diff --git a/src/app/legend/qgslegendlayer.cpp b/src/app/legend/qgslegendlayer.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@
 #include "qgscategorizedsymbolrendererv2.h"
 #include "qgsgraduatedsymbolrendererv2.h"
 
-#include <iostream>
 #include <QAction>
 #include <QCoreApplication>
 #include <QIcon>
@@ -54,8 +53,10 @@
 
 
 QgsLegendLayer::QgsLegendLayer( QgsMapLayer* layer )
-    : QgsLegendItem( ),
-    mLyr( layer ), mShowFeatureCount( false )
+    : QgsLegendItem( )
+    , mLyr( layer )
+    , mDrawingOrder( -1 )
+    , mShowFeatureCount( false )
 {
   mType = LEGEND_LAYER;
 
@@ -711,3 +712,9 @@ void QgsLegendLayer::setShowFeatureCount( bool show, bool update )
     }
   }
 }
+
+void QgsLegendLayer::setDrawingOrder( int order )
+{
+  QgsDebugMsg( QString( "order %1: %2=>%3" ).arg( mLyr.layer()->name() ).arg( mDrawingOrder ).arg( order ) );
+  mDrawingOrder = order;
+}
diff --git a/src/app/legend/qgslegendlayer.h b/src/app/legend/qgslegendlayer.h
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ class QgsLegendLayer : public QgsLegendItem
     /** set check state, but only if user checkable */
     void setCheckState( int column, Qt::CheckState state );
 
+    void setDrawingOrder( int order );
+    int drawingOrder() const { return mDrawingOrder; }
+
   public slots:
 
     /**Toggle show in overview*/
@@ -127,6 +130,9 @@ class QgsLegendLayer : public QgsLegendItem
     /** layer identified by its layer id */
     QgsMapCanvasLayer mLyr;
 
+    /** drawing order */
+    int mDrawingOrder;
+
     /**True if number of features per legend class should is shown in the legend items*/
     bool mShowFeatureCount;
 };

diff --git a/src/app/qgisapp.cpp b/src/app/qgisapp.cpp
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@
 #include "qgsgpsinformationwidget.h"
 #include "qgslabelinggui.h"
 #include "qgslegend.h"
+#include "qgslayerorder.h"
 #include "qgslegendlayer.h"
 #include "qgslogger.h"
 #include "qgsmapcanvas.h"
@@ -428,6 +429,8 @@ QgisApp::QgisApp( QSplashScreen *splash, bool restorePlugins, QWidget * parent,
   // "theMapLegend" used to find this canonical instance later
   mMapLegend = new QgsLegend( mMapCanvas, this, "theMapLegend" );
 
+  mMapLayerOrder = new QgsLayerOrder( mMapLegend, this, "theMapLayerOrder" );
+
   // create undo widget
   mUndoWidget = new QgsUndoWidget( NULL, mMapCanvas );
   mUndoWidget->setObjectName( "Undo" );
@@ -495,6 +498,8 @@ QgisApp::QgisApp( QSplashScreen *splash, bool restorePlugins, QWidget * parent,
   QString caption = tr( "Quantum GIS - %1 ('%2')" ).arg( QGis::QGIS_VERSION ).arg( QGis::QGIS_RELEASE_NAME );
   setWindowTitle( caption );
 
+  QgsMessageLog::logMessage( tr( "QGIS starting..." ) );
+
   // set QGIS specific srs validation
   QgsCoordinateReferenceSystem::setCustomSrsValidation( customSrsValidation_ );
 
@@ -575,6 +580,8 @@ QgisApp::QgisApp( QSplashScreen *splash, bool restorePlugins, QWidget * parent,
 
   mSplash->showMessage( tr( "QGIS Ready!" ), Qt::AlignHCenter | Qt::AlignBottom );
 
+  QgsMessageLog::logMessage( tr( "QGIS Ready!" ) );
+
   mMapTipsVisible = false;
 
   // setup drag drop
@@ -1714,8 +1721,17 @@ void QgisApp::initLegend()
   mLegendDock->setAllowedAreas( Qt::LeftDockWidgetArea | Qt::RightDockWidgetArea );
   mLegendDock->setWidget( mMapLegend );
   addDockWidget( Qt::LeftDockWidgetArea, mLegendDock );
+
   // add to the Panel submenu
   mPanelMenu->addAction( mLegendDock->toggleViewAction() );
+
+  mMapLayerOrder->setWhatsThis( tr( "Map layer list that displays all layers in drawing order." ) );
+  mLayerOrderDock = new QDockWidget( tr( "Layerorder" ), this );
+  mLayerOrderDock->setObjectName( "Legend" );
+  mLayerOrderDock->setAllowedAreas( Qt::LeftDockWidgetArea | Qt::RightDockWidgetArea );
+  mLayerOrderDock->setWidget( mMapLayerOrder );
+  addDockWidget( Qt::LeftDockWidgetArea, mLayerOrderDock );
+
   return;
 }
 

diff --git a/src/app/qgisapp.h b/src/app/qgisapp.h
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ class QgsGeometry;
 class QgsFeature;
 
 class QgsLegend;
+class QgsLayerOrder;
 class QgsMapCanvas;
 class QgsMapLayer;
 class QgsMapTip;
@@ -906,6 +907,7 @@ class QgisApp : public QMainWindow, private Ui::MainWindow
 
