diff --git a/doc/UltiSnips.txt b/doc/UltiSnips.txt
index d05a888..fed76e8 100644
--- a/doc/UltiSnips.txt
+++ b/doc/UltiSnips.txt
@@ -1392,6 +1392,7 @@ individuals have contributed to UltiSnips (in chronological order):
    Christian - Oberon00
    Andrew Ruder - aeruder
    Mathias Fußenegger - mfussenegger
+   Kevin Ballard - kballard
 
 
 Thank you for your support.
diff --git a/ftplugin/snippets.vim b/ftplugin/snippets.vim
index 134fe01..69e1abf 100644
--- a/ftplugin/snippets.vim
+++ b/ftplugin/snippets.vim
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ setlocal foldlevel=99
 setlocal commentstring=#%s
 
 setlocal noexpandtab
+setlocal autoindent nosmartindent nocindent
 
 " Define match words for use with matchit plugin
 " http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=39
diff --git a/pythonx/UltiSnips/snippet/parsing/_lexer.py b/pythonx/UltiSnips/snippet/parsing/_lexer.py
index 5233e31..1c5794f 100644
--- a/pythonx/UltiSnips/snippet/parsing/_lexer.py
+++ b/pythonx/UltiSnips/snippet/parsing/_lexer.py
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ class EscapeCharToken(Token):
         )
 
 class ShellCodeToken(Token):
-    """`! echo "hi"`"""
+    """`echo "hi"`"""
     @classmethod
     def starts_here(cls, stream):
         """Returns true if this token starts at the current position in
diff --git a/syntax/snippets.vim b/syntax/snippets.vim
index 085b408..19a9da1 100644
--- a/syntax/snippets.vim
+++ b/syntax/snippets.vim
@@ -5,68 +5,200 @@ if exists("b:current_syntax")
   finish
 endif
 
+if expand("%:p:h:t") == "snippets" && search("^endsnippet", "nw") == 0
+            \ && !exists("b:ultisnips_override_snipmate")
+    " this appears to be a snipmate file
+    " It's in a directory called snippets/ and there's no endsnippet keyword
+    " anywhere in the file.
+    source <sfile>:h/snippets_snipmate.vim
+    finish
+endif
+
+" Embedded Syntaxes {{{1
+
 syntax include @Python syntax/python.vim
+unlet b:current_syntax
 syntax include @Viml syntax/vim.vim
+unlet b:current_syntax
+syntax include @Shell syntax/sh.vim
+unlet b:current_syntax
 
-" global matches
-syn match snipComment "^#.*" contains=snipTODO
-syn keyword snipTODO FIXME NOTE NOTES TODO XXX contained
+" Syntax definitions {{{1
 
-syn match snipDocString '"[^"]*"$'
-syn match snipString '"[^"]*"'
-syn match snipTabsOnly "^\t\+$"
-syn match snipLeadingSpaces "^\t* \+"
+" Comments {{{2
 
-syn match snipKeyword "\(\<\(end\)\?\(snippet\|global\)\>\)\|extends\|clearsnippets\|priority" contained
+syn match snipComment "^#.*" contains=snipTODO display
+syn keyword snipTODO contained display FIXME NOTE NOTES TODO XXX
 
-" extends definitions
-syn match snipExtends "^extends.*" contains=snipKeyword
+" Errors {{{2
 
-" snippet definitions
-syn match snipStart "^snippet.*" contained contains=snipKeyword,snipDocString
-syn match snipEnd "^endsnippet" contained contains=snipKeyword
-syn region snipCommand contained keepend start="`" end="`" contains=snipPythonCommand,snipVimLCommand
-syn region snipPythonCommand contained keepend start="`!p" end="`" contained contains=@Python
-syn region snipVimLCommand contained keepend start="`!v" end="`" contained contains=@Viml
-syn match snipVar "\$\d*" contained
-syn region snipVisual matchgroup=Define start="\${VISUAL" end="}" contained
-syn region snipVarExpansion matchgroup=Define start="\${\d*" end="}" contained contains=snipVar,snipVarExpansion,snipCommand
-syn region snippet fold keepend start="^snippet" end="^endsnippet" contains=snipStart,snipEnd,snipTabsOnly,snipLeadingSpaces,snipCommand,snipVarExpansion,snipVar,snipVisual
+syn match snipLeadingSpaces "^\t* \+" contained
 
-" global definitions
-syn match snipGlobalStart "^global.*" contained contains=snipKeyword,snipString
-syn match snipGlobalEnd "^endglobal" contained contains=snipKeyword
-syn region snipGlobal fold keepend start="^global" end="^endglobal" contains=snipGlobalStart,snipGlobalEnd,snipLeadingSpaces,snipTabsOnly,snipCommand,snipVarExpansion,snipVar,@Python
+" Extends {{{2
 
