I have checked the FAQ at Folder Formats: Quick Guide but I find it is not working as described, unless I am doing something dumb!
Here is what I want: I want to setup a selected suite of columns across ALL folders and maintain these as my default, forever, or at least until I want to change it again.
I select Folder options
I select the columns that I want displayed and their properties (e.g., I add 'extension' and remove 'status' and 'availability' and order them)
I click on Save... and select "Save format for all folders (make this the default)" and select 'clear any saved folder formats' and 'replace the folder format in layouts and saved folder tabs'.
I click 'OK'
The two columns I removed are back again on the folder and all other folders. Why?
Unsure what you meant by 'windows'. I had (one version of) DO open (and no other programs running) with a single window and folder (tab). I removed the unwanted columns, saved as above, closed DO. Then opened it again and the removed columns are back in most of the folders. I had previously saved the layout as the default lister.
If you save a folder format as the default for all folders, that format will be used in every folder except for folders that have a format assigned specifically to them.
First check to make sure that the new default format is working in other folders. It's possible the folder you were testing it on already have a specific folder format assigned to it. If your new default format isn't working in other non-formatted folders then it wasn't set as default correctly. You can check which folders have formats assigned to them by going into the preferences menu and searching "format". This should find the folder formats tab which will show a list of all the folders with specifically assigned formats to them.
Under folder formats, under Default format, there is only one called "User default". If I double click this folder, it displays the columns as desired.
If I hover over the padlock - which displays an unlocked icon, it says "The current folder format comes from Flat View. Click this padlock symbol to lock the format to prevent automatic changes."
BTW, my standard Lister uses a single folder tree to the left and two windows (top and bottom) each with the same 8 folder tabs. 2/8 of these folders are displayed as desired. I have no idea, given the process I followed, why there should be any differences. All 8 tabs/folders show the unlocked icon in the status bar.
I have setup DO on probably 8 computers over many years and this is the first time I have had problems getting it the way I prefer.
Turn off the "Flat View" format in Folder Options (or configure it the same way as the "User default").
By default, Flat View uses the columns you "saved for all folders", but also adds the Location column, since it can be very useful when dealing with lists of files from multiple locations. But if you don't find that useful, you can turn it off.
I turned off flat view and the problem persisted. I then set lock view on both windows, then manually went through each of my 8 tabs on both windows using right-click on the column header and set the required basic columns. I then did a "Settings | Set as default lister" and selected also "Also save the default toolbar set".
That worked ok except for the top left tab view (one out of 16 tabs), which re-introduced "Location". I give up, but that will do.
I have never had such issues over my many years of DO usage. What I would like is to set up ONE tab as I want all tabs formatted and then apply it across all tabs until I want to change it.
Hovering over the lock, it says "The folder format is locked and will not change automatically. Click this padlock symbol to unlock the format". After restarting the system, the layout and format are as per previously reported: 15/16 folders are as desired except the first - that has a "Location" column. I can live with that.
Apologies. Been on leave. My main PC version of DO has both windows set locked, and this is the configuration I have had no problems with. So the question is why unlock the windows?
If the folder format is locked then the rest of the guide on what to do is probably not going to work properly.
The folder format doesn't need to be (and shouldn't be) locked, except in special situations where you need to override your normal formats in a particular window/layout. The lock being on should not be the normal setting (unless you want to do something special or temporary and really know what you're doing).
You'll just make things more complex by having the lock on all the time. In particular, the instructions on how to do things will not work, as you've found.
In fact, part of the instructions are to turn off the lock:
If the Format Lock is on when you open a window then it can complicate things. You probably want to turn the Format Lock off , and then re-save the Default Lister, Layout or Style you are using to open new windows.
For normal behaviour, the lock icon on your status bar should be open, unlocked, like this...
So when you said:
the guide may not have been working as described because you had skipped part of the guide.
I unlocked both the windows and now, on starting a new DO instance, have additional columns that I do not want to see added into all my tabs - not nice!
