Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/classes/pairoptions.py
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/classes/pairoptions.py	(revision 13423)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/classes/pairoptions.py	(revision 13424)
@@ -53,5 +53,5 @@
 
 	def addfielddefault(self,field,value):    # {{{
-		"""ADDFIELDDEFAULT - add a field to an options list if it does not exist"""
+		"""ADDFIELDDEFAULT - add a field to an options list if it does not already exist"""
 		if isinstance(field,(str,unicode)):
 			if field not in self.list:
Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/plot/applyoptions.py
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/plot/applyoptions.py	(revision 13423)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/plot/applyoptions.py	(revision 13424)
@@ -1,3 +1,2 @@
-from matplotlib.font_manager import FontProperties
 import pylab as p
 
@@ -16,5 +15,5 @@
 	#	options.addfielddefault('hemisphere',md.mesh.hemisphere)
 
-	#font
+	#font {{{
 	fontsize=options.getfieldvalue('fontsize',14)
 	fontweight=options.getfieldvalue('fontweight','normal')
@@ -25,6 +24,7 @@
 			'family'			:fontfamily
 			}
+	#}}}
 
-	#title
+	#title {{{
 	if options.exist('title'):
 		title=options.getfieldvalue('title')
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 		titlefont['weight']=titlefontweight
 		p.title(title,**titlefont)
+	#}}}
 		
-	#xlabel, ylabel, zlabel
+	#xlabel, ylabel, zlabel {{{
 	if options.exist('labelfontsize'):
 		labelfontsize=options.getfieldvalue('labelfontsize')
@@ -64,7 +65,51 @@
 	if options.exist('zlabel'):
 		p.zlabel(options.getfieldvalue('zlabel'),**labelfont)
+	#}}}
 
-	#xticks, yticks, zticks
+	#xticks, yticks, zticks (tick locations) {{{
+	if options.exist('xticks'):
+		if options.exist('xticklabels'):
+			xticklabels=options.getfieldvalue('xticklabels')
+			p.xticks(options.getfieldvalue('xticks'),xticklabels)
+		else:
+			p.xticks(options.getfieldvalue('xticks'))
+	if options.exist('yticks'):
+		if options.exist('yticklabels'):
+			yticklabels=options.getfieldvalue('yticklabels')
+			p.yticks(options.getfieldvalue('yticks'),yticklabels)
+		else:
+			p.yticks(options.getfieldvalue('yticks'))
+	if options.exist('zticks'):
+		if options.exist('zticklabels'):
+			zticklabels=options.getfieldvalue('zticklabels')
+			p.zticks(options.getfieldvalue('zticks'),zticklabels)
+		else:
+			p.zticks(options.getfieldvalue('zticks'))
+	#}}}
 
+	#xticklabels,yticklabels,zticklabels {{{
+	if options.exist('xticklabels'):
+		xticklabels=options.getfieldvalue('xticklabels')
+		xtickloc=p.xticks()[0]	
+		p.xticks(xtickloc,xticklabels)
+	if options.exist('yticklabels'):
+		yticklabels=options.getfieldvalue('yticklabels')
+		ytickloc=p.yticks()[0]	
+		p.yticks(ytickloc,yticklabels)
+	if options.exist('zticklabels'):
+		zticklabels=options.getfieldvalue('zticklabels')
+		ztickloc=p.zticks()[0]	
+		p.zticks(ztickloc,zticklabels)
+	#}}}
+
+	#ticklabelfontsize {{{
+	if options.exist('ticklabelfontsize'):
+		ax=p.gca()
+		for label in ax.get_xticklabels() + ax.get_yticklabels():
+			label.set_fontsize(options.getfieldvalue('ticklabelfontsize'))
+		if int(md.mesh.dimension)==3: 
+			for label in ax.get_zticklabels():
+				label.set_fontsize(options.getfieldvalue('ticklabelfontsize'))
+	#}}}
 	#view
 
@@ -73,5 +118,5 @@
 	#box
 
-	#xlim, ylim, zlim
+	#xlim, ylim, zlim {{{
 	if options.exist('xlim'):
 		p.xlim(options.getfieldvalue('xlim'))
@@ -80,4 +125,5 @@
 	if options.exist('zlim'):
 		p.xlim(options.getfieldvalue('zlim'))
+	#}}}
 
 	#latlon
@@ -91,7 +137,8 @@
 	#shading
 
-	#grid
+	#grid {{{
 	if options.exist('grid'):
 		p.grid()
+	#}}}
 
 	#colormap
@@ -115,11 +162,6 @@
 	#contours
 
-	#YTickLabel
 
-	#XTickLabel
 
-	#xtick
-
-	#ytick
 
 	#axis positions
Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/plot/plot_manager.py
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/plot/plot_manager.py	(revision 13423)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/plot/plot_manager.py	(revision 13424)
@@ -24,9 +24,12 @@
 	if isinstance(data,(str,unicode)):
 
-		if data=='mesh': plot_mesh(md,options,nlines,ncols,i)
+		# convert string to lower case for a case-insensitive comparison
+		if data.lower()=='mesh': plot_mesh(md,options,nlines,ncols,i)
 		else:
 			print "WARNING: '%s' is not implemented or is not a valid string for option 'data'" % data
 
+	#elif data in vars(md):
 	else:
 		print "'data' not a string, plotting model properties yet to be implemented..."
 
+