-" snippet clearing
-syn match snipClear "^clearsnippets"
-syn match snipPriority "^priority"
+syn match snipExtends "^extends\%(\s.*\|$\)" contains=snipExtendsKeyword display
+syn match snipExtendsKeyword "^extends" contained display
 
-" highlighting rules
+" Definitions {{{2
 
-hi link snipComment          Comment
-hi link snipLeadingSpaces    Error
-hi link snipString           String
-hi link snipDocString        String
-hi link snipTabsOnly         Error
+" snippet {{{3
 
-hi link snipKeyword          Keyword
+syn region snipSnippet start="^snippet\_s" end="^\zeendsnippet\s*$" contains=snipSnippetHeader nextgroup=snipSnippetFooter fold keepend
+syn match snipSnippetHeader "^.*$" nextgroup=snipSnippetBody,snipSnippetFooter skipnl contained contains=snipSnippetHeaderKeyword
+syn match snipSnippetHeaderKeyword "^snippet" contained nextgroup=snipSnippetTrigger skipwhite
+syn region snipSnippetBody start="\_." end="^\zeendsnippet\s*$" contained contains=snipLeadingSpaces,@snipTokens
+syn match snipSnippetFooter "^endsnippet.*" contained contains=snipSnippetFooterKeyword
+syn match snipSnippetFooterKeyword "^endsnippet" contained
 
-hi link snipExtends          Statement
+" The current parser is a bit lax about parsing. For example, given this:
+"   snippet foo"bar"
+" it treats `foo"bar"` as the trigger. But with this:
+"   snippet foo"bar baz"
+" it treats `foo` as the trigger and "bar baz" as the description.
+" I think this is an accident. Instead, we'll assume the description must
+" be surrounded by spaces. That means we'll treat
+"   snippet foo"bar"
+" as a trigger `foo"bar"` and
+"   snippet foo"bar baz"
+" as an attempted multiword snippet `foo"bar baz"` that is invalid.
+" NB: UltiSnips parses right-to-left, which Vim doesn't support, so that makes
+" the following patterns very complicated.
+syn match snipSnippetTrigger "\S\+" contained nextgroup=snipSnippetDocString,snipSnippetTriggerInvalid skipwhite
+" We want to match a trailing " as the start of a doc comment, but we also
+" want to allow for using " as the delimiter in a multiword/pattern snippet.
+" So we have to define this twice, once in the general case that matches a
+" trailing " as the doc comment, and once for the case of the multiword
+" delimiter using " that has more constraints
+syn match snipSnippetTrigger ,\([^"[:space:]]\).\{-}\1\%(\s*$\)\@!\ze\%(\s\+"[^"]*\%("\s\+[^"[:space:]]\+\|"\)\=\)\=\s*$, contained nextgroup=snipSnippetDocString skipwhite
+syn match snipSnippetTrigger ,".\{-}"\ze\%(\s\+"\%(\s*\S\)\@=[^"]*\%("\s\+[^"[:space:]]\+\|"\)\=\)\=\s*$, contained nextgroup=snipSnippetDocString skipwhite
+syn match snipSnippetTriggerInvalid ,\S\@=.\{-}\S\ze\%(\s\+"[^"]*\%("\s\+[^"[:space:]]\+\s*\|"\s*\)\=\|\s*\)$, contained nextgroup=snipSnippetDocString skipwhite
+syn match snipSnippetDocString ,"[^"]*\%("\ze\s*\%(\s[^"[:space:]]\+\s*\)\=\)\=$, contained nextgroup=snipSnippetOptions skipwhite
+syn match snipSnippetOptions ,\S\+, contained contains=snipSnippetOptionFlag
+syn match snipSnippetOptionFlag ,[biwrts], contained
 
-hi link snipStart            Statement
-hi link snipEnd              Statement
-hi link snipCommand          Special
-hi link snipVar              StorageClass
-hi link snipVarExpansion     Normal
-hi link snipVisual           Normal
-hi link snippet              Normal
+" Command substitution {{{4
 
-hi link snipGlobalStart      Statement
-hi link snipGlobalEnd        Statement
-hi link snipGlobal           Normal
+syn region snipCommand keepend matchgroup=snipCommandDelim start="`" skip="\\[{}\\$`]" end="`" contained contains=snipPythonCommand,snipVimLCommand,snipShellCommand,snipCommandSyntaxOverride
+syn region snipShellCommand start="\ze\_." skip="\\[{}\\$`]" end="\ze`" contained contains=@Shell
+syn region snipPythonCommand matchgroup=snipPythonCommandP start="`\@<=!p\_s" skip="\\[{}\\$`]" end="\ze`" contained contains=@Python
+syn region snipVimLCommand matchgroup=snipVimLCommandV start="`\@<=!v\_s" skip="\\[{}\\$`]" end="\ze`" contained contains=@Viml
+syn cluster snipTokens add=snipCommand
+syn cluster snipTabStopTokens add=snipCommand
 
-hi link snipClear            Statement
-hi link snipPriority         Statement
+" unfortunately due to the balanced braces parsing of commands, if a { occurs
+" in the command, we need to prevent the embedded syntax highlighting.
+" Otherwise, we can't track the balanced braces properly.
 