     // docks ------------------------------------------
     QDockWidget *mLegendDock;
+    QDockWidget *mLayerOrderDock;
     QDockWidget *mOverviewDock;
     QDockWidget *mpTileScaleDock;
     QDockWidget *mpGpsDock;
@@ -991,6 +993,8 @@ class QgisApp : public QMainWindow, private Ui::MainWindow
     QgsMapCanvas *mMapCanvas;
     //! Table of contents (legend) for the map
     QgsLegend *mMapLegend;
+    //! Table of contents (legend) to order layers of the map
+    QgsLayerOrder *mMapLayerOrder;
     //! Cursor for the overview map
     QCursor *mOverviewMapCursor;
     //! scale factor

diff --git a/src/core/qgsmaprenderer.cpp b/src/core/qgsmaprenderer.cpp
@@ -364,11 +364,13 @@ void QgsMapRenderer::render( QPainter* painter )
       continue;
     }
 
-    QgsDebugMsg( "Rendering layer " + ml->name() );
-    QgsDebugMsg( "  Layer minscale " + QString( "%1" ).arg( ml->minimumScale() ) );
-    QgsDebugMsg( "  Layer maxscale " + QString( "%1" ).arg( ml->maximumScale() ) );
-    QgsDebugMsg( "  Scale dep. visibility enabled? " + QString( "%1" ).arg( ml->hasScaleBasedVisibility() ) );
-    QgsDebugMsg( "  Input extent: " + ml->extent().toString() );
+    QgsDebugMsg( QString( "layer %1:  minscale:%2  maxscale:%3  scaledepvis:%4  extent:%5" )
+                 .arg( ml->name() )
+                 .arg( ml->minimumScale() )
+                 .arg( ml->maximumScale() )
+                 .arg( ml->hasScaleBasedVisibility() )
+                 .arg( ml->extent().toString() )
+               );
 
     if ( !ml->hasScaleBasedVisibility() || ( ml->minimumScale() < mScale && mScale < ml->maximumScale() ) || mOverview )
     {
@@ -455,7 +457,7 @@ void QgsMapRenderer::render( QPainter* painter )
         {
           if ( !mySameAsLastFlag || ml->cacheImage() == 0 )
           {
-            QgsDebugMsg( "\n\n\nCaching enabled but layer redraw forced by extent change or empty cache\n\n\n" );
+            QgsDebugMsg( "Caching enabled but layer redraw forced by extent change or empty cache" );
             QImage * mypImage = new QImage( mRenderContext.painter()->device()->width(),
                                             mRenderContext.painter()->device()->height(), QImage::Format_ARGB32 );
             mypImage->fill( 0 );
@@ -471,7 +473,7 @@ void QgsMapRenderer::render( QPainter* painter )
           else if ( mySameAsLastFlag )
           {
             //draw from cached image
-            QgsDebugMsg( "\n\n\nCaching enabled --- drawing layer from cached image\n\n\n" );
+            QgsDebugMsg( "Caching enabled --- drawing layer from cached image" );
             mypContextPainter->drawImage( 0, 0, *( ml->cacheImage() ) );
             disconnect( ml, SIGNAL( drawingProgress( int, int ) ), this, SLOT( onDrawingProgress( int, int ) ) );
             //short circuit as there is nothing else to do...
@@ -899,6 +901,7 @@ QgsRectangle QgsMapRenderer::fullExtent()
 
 void QgsMapRenderer::setLayerSet( const QStringList& layers )
 {
+  QgsDebugMsg( QString( "Entering: %1" ).arg( layers.join( ", " ) ) );
   mLayerSet = layers;
   updateFullExtent();
 }

diff --git a/src/core/qgsvectorlayer.cpp b/src/core/qgsvectorlayer.cpp
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ void QgsVectorLayer::drawLabels( QgsRenderContext& rendererContext )
   if ( !hasGeometryType() )
     return;
 
-  QgsDebugMsg( "Starting draw of labels" );
+  QgsDebugMsg( "Starting draw of labels: " + id() );
 
   if (( mRenderer || mRendererV2 ) && mLabelOn &&
       ( !mLabel->scaleBasedVisibility() ||

diff --git a/src/gui/qgsmapcanvas.cpp b/src/gui/qgsmapcanvas.cpp
@@ -236,6 +236,7 @@ void QgsMapCanvas::setLayerSet( QList<QgsMapCanvasLayer> &layers )
 {
   if ( mDrawing )
   {
+    QgsDebugMsg( "NOT updating layer set while drawing" );
     return;
   }
 
@@ -255,6 +256,7 @@ void QgsMapCanvas::setLayerSet( QList<QgsMapCanvasLayer> &layers )
     {
       layerSet.push_back( lyr.layer()->id() );
     }
+
     if ( lyr.isInOverview() )
     {
       layerSetOverview.push_back( lyr.layer()->id() );
@@ -268,6 +270,8 @@ void QgsMapCanvas::setLayerSet( QList<QgsMapCanvasLayer> &layers )
   // update only if needed
   if ( layerSetChanged )
   {
+    QgsDebugMsg( "Layer changed to: " + layerSet.join( ", " ) );
+
     for ( i = 0; i < layerCount(); i++ )
     {
       // Add check if vector layer when disconnecting from selectionChanged slot