diff --git a/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty.java b/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty.java
index 099dbbf..2ce4177 100644
--- a/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty.java
+++ b/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty.java
@@ -59,13 +59,15 @@ public static class DescriptorImpl extends Descriptor<DependencyGraphProperty> {
         private boolean graphvizEnabled = true;
 
         private boolean editFunctionInJSViewEnabled = false;
-        
+
         private String projectNameStripRegex = ".*";
-        
+
         private int projectNameStripRegexGroup = 1;
-        
+
         private int projectNameSuperscriptRegexGroup = -1;
 
+        private String graphRankDirection = "TB";
+
         public DescriptorImpl() {
             load();
         }
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ public boolean configure( StaplerRequest req, JSONObject o ) {
             setProjectNameStripRegex(o.optString("projectNameStripRegex", ".*"));
             setProjectNameStripRegexGroup(o.optInt("projectNameStripRegexGroup", 1));
             setProjectNameSuperscriptRegexGroup(o.optInt("projectNameSuperscriptRegexGroup", 1));
-
+            setGraphRankDirection(o.optString("graphRankDirection", "TB"));
             save();
 
             return true;
@@ -119,6 +121,10 @@ public synchronized int getProjectNameSuperscriptRegexGroup() {
             return projectNameSuperscriptRegexGroup;
         }
 
+        public synchronized String getGraphRankDirection() {
+            return graphRankDirection;
+        }
+
         /**
          * @return configured dot executable or a default
          */
@@ -144,7 +150,12 @@ public synchronized void setProjectNameStripRegex(String projectNameStripRegex)
             this.projectNameStripRegex = projectNameStripRegex;
             save();
         }
-        
+
+       public synchronized void setGraphRankDirection(String graphRankDirection) {
+            this.graphRankDirection = graphRankDirection;
+            save();
+        }
+
         public synchronized void setDotExe(String dotPath) {
             this.dotExe = dotPath;
             save();
@@ -154,7 +165,7 @@ public synchronized void setGraphvizEnabled(boolean graphvizEnabled) {
             this.graphvizEnabled = graphvizEnabled;
             save();
         }
-        
+
         public void setEditFunctionInJSViewEnabled(boolean editFunctionInJSViewEnabled) {
             this.editFunctionInJSViewEnabled = editFunctionInJSViewEnabled;
             save();
@@ -163,7 +174,7 @@ public void setEditFunctionInJSViewEnabled(boolean editFunctionInJSViewEnabled)
         public FormValidation doCheckDotExe(@QueryParameter final String value) {
             return FormValidation.validateExecutable(value);
         }
-        
+
         public FormValidation doCheckProjectNameStripRegex(@QueryParameter final String value) 
                     throws IOException, ServletException {
                 String pattern = Util.fixEmptyAndTrim(value);
@@ -177,7 +188,7 @@ public FormValidation doCheckProjectNameStripRegex(@QueryParameter final String
                 }
                 return FormValidation.ok();
         }
-        
+
         public FormValidation doCheckProjectNameStripRegexGroup(@QueryParameter final String value) {
             return FormValidation.validatePositiveInteger(value);
         }
diff --git a/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/model/display/DotStringGenerator.java b/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/model/display/DotStringGenerator.java
index a8258ee..b98a80f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/model/display/DotStringGenerator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/model/display/DotStringGenerator.java
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@
  * Generates a dot string representation of the graph
  */
 public class DotStringGenerator extends AbstractDotStringGenerator {
+
+    private String rankDirection;
     private static final Function<String, String> ESCAPE = new Function<String, String>() {
         @Override
         public String apply(String from) {
@@ -93,6 +95,7 @@ public DotStringGenerator(Jenkins jenkins, DependencyGraph graph, ListMultimap<P
         int projectNameStripRegexGroup = jenkins.getDescriptorByType(DescriptorImpl.class).getProjectNameStripRegexGroup();
         final String projectNameStripRegex = jenkins.getDescriptorByType(DescriptorImpl.class).getProjectNameStripRegex();
         int projectNameSuperscriptRegexGroup = jenkins.getDescriptorByType(DescriptorImpl.class).getProjectNameSuperscriptRegexGroup();
+        this.rankDirection = jenkins.getDescriptorByType(DescriptorImpl.class).getGraphRankDirection();
 
         Pattern nameStripPattern = null;
         try {
@@ -119,6 +122,7 @@ public String generate() {
 
         builder.append("digraph {\n");
         builder.append("node [shape=box, style=rounded];\n");
+        builder.append("rankdir=").append(rankDirection).append(";\n");
 
         /**** First define all the objects and clusters ****/
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/global.jelly b/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/global.jelly
index 626a45d..2a89bd9 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/global.jelly
+++ b/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/global.jelly
@@ -41,5 +41,8 @@
     <f:entry field="projectNameSuperscriptRegexGroup" title="${%projectNameSuperscriptRegexGroup}">
         <f:textbox />
     </f:entry>
+    <f:entry field="graphRankDirection" title="${%graphRankDirection}">
+        <f:textbox />
+    </f:entry>
   </f:section>
 </j:jelly>
diff --git a/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/global.properties b/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/global.properties
index 7841157..e8ffbac 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/global.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/global.properties
@@ -22,3 +22,4 @@
 
 editFunctionInJSViewEnabled=Enable edit functiononality in jsplumb view
 projectNameStripRegex=Strip the project names
+graphRankDirection=Graphviz rank direction
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/help-graphRankDirection.html b/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/help-graphRankDirection.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..419b5cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/hudson/plugins/depgraph_view/DependencyGraphProperty/help-graphRankDirection.html
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+<!--
+  ~ Copyright (c) 2013 Dominik Bartholdi
+  ~
+  ~ Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+  ~ of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+  ~ in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+  ~ to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+  ~ copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+  ~ furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+  ~
+  ~ The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+  ~ all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+  ~
+  ~ THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+  ~ IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+  ~ FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+  ~ AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+  ~ LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+  ~ OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+  ~ THE SOFTWARE.
+  -->
+
+<div>
+  The direction used by graphviz to layout graph nodes.<br />
+  Can be set to <code>TB</code> (top to bottom) or <code>LR</code> (left to right), default is <code>TB</code>.
+</div>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/resources/index.jelly b/src/main/resources/index.jelly
index 080353d..888c381 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/index.jelly
+++ b/src/main/resources/index.jelly
@@ -30,5 +30,5 @@
 <?jelly escape-by-default='true'?>
 <div>
   This plugin shows a dependency graph of the projects.
-  It uses dot (from graphviz) for drawing.
+  It uses dot (from graphviz) or jsPlumb for drawing.
 </div>