diff --git a/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt b/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt
index 70497bf8a..849e27f70 100755
--- a/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt
+++ b/Shorewall/releasenotes.txt
@@ -43,11 +43,21 @@ New Features added in 3.1.4
    packet to be logged.
 
 2) Shorewall has always been very noisy (lots of messages). No more. The default
-   is now to be very quiet and you get more detail using the -v option (or -vv if
-   you want the old noisy behavior). The -q option is still supported but only
-   reverses the effect of -v. So "shorewall start -qqvv" is still completely quiet
-   while "shorewall start -vv" gives the same amount of output as the old "shorewall
-   start" did.
+   for new users is now to be very quiet and you get more detail using the -v option
+   (or -vv if you want the old noisy behavior).
+
+   You set the default level of verbosity using the VERBOSE option in
+   shorewall.conf. If you don't set it (as would be the case of you use your
+   old shorewall.conf file) then VERBOSE defaults to a value of 2 which is
+   the old default. A value of 1 supporesses some of the output (like the old
+   -q option did) while a value of 0 makes Shorewall almost silent. That is
+   the value specified in the 3.2 shorewall.conf
+
+   If the default is set at 2, you can still make a command silent by using two
+   "q"s (e.g., shorewall -qq restart).
+
+   In summary, each "q" subtracts one from VERBOSE while each "v" adds one to
+   VERBOSE.
 
 Migration Considerations:
 
@@ -57,11 +67,11 @@ New Features:
 
 1)  A new 'shorewall generate' command has been added.
 
-	shorewall generate [ -q ] [ -e ] [ <config directory> ] <script file>
+     shorewall generate [ -v ] [ -q ] [ -e ] [ <config directory> ] <script file>
 
     where:
 
-	-q                    Suppresses many of the progress messages
+	-v and -q             are described elsewhere in this document.
 	-e                    Generates an error if the configuration used
 	                      an option that would prevent the generated
 	                      script from running on a system other than
@@ -82,7 +92,7 @@ New Features:
 
     'compile' is a synonym for 'generate':
 
-	shorewall compile [ -q ] [ -e ] [ <config directory> ] <script file>
+      shorewall compile [ -v ] [ -q ] [ -e ] [ <config directory> ] <script file>
 
     The generated script contains error checking and will terminate if an
     important command fails. Before terminating:
@@ -113,9 +123,9 @@ New Features:
 
     In addition to 'generate', a 'shorewall reload' command has been added.
 
-	shorewall [ -q ] reload [ <config directory> ]
+	shorewall reload [ -v ] [ -q ] [ <config directory> ]
 
-    where -q and <config directory> are as above.
+    where -v, -q and <config directory> are as above.
 
     The 'reload' command creates a script using 'generate' and if there are
     no errors, it then restores that script. It is equivalent to:
@@ -126,20 +136,20 @@ New Features:
     connections being dropped for a much shorter time. Here are the results of
     tests that I conducted on my own firewall:
 
-    A) shorewall -q restart
+    A) shorewall restart
 
 	real    0m17.540s
 	user    0m5.956s
 	sys     0m10.737s
 
-    B) shorewall -q restore foo # foo created using "shorewall generate"
+    B) ./foo # foo created using "shorewall compile"
 
 	real    0m3.505s
 	user    0m1.332s
 	sys     0m2.164s
 
 
-    C) shorewall -q restore # Restores from file generated by "shorewall save"
+    C) shorewall restore # Restores from file generated by "shorewall save"
 
 	real    0m1.164s
 	user    0m0.556s
@@ -150,16 +160,6 @@ New Features:
     1.4Ghz Celeron with 512MB RAM.
 
     The "-p' option creates a complete program. This program is suitable for
-    installation into /etc/init.d and, when generated with the "-e" option
+    installation into /etc/init.d and, when generated with the "-e" option,
     can serve as your firewall on a system that doesn't even have Shorewall
-    installed.
-
-2)  You may now repeat the -q option to cause Shorewall to be extra quiet.
-
-    Example:
-
-	gateway:~ # shorewall -qq reload
-	Shorewall configuration compiled to /var/lib/shorewall/.reload
-	Restoring Shorewall...
-	Shorewall restored from /var/lib/shorewall/.reload
-	gateway:~ #
+    installed.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Shorewall/shorewall b/Shorewall/shorewall
index 0ab3c31ba..85c1ceb28 100755
--- a/Shorewall/shorewall
+++ b/Shorewall/shorewall
@@ -1343,10 +1343,12 @@ if [ $# -gt 0 ] && [ "$1" = "nolock" ]; then
     shift
 fi
 
+[ -n "${VERBOSE:=2}" ]
+
 SHOREWALL_DIR=
 IPT_OPTIONS="-nv"
 FAST=
-export VERBOSE=0
+export VERBOSE
 NOROUTES=
 EXPORT=
 noroutes=
diff --git a/Shorewall/shorewall.conf b/Shorewall/shorewall.conf
index 786881127..d915991e5 100755
--- a/Shorewall/shorewall.conf
+++ b/Shorewall/shorewall.conf
@@ -55,6 +55,23 @@
 
 STARTUP_ENABLED=No
 
+###############################################################################
+#		              V E R B O S I T Y
+###############################################################################
+#
+# Shorewall has traditionally been very noisy. You may now set the default
+# level of verbosity here.
+#
+# Values are:
+#
+#         0 -- Silent. You may make it more verbose using the -v option
+#         1 -- Major progress messages displayed
+#         2 -- All progress messages displayed (old default behavior)
+#
+# If not specified, the 2 is assumed
+
+VERBOSE=0
+
 ###############################################################################
 #			       L O G G I N G
 ###############################################################################