diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ee99f9e..c2bde67 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -3,14 +3,23 @@ a familiar desktop experience for [lemmy](https://join-lemmy.org).
 
 ![screenshot](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rystaf/mlmym/main/screenshot1.png?raw=true)
 
-### deployment
+## deployment
 
 ```bash
 docker run -it -p "8080:8080" ghcr.io/rystaf/mlmym:latest
 ```
 
-### config
+## config
 Set the environment variable `LEMMY_DOMAIN` to run in single instance mode
 ```bash
 docker run -it -e LEMMY_DOMAIN='lemmydomain.com' -p "8080:8080" ghcr.io/rystaf/mlmym:latest
 ```
+#### default user settings
+| environment variable | default |
+| -------------------- | ------- |
+| DARK | false |
+| HIDE_THUMBNAILS | false |
+| LISTING | All |
+| SORT | Hot |
+| COMMENT_SORT | Hot |
+
diff --git a/public/style.css b/public/style.css
index 7b8a084..7522f61 100644
--- a/public/style.css
+++ b/public/style.css
@@ -1110,7 +1110,7 @@ form.create input[type=file], form.create select {
 }
 .preferences label{
   display: inline-block;
-  width: 130px;
+  width: 150px;
   margin-right: 5px;
   text-align: right;
  
diff --git a/routes.go b/routes.go
index 754739b..5eb9c94 100644
--- a/routes.go
+++ b/routes.go
@@ -208,6 +208,14 @@ func RegReplace(input string, match string, replace string) string {
 	return re.ReplaceAllString(input, replace)
 }
 
+func getenv(key, fallback string) string {
+	value := os.Getenv(key)
+	if len(value) == 0 {
+		return fallback
+	}
+	return value
+}
+
 func Initialize(Host string, r *http.Request) (State, error) {
 	state := State{
 		Host:    Host,
@@ -252,18 +260,27 @@ func Initialize(Host string, r *http.Request) (State, error) {
 	state.Listing = getCookie(r, "DefaultListingType")
 	state.Sort = getCookie(r, "DefaultSortType")
 	state.CommentSort = getCookie(r, "DefaultCommentSortType")
-	state.Dark = getCookie(r, "Dark") != ""
+	if dark := getCookie(r, "Dark"); dark != "" {
+		state.Dark = dark != "0"
+	} else {
+		state.Dark = os.Getenv("DARK") != "0"
+	}
 	state.ShowNSFW = getCookie(r, "ShowNSFW") != ""
 	state.HideInstanceNames = getCookie(r, "HideInstanceNames") != ""
+	if hide := getCookie(r, "HideThumbnails"); hide != "" {
+		state.HideThumbnails = hide != "0"
+	} else {
+		state.HideThumbnails = os.Getenv("HIDE_THUMBNAILS") != "0"
+	}
 	state.ParseQuery(r.URL.RawQuery)
 	if state.Sort == "" {
-		state.Sort = "Hot"
+		state.Sort = getenv("SORT", "Hot")
 	}
 	if state.CommentSort == "" {
-		state.CommentSort = "Hot"
+		state.CommentSort = getenv("COMMENT_SORT", "Hot")
 	}
 	if state.Listing == "" || state.Session == nil && state.Listing == "Subscribed" {
-		state.Listing = "All"
+		state.Listing = getenv("LISTING", "All")
 	}
 	return state, nil
 }
@@ -698,8 +715,7 @@ func Settings(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, ps httprouter.Params) {
 			setCookie(w, "", "Dark", "1")
 			state.Dark = true
 		} else {
-			deleteCookie(w, state.Host, "Dark")
-			deleteCookie(w, "", "Dark")
+			setCookie(w, "", "Dark", "0")
 			state.Dark = false
 		}
 		if r.FormValue("shownsfw") != "" {
@@ -717,6 +733,13 @@ func Settings(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, ps httprouter.Params) {
 			deleteCookie(w, "", "HideInstanceNames")
 			state.HideInstanceNames = false
 		}
+		if r.FormValue("hideThumbnails") != "" {
+			setCookie(w, "", "HideThumbnails", "1")
+			state.HideInstanceNames = true
+		} else {
+			setCookie(w, "", "HideThumbnails", "0")
+			state.HideInstanceNames = false
+		}
 		state.Listing = r.FormValue("DefaultListingType")
 		state.Sort = r.FormValue("DefaultSortType")
 		state.CommentSort = r.FormValue("DefaultCommentSortType")
diff --git a/state.go b/state.go
index b45dfc0..1e2085a 100644
--- a/state.go
+++ b/state.go
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ type State struct {
 	Dark              bool
 	ShowNSFW          bool
 	HideInstanceNames bool
+	HideThumbnails    bool
 }
 
 func (s State) Unknown() string {
diff --git a/templates/post.html b/templates/post.html
index b3696be..185e4b5 100644
--- a/templates/post.html
+++ b/templates/post.html
@@ -23,11 +23,13 @@
 {{ end }}
 {{ if and (ne .State.Op "vote_post") (ne .State.Op "save_post") }}
         </div>
+        {{ if not .State.HideThumbnails }}
         <div class="thumb">
           <a class="url" href="{{ if .Post.URL.IsValid }}{{ .Post.URL }}{{ else }}/{{ .State.Host }}/post/{{ .Post.ID }}{{ end }}">
             <div {{ if and .Post.NSFW (not (and .State.Community .State.Community.CommunityView.Community.NSFW))}}class="img-blur"{{end}} style="background-image: url({{thumbnail .Post}})"></div>
           </a>
         </div>
+        {{ end }}
         <div class="entry">
           <div class="title">
             <a class="url" href="{{ if .Post.URL.IsValid }}{{ .Post.URL }}{{ else }}/{{ .State.Host }}/post/{{ .Post.ID }}{{ end }}">{{ rmmarkdown .Post.Name }}</a>
diff --git a/templates/settings.html b/templates/settings.html
index 43091e5..badbaa0 100644
--- a/templates/settings.html
+++ b/templates/settings.html
@@ -125,7 +125,13 @@
         <input type="checkbox" name="hideInstanceNames" {{ if .HideInstanceNames }}checked{{end}}>
       </div>
       <div>
-        <label>lemmy: {{ .Site.Version }}<br>mlmym: {{ .Version }}</label>
+        <label>
+          hide thumbnails
+        </label>
+        <input type="checkbox" name="hideThumbnails" {{ if .HideThumbnails }}checked{{end}}>
+      </div>
+      <div>
+        <label>lemmy: {{ .Site.Version }}<br><a href="https://github.com/rystaf/mlmym">mlmym</a>: {{ .Version }}</label>
         <input type="submit" value="save">
         {{ if .XHR }}<input id="closesettings" type="submit" value="close">{{ end }}
       </div>