diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxsforums/GxsForumThreadWidget.cpp b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxsforums/GxsForumThreadWidget.cpp
index 91ef4f67d..c20598294 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxsforums/GxsForumThreadWidget.cpp
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/gxsforums/GxsForumThreadWidget.cpp
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include "GxsForumsDialog.h"
 #include "gui/RetroShareLink.h"
 #include "gui/common/RSTreeWidgetItem.h"
+#include "gui/settings/rsharesettings.h"
 #include "gui/common/RSElidedItemDelegate.h"
 #include "gui/settings/rsharesettings.h"
 #include "gui/gxs/GxsIdTreeWidgetItem.h"
@@ -1622,7 +1623,11 @@ void GxsForumThreadWidget::insertMessageData(const RsGxsForumMsg &msg)
 	}
 	else
 	{
-		QString extraTxt = RsHtml().formatText(ui->postText->document(), QString::fromUtf8(msg.mMsg.c_str()), RSHTML_FORMATTEXT_EMBED_SMILEYS | RSHTML_FORMATTEXT_EMBED_LINKS);
+        uint32_t flags = RSHTML_FORMATTEXT_EMBED_LINKS;
+        if(Settings->getForumLoadEmoticons())
+            flags |= RSHTML_FORMATTEXT_EMBED_SMILEYS ;
+
+		QString extraTxt = RsHtml().formatText(ui->postText->document(), QString::fromUtf8(msg.mMsg.c_str()),flags);
 		ui->postText->setHtml(extraTxt);
 	}
 	// ui->threadTitle->setText(QString::fromUtf8(msg.mMeta.mMsgName.c_str()));
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ForumPage.cpp b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ForumPage.cpp
index 2821e65a2..90ff1f176 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ForumPage.cpp
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ForumPage.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ bool ForumPage::save(QString &/*errmsg*/)
 	Settings->setForumMsgSetToReadOnActivate(ui.setMsgToReadOnActivate->isChecked());
 	Settings->setForumExpandNewMessages(ui.expandNewMessages->isChecked());
 	Settings->setForumLoadEmbeddedImages(ui.loadEmbeddedImages->isChecked());
+	Settings->setForumLoadEmoticons(ui.loadEmoticons->isChecked());
 
 	ui.groupFrameSettingsWidget->saveSettings(GroupFrameSettings::Forum);
 
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@ void ForumPage::load()
 	ui.setMsgToReadOnActivate->setChecked(Settings->getForumMsgSetToReadOnActivate());
 	ui.expandNewMessages->setChecked(Settings->getForumExpandNewMessages());
 	ui.loadEmbeddedImages->setChecked(Settings->getForumLoadEmbeddedImages());
+	ui.loadEmoticons->setChecked(Settings->getForumLoadEmoticons());
 
 	ui.groupFrameSettingsWidget->loadSettings(GroupFrameSettings::Forum);
 }
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ForumPage.ui b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ForumPage.ui
index 1ef297ede..4fb74d888 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ForumPage.ui
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ForumPage.ui
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
    <rect>
     <x>0</x>
     <y>0</y>
-    <width>423</width>
+    <width>507</width>
     <height>340</height>
    </rect>
   </property>
@@ -38,6 +38,16 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
+      <item row="3" column="0">
+       <widget class="QCheckBox" name="loadEmoticons">
+        <property name="toolTip">
+         <string>&lt;html&gt;&lt;head/&gt;&lt;body&gt;&lt;p&gt;This option is costly and it's in the dev's plans to improve it. In the mean time it's disabled by default. If you enable it and long forum posts take a while to display, then disable it again. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/body&gt;&lt;/html&gt;</string>
+        </property>
+        <property name="text">
+         <string>Load emoticons (costly)</string>
+        </property>
+       </widget>
+      </item>
      </layout>
     </widget>
    </item>
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/rsharesettings.cpp b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/rsharesettings.cpp
index 1d0507337..46ecdd147 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/rsharesettings.cpp
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/rsharesettings.cpp
@@ -1041,12 +1041,18 @@ bool RshareSettings::getForumLoadEmbeddedImages()
 {
 	return valueFromGroup("Forum", "LoadEmbeddedImages", false).toBool();
 }
-
+bool RshareSettings::getForumLoadEmoticons()
+{
+	return valueFromGroup("Forum", "LoadEmoticons", false).toBool();
+}
 void RshareSettings::setForumLoadEmbeddedImages(bool value)
 {
 	setValueToGroup("Forum", "LoadEmbeddedImages", value);
 }
-
+void RshareSettings::setForumLoadEmoticons(bool value)
+{
+	setValueToGroup("Forum", "LoadEmoticons", value);
+}
 /* Channel */
 bool RshareSettings::getChannelLoadThread()
 {
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/rsharesettings.h b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/rsharesettings.h
index a693deaf3..9ad2d31ff 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/rsharesettings.h
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/rsharesettings.h
@@ -305,6 +305,8 @@ public:
 	void setForumExpandNewMessages(bool value);
 	bool getForumLoadEmbeddedImages();
 	void setForumLoadEmbeddedImages(bool value);
+	bool getForumLoadEmoticons();
+	void setForumLoadEmoticons(bool value);
 
 	/* Channel */
 	bool getChannelLoadThread();
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/util/HandleRichText.cpp b/retroshare-gui/src/util/HandleRichText.cpp
index 9608f5f7d..865bce7e0 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/util/HandleRichText.cpp
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/util/HandleRichText.cpp
@@ -1004,13 +1004,17 @@ void RsHtml::optimizeHtml(QTextEdit *textEdit, QString &text, unsigned int flag
 {
 	if (textEdit->toHtml() == QTextDocument(textEdit->toPlainText()).toHtml()) {
 		text = textEdit->toPlainText();
-//		std::cerr << "Optimized text to " << text.length() << " bytes , instead of " << textEdit->toHtml().length() << std::endl;
+		//std::cerr << "Optimized text to " << text.length() << " bytes , instead of " << textEdit->toHtml().length() << std::endl;
 		return;
 	}
 
 	text = textEdit->toHtml();
 
+		//std::cerr << "Optimized text from " << text.length() << " bytes , into " ;
+
 	optimizeHtml(text, flag);
+
+        //std::cerr << text.length() << " bytes" << std::endl;
 }
 
 /**