-let b:current_syntax = "snippet"
+syn region snipCommandSyntaxOverride start="\%(\\[{}\\$`]\|\_[^`"{]\)*\ze{" skip="\\[{}\\$`]" end="\ze`" contained contains=snipBalancedBraces transparent
+
+" Tab Stops {{{4
+
+syn match snipEscape "\\[{}\\$`]" contained
+syn cluster snipTokens add=snipEscape
+syn cluster snipTabStopTokens add=snipEscape
+
+syn match snipMirror "\$\d\+" contained
+syn cluster snipTokens add=snipMirror
+syn cluster snipTabStopTokens add=snipMirror
+
+syn region snipTabStop matchgroup=snipTabStop start="\${\d\+[:}]\@=" end="}" contained contains=snipTabStopDefault
+syn region snipTabStopDefault matchgroup=snipTabStop start=":" skip="\\[{}]" end="\ze}" contained contains=snipTabStopEscape,snipBalancedBraces,@snipTabStopTokens keepend
+syn match snipTabStopEscape "\\[{}]" contained
+syn region snipBalancedBraces start="{" end="}" contained transparent extend
+syn cluster snipTokens add=snipTabStop
+syn cluster snipTabStopTokens add=snipTabStop
+
+syn region snipVisual matchgroup=snipVisual start="\${VISUAL[:}/]\@=" end="}" contained contains=snipVisualDefault,snipTransformationPattern
+syn region snipVisualDefault matchgroup=snipVisual start=":" end="\ze[}/]" contained contains=snipTabStopEscape nextgroup=snipTransformationPattern
+syn cluster snipTokens add=snipVisual
+syn cluster snipTabStopTokens add=snipVisual
+
+syn region snipTransformation matchgroup=snipTransformation start="\${\d\/\@=" end="}" contained contains=snipTransformationPattern
+syn region snipTransformationPattern matchgroup=snipTransformationPatternDelim start="/" end="\ze/" contained contains=snipTransformationEscape nextgroup=snipTransformationReplace skipnl
+syn region snipTransformationReplace matchgroup=snipTransformationPatternDelim start="/" end="/" contained contains=snipTransformationEscape nextgroup=snipTransformationOptions skipnl
+syn region snipTransformationOptions start="\ze[^}]" end="\ze}" contained contains=snipTabStopEscape
+syn match snipTransformationEscape "\\/" contained
+syn cluster snipTokens add=snipTransformation
+syn cluster snipTabStopTokens add=snipTransformation
+
+" global {{{3
+
+" Generic (non-Python) {{{4
+
+syn region snipGlobal start="^global\_s" end="^\zeendglobal\s*$" contains=snipGlobalHeader nextgroup=snipGlobalFooter fold keepend
+syn match snipGlobalHeader "^.*$" nextgroup=snipGlobalBody,snipGlobalFooter skipnl contained contains=snipGlobalHeaderKeyword
+syn region snipGlobalBody start="\_." end="^\zeendglobal\s*$" contained contains=snipLeadingSpaces
+
+" Python (!p) {{{4
+
+syn region snipGlobal start=,^global\s\+!p\%(\s\+"[^"]*\%("\s\+[^"[:space:]]\+\|"\)\=\)\=\s*$, end=,^\zeendglobal\s*$, contains=snipGlobalPHeader nextgroup=snipGlobalFooter fold keepend
+syn match snipGlobalPHeader "^.*$" nextgroup=snipGlobalPBody,snipGlobalFooter skipnl contained contains=snipGlobalHeaderKeyword
+syn match snipGlobalHeaderKeyword "^global" contained nextgroup=snipSnippetTrigger skipwhite
+syn region snipGlobalPBody start="\_." end="^\zeendglobal\s*$" contained contains=@Python
+
+" Common {{{4
+
+syn match snipGlobalFooter "^endglobal.*" contained contains=snipGlobalFooterKeyword
+syn match snipGlobalFooterKeyword "^endglobal" contained
+
+" priority {{{3
+
+syn match snipPriority "^priority\%(\s.*\|$\)" contains=snipPriorityKeyword display
+syn match snipPriorityKeyword "^priority" contained nextgroup=snipPriorityValue skipwhite display
+syn match snipPriorityValue "-\?\d\+" contained display
+
+" Snippt Clearing {{{2
+
+syn match snipClear "^clearsnippets\%(\s.*\|$\)" contains=snipClearKeyword display
+syn match snipClearKeyword "^clearsnippets" contained display
+
+" Highlight groups {{{1
+
+hi def link snipComment          Comment
+hi def link snipTODO             Todo
