Display configuration

3. Display Configuration

When to Use

When configuring common options shared across all display types: title, access, cache, pager, style, fields, filters, sorts.

Common Display Options

Display Behavior

Option	Type	Purpose	Default
title	text	Display title (page title, block title)	View label
enabled	boolean	Whether display is active	true
display_description	label	Admin-only description	Empty
display_comment	label	Admin note for this display	Empty

Content Options

Option	Mapping	Purpose
fields	sequence	Field configurations (Section 8)
filters	sequence	Filter criteria (Section 9)
sorts	sequence	Sort criteria (Section 10)
arguments	sequence	Contextual filters (Section 10)
relationships	sequence	Entity relationships (Section 11)

Presentation Options

Option	Mapping	Purpose
pager	mapping	Pager configuration (Section 12)
style	mapping	Output format (table, list, grid) (Section 15)
row	mapping	Row rendering (fields, entity, teaser) (Section 15)
header	sequence	Header area content
footer	sequence	Footer area content
empty	sequence	No results behavior

System Options

Option	Mapping	Purpose
access	mapping	Access control (Section 14)
cache	mapping	Caching strategy (Section 13)
query	mapping	Query settings (Section 16)
exposed_form	mapping	Exposed form configuration

UI Options

Option	Type	Purpose
css_class	string	Custom CSS class for wrapper
use_ajax	boolean	Enable AJAX for paging/filters
use_more	boolean	Show "more" link
use_more_text	label	Customize "more" link text
link_display	string	Display ID to link "more" to
link_url	text	Custom URL for "more" link
show_admin_links	boolean	Show contextual links for admins

Pattern

Default display with common options:

display:
  default:
    id: default
    display_title: Default
    display_plugin: default
    position: 0
    display_options:
      title: 'My View Title'
      css_class: 'my-custom-view'
      use_ajax: false
      access:
        type: perm
        options:
          perm: 'access content'
      cache:
        type: tag
      pager:
        type: full
        options:
          items_per_page: 10
      style:
        type: table
      row:
        type: fields

Reference: core/modules/views/config/schema/views.data_types.schema.yml lines 4-281

Common Mistakes

• Setting use_ajax: true on block displays without exposed filters → AJAX requires exposed form; without it, AJAX does nothing useful and adds overhead
• Forgetting css_class sanitization → Views auto-sanitizes, but avoid special characters anyway
• Not overriding defaults in child displays → Change in "default" display affects all displays unless overridden
• Using link_url without checking token availability → Tokens work, but entity must be available in context

See Also

• Section 4-7: Specific display types (page, block, REST export, feed, attachment)
• Section 8-16: Detailed configuration for fields, filters, sorts, pager, cache, access
• Reference: Drupal Views Configuration API