirectUri = targetPage.getUri();
+        if (redirect == instance) {
+          redirectUri = uri;
+        }
 
         // should never be null coz it will be validated at compile time.
-        flashCacheProvider.get().put(targetPage.getUri(), targetPage);
+        flashCacheProvider.get().put(redirectUri, targetPage);
 
         // Send to the canonical address of the page. This is also
         // verified at compile, not be a variablized matcher.
-        respond.redirect(contextualize(request, targetPage.getUri()));
+        respond.redirect(contextualize(request, redirectUri));
       }
-    } else
+    } else {
       page.widget().render(instance, respond);
+    }
+    return respond;
   }
 
   // We're sure the request parameter map is a Map<String, String[]>
diff --git a/slf4j/pom.xml b/slf4j/pom.xml
index 54345fd9..c8deb8d4 100644
--- a/slf4j/pom.xml
+++ b/slf4j/pom.xml
@@ -44,9 +44,9 @@
   <!-- This should be removed when the googlecode repositories are migrated to the standard Nexus OSS repository infrastructure -->
   <distributionManagement>
     <snapshotRepository>
-      <id>google-snapshots</id>
-      <name>Sonatype OSS Nexus Snapshots</name>
-      <url>https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/google-snapshots</url>
+      <id>${snapshots.id}</id>
+      <name>${snapshots.name}</name>
+      <url>${snapshots.url}</url>
     </snapshotRepository>
     <repository>
       <id>google-with-staging</id>
diff --git a/stat/pom.xml b/stat/pom.xml
index 0387240a..02e913dc 100644
--- a/stat/pom.xml
+++ b/stat/pom.xml
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@
   <!-- This should be removed when the googlecode repositories are migrated to the standard Nexus OSS repository infrastructure -->
   <distributionManagement>
     <snapshotRepository>
-      <id>google-snapshots</id>
-      <name>Sonatype OSS Nexus Snapshots</name>
-      <url>https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/google-snapshots</url>
+      <id>${snapshots.id}</id>
+      <name>${snapshots.name}</name>
+      <url>${snapshots.url}</url>
     </snapshotRepository>
     <repository>
       <id>google-with-staging</id>