+hi def snipLeadingSpaces term=reverse ctermfg=15 ctermbg=4 gui=reverse guifg=#dc322f
+
+hi def link snipKeyword          Keyword
+
+hi def link snipExtendsKeyword   snipKeyword
+
+hi def link snipSnippetHeaderKeyword snipKeyword
+hi def link snipSnippetFooterKeyword snipKeyword
+
+hi def link snipSnippetTrigger        Identifier
+hi def link snipSnippetTriggerInvalid Error
+hi def link snipSnippetDocString      String
+hi def link snipSnippetOptionFlag     Special
+
+hi def link snipGlobalHeaderKeyword  snipKeyword
+hi def link snipGlobalFooterKeyword  snipKeyword
+
+hi def link snipCommand          Special
+hi def link snipCommandDelim     snipCommand
+hi def link snipShellCommand     snipCommand
+hi def link snipVimLCommand      snipCommand
+hi def link snipPythonCommandP   PreProc
+hi def link snipVimLCommandV     PreProc
+
+hi def link snipEscape                     Special
+hi def link snipMirror                     StorageClass
+hi def link snipTabStop                    Define
+hi def link snipTabStopDefault             String
+hi def link snipTabStopEscape              Special
+hi def link snipVisual                     snipTabStop
+hi def link snipVisualDefault              snipTabStopDefault
+hi def link snipTransformation             snipTabStop
+hi def link snipTransformationPattern      String
+hi def link snipTransformationPatternDelim Operator
+hi def link snipTransformationReplace      String
+hi def link snipTransformationEscape       snipEscape
+hi def link snipTransformationOptions      Operator
+
+hi def link snipPriorityKeyword  Keyword
+hi def link snipPriorityValue    Number
+
+hi def link snipClearKeyword     Keyword
+
+" }}}1
+
+let b:current_syntax = "snippets"
diff --git a/syntax/snippets_snipmate.vim b/syntax/snippets_snipmate.vim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa55c1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syntax/snippets_snipmate.vim
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+" Syntax highlighting variant used for snipmate snippets files
+" The snippets.vim file sources this if it wants snipmate mode
+
+if exists("b:current_syntax")
+    finish
+endif
+
+" Embedded syntaxes {{{1
+
+" Re-include the original file so we can share some of its definitions
+let b:ultisnips_override_snipmate = 1
+syn include <sfile>:h/snippets.vim
+unlet b:current_syntax
+unlet b:ultisnips_override_snipmate
+
+syn cluster snipTokens contains=snipEscape,snipVisual,snipTabStop,snipMirror,snipmateCommand
+syn cluster snipTabStopTokens contains=snipVisual,snipMirror,snipEscape,snipmateCommand
+
+" Syntax definitions {{{1
+
+syn match snipmateComment "^#.*"
+
+syn match snipmateExtends "^extends\%(\s.*\|$\)" contains=snipExtendsKeyword display
+
+syn region snipmateSnippet start="^snippet\ze\%(\s\|$\)" end="^\ze[^[:tab:]]" contains=snipmateSnippetHeader keepend
+syn match snipmateSnippetHeader "^.*" contained contains=snipmateKeyword nextgroup=snipmateSnippetBody skipnl skipempty
+syn match snipmateKeyword "^snippet\ze\%(\s\|$\)" contained nextgroup=snipmateTrigger skipwhite
+syn match snipmateTrigger "\S\+" contained nextgroup=snipmateDescription skipwhite
+syn match snipmateDescription "\S.*" contained
+syn region snipmateSnippetBody start="^\t" end="^\ze[^[:tab:]]" contained contains=@snipTokens
+
+syn region snipmateCommand keepend matchgroup=snipCommandDelim start="`" skip="\\[{}\\$`]" end="`" contained contains=snipCommandSyntaxOverride,@Viml
+
+" Highlight groups {{{1
+
+hi def link snipmateComment snipComment
+
+hi def link snipmateSnippet snipSnippet
+hi def link snipmateKeyword snipKeyword
+hi def link snipmateTrigger snipSnippetTrigger
+hi def link snipmateDescription snipSnippetDocString
+
+hi def link snipmateCommand snipCommand
+
+" }}}1
+
+let b:current_syntax = "snippets"