diff --git a/categories/settings.py b/categories/settings.py
index c240610..9c03903 100644
--- a/categories/settings.py
+++ b/categories/settings.py
@@ -3,44 +3,32 @@ import warnings
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db.models import Q
 
-CATEGORIES_SETTINGS = {
+DEFAULT_SETTINGS = {
     'ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE': False,
     'CACHE_VIEW_LENGTH': 0,
     'RELATION_MODELS': [],
     'M2M_REGISTRY': [],
-    'FK_REGISTRY': []
+    'FK_REGISTRY': [],
+    'THUMBNAIL_UPLOAD_PATH': 'uploads/categories/thumbnails',
 }
 
-CATEGORIES_SETTINGS.update(getattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_SETTINGS', {}))
+DEFAULT_SETTINGS.update(getattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_SETTINGS', {}))
+
+ERR_MSG = "settings.%s is deprecated; use settings.CATEGORIES_SETTINGS instead."
 
 if hasattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE'):
-    warnings.warn(
-        "settings.CATEGORIES_ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE is deprecated; use settings.CATEGORIES_SETTINGS instead.",
-        DeprecationWarning
-    )
-    ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE = getattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE')
-else:
-    ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE = CATEGORIES_SETTINGS['ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE']
+    warnings.warn(ERR_MSG % 'CATEGORIES_ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE', DeprecationWarning)
+    DEFAULT_SETTINGS["ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE"] = getattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE')
 
 if hasattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_CACHE_VIEW_LENGTH'):
-    warnings.warn(
-        "settings.CATEGORIES_CACHE_VIEW_LENGTH is deprecated; use settings.CATEGORIES_SETTINGS instead.",
-        DeprecationWarning
-    )
-    CACHE_VIEW_LENGTH = getattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_CACHE_VIEW_LENGTH')
-else:
-    CACHE_VIEW_LENGTH = CATEGORIES_SETTINGS['CACHE_VIEW_LENGTH']
+    warnings.warn(ERR_MSG % "CATEGORIES_CACHE_VIEW_LENGTH", DeprecationWarning)
+    DEFAULT_SETTINGS["CACHE_VIEW_LENGTH"] = getattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_CACHE_VIEW_LENGTH')
 
-if hasattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_RELATION_MODELS'):
-    warnings.warn(
-        "settings.CATEGORIES_RELATION_MODELS is deprecated; use settings.CATEGORIES_SETTINGS instead.",
-        DeprecationWarning
-    )
-    RELATION_MODELS = getattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_RELATION_MODELS')
-else:
-    RELATION_MODELS = CATEGORIES_SETTINGS['RELATION_MODELS']
+if hasattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_THUMBNAIL_UPLOAD_PATH'):
+    warnings.warn(ERR_MSG % "CATEGORIES_THUMBNAIL_UPLOAD_PATH", DeprecationWarning)
+    DEFAULT_SETTINGS["THUMBNAIL_UPLOAD_PATH"] = getattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_THUMBNAIL_UPLOAD_PATH')
 
+RELATION_MODELS = getattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_RELATION_MODELS', [])
 RELATIONS = [Q(app_label=al, model=m) for al, m in [x.split('.') for x in RELATION_MODELS]]
 
-# For assigning a thumbnail to a category
-THUMBNAIL_UPLOAD_PATH = getattr(settings, 'CATEGORIES_THUMBNAIL_UPLOAD_PATH', 'uploads/categories/thumbnails')
+globals().update(DEFAULT_SETTINGS)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/example/settings.py b/example/settings.py
index 59b66d1..cf24a7b 100644
--- a/example/settings.py
+++ b/example/settings.py
@@ -88,5 +88,8 @@ INSTALLED_APPS = (
     'simpletext',
 )
 #EDITOR_MEDIA_PATH = '/static/editor/'
-CATEGORIES_ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE = True
+
+CATEGORIES_SETTINGS = {
+    'ALLOW_SLUG_CHANGE': True,
+}
 CATEGORIES_RELATION_MODELS = ['simpletext.simpletext','flatpages.flatpage']
\ No newline at end of file