Hide internal topics by default when no preference exists (closes #1073)

Author: Devansh-ops

frontend/src/components/Topics/List/ListPage.tsx

@@ -22,11 +22,13 @@ const ListPage: React.FC = () => {
     if (!searchParams.has('perPage')) {
       searchParams.set('perPage', String(PER_PAGE));
     }
-    if (
-      !!localStorage.getItem('hideInternalTopics') &&
-      !searchParams.has('hideInternal')
-    ) {
-      searchParams.set('hideInternal', 'true');
+    // If URL doesn't specify it, derive from localStorage (default = true when missing)
+    if (!searchParams.has('hideInternal')) {
+      const stored = localStorage.getItem('hideInternalTopics');
+      const shouldHide = stored === null ? true : stored === 'true';
+      searchParams.set('hideInternal', String(shouldHide));
+      // persist the default so it sticks across pages
+      if (stored === null) localStorage.setItem('hideInternalTopics', 'true');
     }
     setSearchParams(searchParams);
   }, []);