Preferences are stored in the database based on the portlet instance and user. If the user already viewed the protlet instance, then the database probably already contains the older preference. I know that if you start with a clean installation (new database, new portal install), and have preferences defined in portlet-instances.xml, that those preferences will show up. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4084584#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...