Add a 'group by display column' checkbox to 'manage form'

Created on 14 December 2016, almost 9 years ago

Updated 3 September 2025, about 2 months ago

Problem/Motivation

When I configure columns on the 'manage display' form and then returned to create content, this was not what I expected to see:

What I expected was that the fields would be grouped, by the column they appear in on the display, as they are grouped in the manage display form itself.

I am not opposed to the user being able to create a multi-column form, which can be a valuable feature, but we also need a way to show the author which column a field will end up in when they create content.

Proposed resolution

Add a checkbox on the manage display form labeled 'group fields by display column' like this:

Behavior:

When checked multi-column forms would be disabled
Fields could be moved within, but not between, display columns. That would need to be done on the 'manage display' tab
On the node/add page the fields of each display column would be contained in labeled fieldsets (see below)

An alternative to #2 would be simply 'locking' field order across displays if the option is checked so that changing one always changes the other. IMO this would be even easier to follow if it's possible to implement.

Lastly, the checkbox should be checked by default. Authors needing to understand where content will go is a more common use case than multi-column forms, IMO.

Remaining tasks

Write patch

User interface changes

See above.

API changes

Data model changes

✨ Feature request

Status

Postponed: needs info

Version

11.0 🔥

Component

field_ui.module

Created by

🇺🇸United States tkoleary

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Usability
Makes Drupal easier to use. Preferred over UX, D7UX, etc.

stale-issue-cleanup
To track issues in the developing policy for closing stale issues, [Policy, no patch] closing older issues

Incomplete comments

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Comment about 2 months ago →
🇺🇸United States smustgrave
Thank you for sharing your idea for improving Drupal.

We are working to decide if this proposal meets the Criteria for evaluating proposed changes. There hasn't been any discussion here for over 8 years which suggests that this has either been implemented or there is no community support. Your thoughts on this will allow a decision to be made.

Since we need more information to move forward with this issue, the status is now Postponed (maintainer needs more info). If we don't receive additional information to help with the issue, it may be closed after three months.

Thanks!

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