diff --git a/lib/AbstractException.php b/lib/AbstractException.php
index 706465e0..ebeeccc3 100644
--- a/lib/AbstractException.php
+++ b/lib/AbstractException.php
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ abstract class AbstractException extends \Exception {
         "User/Exception.authFailed"                   => 10412,
         "User/ExceptionAuthz.notAuthorized"           => 10421,
         "User/ExceptionSession.invalid"               => 10431,
+        "User/ExceptionInput.invalidTimezone"         => 10441,
+        "User/ExceptionInput.invalidBoolean"          => 10442,
         "Feed/Exception.internalError"                => 10500,
         "Feed/Exception.invalidCertificate"           => 10501,
         "Feed/Exception.invalidUrl"                   => 10502,
diff --git a/lib/Database.php b/lib/Database.php
index 92ddb891..6dc02ddb 100644
--- a/lib/Database.php
+++ b/lib/Database.php
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ use JKingWeb\Arsse\Misc\URL;
  * associations with articles. There has been an effort to keep public method
  * names consistent throughout, but protected methods, having different
  * concerns, will typically follow different conventions.
+ * 
+ * Note that operations on users should be performed with the User class rather
+ * than the Database class directly. This is to allow for alternate user sources.
  */
 class Database {
     /** The version number of the latest schema the interface is aware of */
@@ -310,6 +313,35 @@ class Database {
         $this->db->prepare("UPDATE arsse_users set password = ? where id = ?", "str", "str")->run($hash, $user);
         return true;
     }
+    
+    public function userPropertiesGet(string $user): array {
+        if (!Arsse::$user->authorize($user, __FUNCTION__)) {
+            throw new User\ExceptionAuthz("notAuthorized", ["action" => __FUNCTION__, "user" => $user]);
+        } elseif (!$this->userExists($user)) {
+            throw new User\Exception("doesNotExist", ["action" => __FUNCTION__, "user" => $user]);
+        }
+        $out = $this->db->prepare("SELECT num, admin, lang, tz, sort_asc from arsse_users where id = ?", "str")->run($user)->getRow();
+        settype($out['admin'], "bool");
+        settype($out['sort_asc'], "bool");
+        return $out;
+    }
+    
+    public function userPropertiesSet(string $user, array $data): bool {
+        if (!Arsse::$user->authorize($user, __FUNCTION__)) {
+            throw new User\ExceptionAuthz("notAuthorized", ["action" => __FUNCTION__, "user" => $user]);
+        } elseif (!$this->userExists($user)) {
+            throw new User\Exception("doesNotExist", ["action" => __FUNCTION__, "user" => $user]);
+        }
+        $allowed = [
+            'admin'    => "strict bool",
+            'lang'     => "str",
+            'tz'       => "strict str",
+            'sort_asc' => "strict bool",
+        ];
+        [$setClause, $setTypes, $setValues] = $this->generateSet($data, $allowed);
+        return (bool) $this->$db->prepare("UPDATE arsse_users set $setClause where user = ?", $setTypes, "str")->run($setValues, $user)->changes();
+        
+    }
 
     /** Creates a new session for the given user and returns the session identifier */
     public function sessionCreate(string $user): string {
diff --git a/lib/User.php b/lib/User.php
index f5299914..e39516ce 100644
--- a/lib/User.php
+++ b/lib/User.php
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 declare(strict_types=1);
 namespace JKingWeb\Arsse;
 
+use JKingWeb\Arsse\Misc\ValueInfo as V;
 use PasswordGenerator\Generator as PassGen;
 
 class User {
@@ -120,4 +121,44 @@ class User {
     public function generatePassword(): string {
         return (new PassGen)->length(Arsse::$conf->userTempPasswordLength)->get();
     }
+    
+    public function propertiesGet(string $user): array {
+        // unconditionally retrieve from the database to get at least the user number, and anything else the driver does not provide
+        $out = Arsse::$db->userPropertiesGet($user);
+        // layer on the driver's data
+        $extra = $this->u->userPropertiesGet($user);
+        foreach (["lang", "tz", "admin", "sort_asc"] as $k) {
+            if (array_key_exists($k, $extra)) {
+                $out[$k] = $extra[$k] ?? $out[$k];
+            }
+        }
+        return $out;
+    }
+    
+    public function propertiesSet(string $user, array $data): bool {
+        $in = [];
+        if (array_key_exists("tz", $data)) {
+            if (!is_string($data['tz'])) {
+                throw new User\ExceptionInput("invalidTimezone");
+            } elseif (!in_array($data['tz'], \DateTimeZone::listIdentifiers())) {
+                throw new User\ExceptionInput("invalidTimezone", $data['tz']);
+            }
+            $in['tz'] = $data['tz'];
+        }
+        foreach (["admin", "sort_asc"] as $k) {
+            if (array_key_exists($k, $data)) {
+                if (($v = V::normalize($data[$k], V::T_BOOL)) === null) {
+                    throw new User\ExceptionInput("invalidBoolean", $k);
+                }
+                $in[$k] = $v;
+            }
+        }
+        if (array_key_exists("lang", $data)) {
+            $in['lang'] = V::normalize($data['lang'], V::T_STRING | M_NULL);
+        }
+        $out = $this->u->userPropertiesSet($user, $in);
+        // synchronize the internal database
+        Arsse::$db->userPropertiesSet($user, $in);
+        return $out;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/lib/User/ExceptionInput.php b/lib/User/ExceptionInput.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aea8c131
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/User/ExceptionInput.php
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+<?php
+/** @license MIT
+ * Copyright 2017 J. King, Dustin Wilson et al.
+ * See LICENSE and AUTHORS files for details */
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+namespace JKingWeb\Arsse\User;
+
+class ExceptionInput extends Exception {
+}