diff --git a/pandora/clip/managers.py b/pandora/clip/managers.py
index 86827659..2e8105c2 100644
--- a/pandora/clip/managers.py
+++ b/pandora/clip/managers.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from django.conf import settings
 
 from ox.django.query import QuerySet
 
-from item.utils import decode_id
+from item.utils import decode_id, get_by_id
 
 
 def parseCondition(condition, user):
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def parseCondition(condition, user):
     op = condition.get('operator')
     if not op:
         op = ''
-    if k in settings.CONFIG.get('clipLayers', []):
+    if get_by_id(settings.CONFIG['layers'], k):
         return parseCondition({'key': 'annotations__findvalue',
                                'value': v,
                                'operator': op}, user) \
@@ -144,7 +144,8 @@ class ClipManager(Manager):
         return QuerySet(self.model)
 
     def filter_annotations(self, data, user):
-        keys = settings.CONFIG['clipLayers'] + ['annotations', 'text', '*']
+        layer_ids = [k['id'] for k in settings.CONFIG['layers']]
+        keys = layer_ids + ['annotations', 'text', '*']
         conditions = data.get('query', {}).get('conditions', [])
         conditions = filter(lambda c: c['key'] in keys, conditions)
         operator = data.get('query', {}).get('operator', '&')
@@ -163,7 +164,7 @@ class ClipManager(Manager):
             if isinstance(v, unicode):
                 v = unicodedata.normalize('NFKD', v).lower()
             q = Q(**{key: v})
-            if condition['key'] in settings.CONFIG['clipLayers']:
+            if condition['key'] in layer_ids:
                 q = q & Q(layer=condition['key'])
             return q
         conditions = map(parse, conditions)
@@ -208,7 +209,8 @@ class ClipManager(Manager):
         if conditions:
             qs = qs.filter(conditions)
         if 'keys' in data:
-            for l in filter(lambda k: k in settings.CONFIG['clipLayers'], data['keys']):
+            layer_ids = [k['id'] for k in settings.CONFIG['layers']]
+            for l in filter(lambda k: k in layer_ids, data['keys']):
                 qs = qs.filter(**{l: True})
         #anonymous can only see public clips
         if not user or user.is_anonymous():
diff --git a/pandora/clip/models.py b/pandora/clip/models.py
index d44d0dd0..2730164c 100644
--- a/pandora/clip/models.py
+++ b/pandora/clip/models.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class MetaClip:
             else:
                 self.sortvalue = None
             self.findvalue = '\n'.join(filter(None, [a.findvalue for a in self.annotations.all()]))
-            for l in settings.CONFIG['clipLayers']:
+            for l in [k['id'] for k in settings.CONFIG['layers']]:
                 setattr(self, l, self.annotations.filter(layer=l).count()>0)
         models.Model.save(self, *args, **kwargs)
 
@@ -73,11 +73,11 @@ class MetaClip:
                     del j[key]
             #needed here to make item find with clips work
             if 'annotations' in keys:
-                annotations = self.annotations.filter(layer__in=settings.CONFIG['clipLayers'])
+                #annotations = self.annotations.filter(layer__in=settings.CONFIG['clipLayers'])
+                annotations = self.annotations.all()
                 if qs:
                     annotations = annotations.filter(qs)
-                j['annotations'] = [a.json(keys=['value', 'id', 'layer'])
-                                    for a in annotations]
+                j['annotations'] = [a.json(keys=['value', 'id', 'layer']) for a in annotations]
             if 'layers' in keys:
                 j['layers'] = self.get_layers()
             if 'cuts' in keys:
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ attrs = {
     'sortvalue': models.CharField(max_length=1000, null=True, db_index=True),
     'findvalue': models.TextField(null=True, db_index=settings.DB_GIN_TRGM),
 }
-for name in settings.CONFIG['clipLayers']:
+for name in [k['id'] for k in settings.CONFIG['layers']]:
     attrs[name] = models.BooleanField(default=False, db_index=True)
 
 Clip = type('Clip', (MetaClip,models.Model), attrs)
diff --git a/pandora/clip/views.py b/pandora/clip/views.py
index ccacb4f8..328ca5f7 100644
--- a/pandora/clip/views.py
+++ b/pandora/clip/views.py
@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ def findClips(request, data):
         qs = qs[query['range'][0]:query['range'][1]]
 
         ids = []
-        keys = filter(lambda k: k not in settings.CONFIG['clipLayers'] + ['annotations'],
-                      data['keys'])
+        layer_ids = [k['id'] for k in settings.CONFIG['layers']]
+        keys = filter(lambda k: k not in layer_ids + ['annotations'], data['keys'])
         if filter(lambda k: k not in models.Clip.clip_keys, keys):
             qs = qs.select_related('sort')
 
@@ -144,7 +144,8 @@ def findClips(request, data):
                 aqs = Annotation.objects.filter(layer__in=settings.CONFIG['clipLayers'],
                                                 clip__in=ids)
                 add_annotations('annotations',aqs , True)
-            for layer in filter(lambda l: l in keys, settings.CONFIG['clipLayers']):
+            layer_ids = [k['id'] for k in settings.CONFIG['layers']]
+            for layer in filter(lambda l: l in keys, layer_ids):
                 aqs = Annotation.objects.filter(layer=layer, clip__in=ids)
                 add_annotations(layer, aqs)
     elif 'position' in query: