Remove collapsible details wrapper from Views UI advanced settings

This was removed to simplify some of hthe code which had to be ported to Drupal 8.

Personally I'm using drush vd on every project and call it a day. It optimizes the UI for some usecase, of which one setting is to always show the advanced column.

I think the collapsed “Advanced” column was a rather brute-force way to reduce clutter in the Views UI. I wouldn't mind showing it expanded again.

I think the collapsed “Advanced” column was a rather brute-force way to reduce clutter in the Views UI. I wouldn't mind showing it expanded again.

Do you want to still present the idea of it being advanced? At least for me the left to right hierarchy seems to communicate this information for me already.

Not sure what a better name could be. Shall we start with a patch to just keep this open?

This sounds like a good novice task to tackle.

looking into this

@vrwired
If you need help ping me on slack/IRC/in person during the codesprint.

This is a partial fix for this issue. If the user has expanded the Advanced Settings form, this patch prevents the form from being closing due to interaction with the form.

I've tested patch #14 and it does indeed seem to solve the problem of the modal windows closing an expanded Advanced section. I was using PHP 7.1.11

+++ b/core/modules/views_ui/src/ViewEditForm.php
@@ -542,7 +542,15 @@ public function getDisplayDetails($view, $display) {
+    $request = \Drupal::request();

We have the requestStack as a class property here. So we should use that to get the request object.

Thanks for reviving this!

I'll work on this.

I have used the `$this->requestStack->getCurrentRequest();` property over `\Drupal::request();`. I have tested the functionality of the Advanced pane and the value of the $request variable and both lines of code has the same value.

My apologies, I created a wrong interdiff file in my previous comment. Here is the correct one.

Reading #17 it reads like @yoroy would be cool with not making it toggleable overall. Do you mind clarifying?

Yeah I think we could just go and remove the collapsible behaviour as a whole.

Thank you for clarifying @yoroy!

edit: oops, I'm realizing now it's in a current RC
Couldn't be too hard to kick this can into a release by now?

Verified and tested by applying the patch #19 on Drupal 8.6.x. Patch was successfully applied but the problem doesn't resolves. Collapse behaviour is there and also collapse/expand icon is not visible.

Before Patch -

After Patch -

Needs a reroll to start I think and not sure why this would need the js changes

Adding re-rolled patch.

Updating patch for the failure.

:( :(
Seems like bot is not happy.. giving it a last try.

Patch #40 applied successfully on 9.5.x-dev. Tried clearing cache but 'Advanced Options' tab is still collapsed/hidden on initial page load.
Attached screenshot for reference.

Sounds like this still needs work. Also test cases will be needed

Tagging for Bug Smash.

The work here is longer suitable for a novice, in my opinion.

Based on #22 I removed the collapsible behavior entirely.

Asking about that update hook number (small change if needed)

But we should have a CR for the configuration change. Mentioning why it's been removed.

Change record added at https://www.drupal.org/node/3515212. Leaving status as Needs Work due to the question of what the update number should be. I checked Slack and no one has responded yet. I'll try to check back in a day or two.

The update function number was updated per the discussion in Slack. I also rebased it against 11.x to get the latest changes.

Apologize for taking so long to get back to this one, even after posting it in slack lol

But feedback appears to be addressed.

The change record should explicitly reference the config key that's being removed. There will be some cases like distributions with a full set of exported config that could end up with stale config after this change and will need to remove the key manually.

I'm confused by the update number here - left a comment on the MR.

#57 feedback was addressed.

Hi guys

As the last feedback review was given by #41, i made another up-to-date check after all last commits and the changes seems to address the requests.
The advanced column "is gone" as the collapsible behavior.

Checked with Drupal 11.2.x-dev

Feedback appears to be addressed for this one.

The screenshots appear to be in #33, but they also don't actually seem to show the "after" case. It's probably best not to embed animated gifs in the IS in either case, but we would want to at least link them.

