diff --git a/Updated_Cms/app/Services/SettingsService.php b/Updated_Cms/app/Services/SettingsService.php
index de2e21d86b..1b1d41e779 100644
--- a/Updated_Cms/app/Services/SettingsService.php
+++ b/Updated_Cms/app/Services/SettingsService.php
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 <?php
-
 namespace App\Services;
 
 use App\Models\Miscellaneous\WebsiteSetting;
@@ -10,49 +9,81 @@ use Throwable;
 
 class SettingsService
 {
-    /** @var Collection<string, string> */
+    /**
+     * Store settings as string-to-string collection for type safety.
+     * @var Collection<string, string>
+     */
     public private(set) Collection $settings;
 
     public function __construct()
     {
+        $this->settings = new Collection();
         $this->refresh();
     }
 
-    public function getOrDefault(string $settingName, ?string $default = null): string
+    /**
+     * Get a setting value or return a default.
+     */
+    public function getOrDefault(string $settingName, string $default = ''): string
     {
-        return (string) $this->settings->get($settingName, $default);
+        return $this->settings->get($settingName, $default);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Refresh settings from database/cache.
+     */
     public function refresh(): void
     {
         Cache::forget('website_settings');
-
+        
         try {
-            /** @var mixed $result */
             $result = Cache::remember(
                 key: 'website_settings',
                 ttl: now()->addMinutes(5),
-                callback: fn () => Schema::hasTable('website_settings')
-                    ? WebsiteSetting::pluck('value', 'key')
-                    : collect()
+                callback: function () {
+                    if (!Schema::hasTable('website_settings')) {
+                        return collect([]);
+                    }
+                    return WebsiteSetting::pluck('value', 'key');
+                }
             );
 
-            /** @var array<string, string> $data */
-            $data = [];
-
-            if ($result instanceof Collection) {
-                foreach ($result as $key => $value) {
-                    $data[(string) $key] = is_scalar($value) ? (string) $value : '';
-                }
-            } elseif (is_array($result)) {
-                foreach ($result as $key => $value) {
-                    $data[(string) $key] = is_scalar($value) ? (string) $value : '';
-                }
-            }
-
+            $data = $this->normalizeSettings($result);
+            
+            /** @var Collection<string, string> */
             $this->settings = new Collection($data);
         } catch (Throwable) {
-            $this->settings = new Collection();
+            /** @var Collection<string, string> */
+            $this->settings = new Collection([]);
         }
     }
-}
+
+    /**
+     * Normalize settings data to ensure all keys and values are strings.
+     * 
+     * @param Collection<array-key, mixed>|array<array-key, mixed> $result
+     * @return array<string, string>
+     */
+    private function normalizeSettings(Collection|array $result): array
+    {
+        $data = [];
+        
+        foreach ($result as $key => $value) {
+            // array-key is int|string, so we can safely cast to string
+            $safeKey = (string) $key;
+            
+            // Ensure value is a string
+            if (is_scalar($value)) {
+                $safeValue = (string) $value;
+            } elseif (is_null($value)) {
+                $safeValue = '';
+            } else {
+                continue; // Skip non-scalar, non-null values
+            }
+            
+            $data[$safeKey] = $safeValue;
+        }
+        
+        return $data;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file