SciCatProject · nickcrawford1 · Feb 9, 2026
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/TableFiltering.md b/docs/user-guide/TableFiltering.md
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+# Filtering your data down
+
+SciCat comes equipped with many useful features and functionalities which enable the user to filter and arrange both their view and exports to suit their needs. This section will describe how to use some of these features along with visual demonstrations to help guide you through the UI.
+
+## Where are the filters
+To access the filters you must use the table menu in the top right corner of the tables header ![see image](./img/open%20menu.png)
+
+## Manipulating the table layout
+The initial table for SciCat can contain an abundance of information, but sometimes you might only want to see a specific set of columns information.
+
+### Filtering columns
+You can use the column settings option which will enable you to see a list of the available columns and checkbox each one you wish to be part of your view. ![see image](./img/column%20settings.png)\
+To select the columns you want to see, simply click the checkboxes ensuring each column of interest is highlighted by the green tick.\
+![see image](./img/selected%20columns.png)\
+Once you've selected all of the columns, apply the changes by clicking on the tick in the bottom right corner ![see image](./img/tick%20to%20apply%20filters.png)\
+Now that you've applied the changes to your settings, your table will reflect only the columns you selected.
+![see image](./img/applied%20filters%20on%20table.png)
+
+### Reorganising columns
+Within the SciCat UI, the columns can be reordered by the user simply by accessing the column setting and using the `drag` option to the left of the column name you wish to move.\
+![see image](./img/drag%20option%20(before).png) ![see image](./img/drag%20option%20(after).png)\
+All columns have this functionality so you can structure the table however suits you best.
+
+### Table filter persistence
+When making changes to the table, these changes will not automatically persist so the table will revert to its original form if you:
+- refresh the page
+- enter into any record and then go back
+
+Fortunately, SciCat has a built in way to make the layout persistent and the default. To make the table always filter to your selected columns, first apply the filters as shown above. Go back into the table menu and select the `save table settings` option.\
+![see image](./img/save%20table%20settings.png)\
+This will save the filters to your profile and results in the table formatting you've applied being persistent through refreshes. 
+**Note: this process will be required each time you wish to change the default column settings**
+
+## Saving data from SciCat
+The process of saving or exporting data from Scicat is simple, open the table menu, select `Save data`, choose the output you want.\
+![see image](./img/save%20data%20selection.png)\
+However there are a few important points to understand when saving data from SciCat.
+
+### What gets saved
+SciCat outputs only the data in the current page, meaning; If you have multiple pages of data, only the current page will be output to file. Also the method of output chosen, will result in a different level of data being returned so its important to know what you want to get from this extraction.
+
+#### Saving to CSV
+![see image](./img/save%20as%20csv.png)\
+This option will return you everything you can see in the table, this includes any filters or ordering that have been applied to the table. So as an output you will get a CSV version of exactly what you have created on the screen. This option is most useful for figure generation or high-level data analysis
+
+#### Saving to JSON
+![see image](./img/save%20as%20json.png)\
+The Json option will return you a lot more information as it will save all data related to the records being displayed on that page of the table. This option is very useful for metadata analysis and will provide all fields for each record in the Json format ready to be read/ingested by a program to perform analysis. 
+**Note: The returned data from the JSON option will disregard filters so doesn't just collect information from the selected columns, but it will still only return data for the rows displayed on the current page/**
+
+### Saving only specific records
+In SciCat there is also the ability to only save data for manually selected data. ![see image](./img/selecting%20specific%20records%20to%20save%20to%20file.png)\
+This option works for both CSV and Json format to only return information about these selected records. However, the other aspects of each saving method still apply so CSV will return a snapshot of what you see, and Json will return all of the data related to just the selected records.
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/applied filters on table.png b/docs/user-guide/img/applied filters on table.png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/column settings.png b/docs/user-guide/img/column settings.png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/drag option (after).png b/docs/user-guide/img/drag option (after).png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/drag option (before).png b/docs/user-guide/img/drag option (before).png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/open menu.png b/docs/user-guide/img/open menu.png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/save as csv.png b/docs/user-guide/img/save as csv.png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/save as json.png b/docs/user-guide/img/save as json.png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/save data selection.png b/docs/user-guide/img/save data selection.png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/save table settings.png b/docs/user-guide/img/save table settings.png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/selected columns.png b/docs/user-guide/img/selected columns.png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/selecting specific records to save to file.png b/docs/user-guide/img/selecting specific records to save to file.png
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/img/tick to apply filters.png b/docs/user-guide/img/tick to apply filters.png