Tagging for new screenshots since it's been a few years and since it doesn't seem to match.

I disagree that this is a bug. It was a design behavior and was changed on purpose from a previous setup where the column was always shown, because we wanted to make the Views UI less overwhelming on page load. Therefore, I think this should have both usability and subsystem signoff. Once the screenshots are added and embedded in the IS, this can be tagged for usability review.

Hi, @xjm

Test summary

Drupal version: 11.2-dev

1 - Visited the views listing page.

2 - Edited one of the views (Content view).

3 - The Advanced column was visible and expanded in the first page load.

4 - Added a contextual filter and closed the modal window. The advanced settings column was visible and expanded.

5 - Saved the settings. The advanced settings column was visible and expanded.

@uesli, I think from the screenshots #62 is testing Drupal 11.2 without the merge request, correct?

I double check the changes, and achieve the same result as i found at #59
(Sorry that i didnt added the screenshots back then)
The advanced column "is gone" as the collapsible behavior.

So i will add the Before Screenshot that @uesli give to us to not flood the IS with duplicated images

Before - just checked with a clean D11.2-dev instalation.

----------------------------------

After - just checked with a clean D11.2-dev instalation + MR 11424.

I agree with @xjm this isn't really a bug, so moved to task, might be a feature ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@dawehner seemed to be in favour of this back in the day, and so am I, so removing the subsystem tag. I understand the initial thought behind not showing this, but I believe the Views UI is still plenty complicated without showing this column. And as people have pointed out in this issue this can lead to information being hidden. Also, it always felt a little arbitrary what was considered 'Advanced', since, lets be honest, the whole Views UI is pretty advanced :)

@yoroy has commented here so not sure if a usability review is needed, but happy to follow @xjm on this, so tagging for usability review

Ahh, thanks @lendude, I missed #6:

I think the collapsed “Advanced” column was a rather brute-force way to reduce clutter in the Views UI. I wouldn't mind showing it expanded again.

Usability review

We discussed this issue at #3541474: Drupal Usability Meeting 2025-08-29. That issue will have a link to a recording of the meeting.

For the record, the attendees at the usability meeting were @benjifisher, @rkoller, and @simohell.

There was a consensus that the proposed change is a relevant usability improvement. However we hope to see the issue summary updated - please add the latest screenshots to the isummary and we noted that point 3. of the problem/motivation seems to have been addressed already elsewhere. Maybe this issue or also ohters https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/3360442 - please check that current fix takes this into regard.

If you want more feedback from the usability team, a good way to reach out is in the #ux channel in Slack.

Updated the IS per #68.

In both the before and after screenshots the 'advanced' section is expanded. This does not show the change.

I made new screenshots as follows. On a fresh standard install of Drupal 11.x I navigated to "/admin/structure/views/view/who_s_online" and took the 'before' screenshot. I then applied the diff, re-installed, and navigated to "/admin/structure/views/view/who_s_online" and took the 'after' screenshot.

While here I updated credit.

I was struggling to understand the impact of the changes here and the updated screenshots really help. Thanks for the various reviews and sign-offs here, completely agreed that the empty column you have to expand doesn't really remove any complexity for people.

Committed/pushed to 11.x, thanks!

The new test coverage needs to use phpunit attributes.. Reverted for now.

Added test attributes.

Tests are green, so LGTM

Let's do @mondrake's suggestion with CoversFunction so that we don't need to change the @legacyCovers later.

The feedback was addressed.

Thank you - committed/pushed to 11.x again!

Thanks for the fix, @catch
I noticed in #73 that it was highlighted how much the screenshots helped clarify the problem. However, it looks like the contributors who tested and provided those screenshots didn’t receive issue credits yet.

Would you be able to review the credits for this issue and consider adding them for those testers who helped document and illustrate the problem? It would be a nice way to acknowledge their effort and support.

Thanks for your time and for keeping track of the community contributions!

@igorgoncalves see @quietone's comment - the original screenshots here didn't show the change properly.