The 2026 Drupal Business Survey is open. Your response will help shape the future of the Drupal business ecosystem.Problem/Motivation
Something I noticed while reviewing #2831943: Use "rendered media" (not links) as default media field formatter; add modal to configure the used media view mode and #2934162: Provide better defaults to media form displays:
When you add a new field to article nodes, by default, it ends up below the comment field:
This is almost never what the user will want, and can lead to confusion when the new field's data seems to be "lost". The site builder can of course rearrange the field on the manage display tab, but since comment fields will probably always belong toward the end of content, we should probably provide better defaults.
Proposed resolution
- Discuss whether comment fields should be heavier by default, so that new fields are displayed above them rather than below them by default.
- At a minimum, adjust the comment field weights in Standard?
Remaining tasks
Discuss!
User interface changes
New fields appear above the comment field by default.
API changes
Probably not.
Data model changes
Maybe some changes to shipped config, but no upgrade path. (Sites, not modules, own config, so we don't know if they ordered things this way on purpose or not.)
| Comment | File | Size | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| #14 | Screenshot 2025-12-12 at 10.08.48.png | 34.51 KB | eelkeblok |
| Default_field_ordering___Site-Install.png | 96.3 KB | xjm |
Comments
Comment #13
luke.stewart commentedThis is the Bug Smash Initiative target of the day.
There has been no discussion recorded on the above in the last few years. This is more of a feature request so tagging as such but even so I think this could be marked closed won't fix if there is no engagement in the next 3 months.
Comment #14
eelkeblokReading this, I wonder whether it would make sense to put new fields at the top regardless of the field type, *or* not automatically put it in the the display at all. I've had countless times that I added a field that was not meant to show up on the frontend at all and forgot to remove it from the default display. One semi-popular workaround for this problem I've seen used is to basically not use the default display and always explicitly configure view modes. In fact, the field not being added to other displays than the default also feels a little arbitrary.
Basically what I'm saying is, maybe there is an opportunity to improve the UX/DX around this. Another option, that I actually like a lot, when I think about it, could be a dialog that asks the user in which displays they want to add the field (I guess the default for the top/bottom choice should be bottom.. that would probably also serve as a mitigation for the problem this issue was opened for).