5.3.1 Administration — Settings — General Settings — Defaults

General Settings define tenant-level defaults that influence everyday platform behavior. These settings prioritize usability and consistency, allowing organizations to establish sensible defaults without affecting security boundaries or global system controls.

Default Configuration Domains

General settings are grouped into non-sensitive domains that affect user experience and operational flow.

Common domains:

Language and locale defaults

Timezone and date formats

Interface preferences

Content and workflow defaults

These domains are intentionally separated from security and access controls.

Localization Defaults

Localization settings define the default language and regional behavior for the tenant.

Localization controls:

Default language

Fallback language

Text direction handling

Example update:

TenantConfig::set('locale.default', 'en');

User Experience Defaults

UX defaults shape how users initially experience the platform.

Examples:

Default landing module

Table pagination size

Notification display preferencesnThese defaults apply to new sessions and can be overridden by user preferences where supported.

Workflow Defaults

General settings may define default workflow behavior for content and collaboration.

Workflow defaults include:

Initial status for new items

Auto-assignment rules

Default review requirements

Defaults do not bypass explicit approvals or permissions.

Validation and Change Handling

All changes to general settings are validated before persistence and applied deterministically.

Change guarantees:

Immediate effect

No data mutation

Audit logging

Example audit entry:

AuditLog::record('general.settings.updated', ['tenant_id' => tenant('id')]);

Visibility and Transparency

Administrators can view effective default values and their sources. This ensures predictability when diagnosing behavior.

Security and Isolation

General settings are tenant-scoped and cannot weaken security controls. Sensitive configuration is explicitly excluded from this domain and handled through dedicated security settings.