Document clearing user preferences

[jnovinger]

Change Type

Addition

Area

Best practices

Proposed Changes

Add documentation for the User Preferences page (/user/preferences/), specifically covering the "Table Configurations" section and how to clear table preferences when experiencing table display errors.

Users encountering FieldError or other table display issues due to saved column/sorting preferences have no documented way to resolve the problem (most recently in #20441). The workaround (clearing table preferences via the user profile) is only documented in GitHub issue comments (#13756, #18845), creating a documentation gap that forces users to search through closed issues.

Proposed Documentation Location

Possible Location: Add a new section to docs/features/customization.md

Add a "User Preferences" section after the "Bookmarks" section (around line 23), covering table configuration clearing and other user preference features.

Note: There may be more appropriate places for this documentation, such as:

• A new docs/getting-started/using-netbox.md file for general UI usage patterns
• docs/administration/ if considered more of an operational/troubleshooting topic
• docs/best-practices/ if framed as best practices for managing user preferences

The customization.md location is suggested because it already covers user-facing customization features (tags, bookmarks, custom fields, custom links), but maintainers may identify a better fit.

Proposed Content

## User Preferences

Users can customize their NetBox experience through personal preferences accessible via their profile (username in top right → Preferences). These preferences are stored per-user and persist across sessions.

### Table Configurations

NetBox remembers your preferred column selections and sort orders for each table you configure. While this provides convenience, occasionally you may need to reset these preferences if encountering display errors or after NetBox upgrades that modify table structures.

#### Clearing Table Preferences

To clear saved preferences for one or more tables:

1. Click your username in the top right corner
2. Select "Preferences" from the dropdown
3. Scroll to the "Table Configurations" section
4. Check the boxes next to the tables you want to reset
5. Click "Submit" to clear the selected preferences

After clearing preferences, you can reconfigure the table using the "Configure" button on the table view.

### Other Preferences

Additional user preferences can be configured on this page, including:
- Pagination settings (items per page)
- Default data format (JSON or YAML)
- UI display options

Administrators can set default preferences for new users via the [`DEFAULT_USER_PREFERENCES`](../configuration/default-values.md#default_user_preferences) configuration parameter.

References

• Sort on module bay status field error #13756: First documented instance of preference clearing workaround
• Cannot sort Devices by device NAME #18845: Additional user-reported need for preference clearing
• FieldError upon sorting by contact group #20441: Table column rename that may require users to clear preferences
• docs/configuration/default-values.md: Already mentions preferences page but doesn't explain clearing feature
• docs/development/user-preferences.md: Documents preference structure for developers but not user-facing clearing process

[pheus]

Thanks for opening this!

Proposal: Add a new Features → User Preferences page that centralizes per‑user settings (Language, Page length, Paginator placement, HTMX navigation, Striped rows, Data format, CSV delimiter, and Table configurations).

Include a concise subsection “Clearing table preferences” with the steps:

User → Preferences → Table Configurations → select affected tables → Submit

Also clarify that per‑user table preferences are distinct from Table Configs (Extras), with a link to that model page.

Cross‑references:

• From Configuration → DEFAULT_USER_PREFERENCES → link to “Clearing table preferences”
• From Development → User Preferences (manifest) → link to the user‑facing page
• From Data Model → Extras → Table Configs → note the distinction and link to the clearing steps

If this direction sounds good, I can open a PR with the new page, nav entry, and cross‑links.

[jnovinger]

Thanks, @pheus , sounds like a plan!

[pheus]

To make the proposal easier to review, I opened a draft PR showing the “User Preferences” page and the “Clearing table preferences” steps: #20460. I realize PRs are merged only once an issue is assigned. This is just for discussion and I’m happy to adjust or close it if preferred.