Hide field template forms when no display is selected

Not sure how I can clarify the issue. Here's some more info:

The first image, "display_ste_expert_1.jpg" shows that display suite has remembered part of the prior setting. It shows that the expert template was previously chosen. But when I click on the edit gear, image2 shows that the expert template choice is forgotten. The setting reverts back to the default template.

At first, I thought the settings I made previously were being saved, but that the edit form was failing to initiate the saved values from the database when going in to edit, but after further testing, I can confirm that the expert template settings I'm putting in are not saved at all.

If you look at my original image up top, you'll see that I'm trying to attach a css class to the notes field. But after putting in the values, pressing the update button, and then saving changes on the "manage display" screen, the values are not saved. (the "excerpt-note" class is not added to the field)

Is it possible that the field update button is not properly saving the values to the database? It's obviously saving the value of "expert" somewhere, but none of the actual changes I made to the field. Then, whenever you press the edit gear, ALL values are reinitialized as default values.

Is that any clearer? The field in question, "notes" is a long text field, if that helps.

Also, the inability to save changes affects more than the expert template. I tried adding my css class to Display Suite's "field CSS" box, and then adding the class using the default template. (see image)

That value was not saved either, even though the css class DID show up on the edit form.

@aspilicious, not sure I understand this statement: "When choosing expert template and add a css class, you ALWAYS need to choose the element. Than it will save. (normally)"

I tried that, and the error persists. The template always goes back to "default" and never saves the value.

Might want to revert back to the original issue title . . .

@aspilicious, I've tried several different fields and content types, including Drupal 8's article content type, and I can never get the field to remember the setting. The class is never inserted in the html output either.

I've also tried entering "manage display" from "admin/structure/ds" as well as from "admin/structure/types/manage/content_type/display." I'm using display suite 2.3 and layout plugin alpha 22. It's a pretty basic Drupal 8 site.

Here are the other modules I have installed: ctools alpha 23, entity api alpha1, inline entity form alpha 5, pathauto alpha 2, token alpha 2.

That's it. Any chance there could be a conflict with one of these other modules?

I would also recommend renaming the title of the issue, as the "non-saving" behavior is the same for both the expert and default templates. This does not look like two different issues to me.

I tried installing the display suite dev version from Mar. 10, but that didn't fix anything. So I uninstalled display suite, display suite extras, and display suite switch view mode and tried reinstalling ds 2.3.

I now get the following error:

Unable to install Display Suite Extras, core.entity_view_mode.node.revision already exists in active configuration.

@aspilicious, I've now tested Display Suite on both a Linux and Windows system, and the bug behavior is the same. In both cases, however, I'm using php 5.5. Could it be possible that when you are testing, that you are using a different version of php? Could this have any affect on behavior?

It's just a stab in the dark . . .

@aspilicous, @mike_pol, that is great news that it's just a layout issue! Like mike_pol, I'm not familiar enough with display suite functionality to understand the need for a layout prior to using a template. (why is that, precisely?) Mystery solved. However, I might suggest a couple of different ways to address this problem. One obvious solution would be to provide more comprehensive help with display suite that lays out the basic paradigm of its use, because much of DS functionality is not obvious to the first time user.

Another suggestion would be to throw an error on the template selection (field edit) page to remind users to set the layout first, rather than simply turning off template functionality. That way, you would be teaching the new user how to use display suite properly. Simply making the templates unavailable without a layout would leave the new user scratching his head as to what is wrong. Having researched the issue, I now realize that on the manage display page at the bottom, where one chooses the layout, it clearly states "A layout must be selected to enable Display Suite functionality." HOWEVER, it is so easy for a newbie to miss that when setting things up.

FWIW, I find that so many issues on modules are due to "user error" ie. not understanding how a module is intended to be used. As a professional writer, I'd like the emphasize that perhaps more time should be spent by module programmers in either documentation, or "self teaching" UI design. They would then reduce their issue burden significantly. Just a thought.

Thanks for ferreting out this problem, guys!