How to change display modes per node (view modes)?

Question

In Drupal 8 views modes are supported by core, which makes the Entity view modes module obsolete. I will like to have the ability to change my view mode per node without using the Display Suite module.

Does anyone know if I can do this by only using Drupal core or a module that is lighter than Display Suite module?

Ideally, I would like to have a select list to pick my view mode at the node level.

Answer 1

I've used the View Mode Selector module in Drupal 7 for exactly that purpose. I haven't tried it in Drupal 8, but it has an 8.x-1.0-beta1 release created on June 16, 2020.

Answer 2

That's a task for hook_entity_view_mode_alter().

Change the view mode of an entity that is being displayed.

See the following working sample that automatically lets the node whose ID is 123 be rendered in the teaser view mode when accessed as full page. You could simply add your own logic (type, user, datetime etc.) as well.

/**
 * Implements hook_entity_view_mode_alter().
 */
function MYMODULE_entity_view_mode_alter(&$view_mode, Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityInterface $entity, $context) {

  // Change the view mode to teaser on full page view for node ID 123.
  if ($entity->getEntityTypeId() == 'node' && $entity->id() == '123' && $view_mode == 'full') {
    $view_mode = 'teaser';
  }
}

As you can maybe imagine, from $entity you can get any field value of a node. You could also add some select list field or taxonomy reference to your content type and then adjust that value node-wise. Finally you can use above code snippet to switch the view mode depending on these values. Mission accomplished.

Answer 3

Edit: just realised original post said without using Display Suite. Will leave answer here anyway should it be useful to others, who came across this question and may wish to know how it's done with Display Suite.

Another options which is available is to use the Display Suite module. I would be tempted to use this over the View Mode Selector module, which does not yet have a stable release. By using Display Suite you will not only be dealing with a stable module, but will also be covered by Drupal's security policy which only applies to stable module releases (alpha, beta and dev modules are not covered).

To switch display modes on individual nodes you need to:

1. Install the Display Suite and Display Suite Switch View Mode modules, both of which are included in the Display Suite module package.

2. Go to the edit page for the content/node you want to change. On the edit form will be a tab called Display settings. Inside this tab you can select the display mode to use for this node.

For a more comprehensive description of this process see: Using Display Suite in Drupal 8: How to Use Switch View Mode Sub-module

Answer 4

To define a view mode per content type (nodes types) is simple, Drupal 8 already can do that.

Go to Structure -> Content type -> Manage Display

If you want just one view mode for your node (I mean, all nodes of a particular type render in the same way), just use only the default view mode and mange how it will display. The image below shows a screen with more explanation.

Answer 5

This is similar to Drupal 7. You will want to use template_preprocess_node() to change the view mode before rendering.

<?php

/**
 * Implements template_preprocess_node()
 **/
function THEME_preprocess_node(&$variables) {
  $node = $variables['node'];

  // Check if a field that lists view modes is asking for
  // a different one than currently set. If it is, change it.
  // There is a D7 module that might be ported to D8:
  // https://www.drupal.org/project/view_mode_field

  $variables['#element']['#view_mode'] = 'teaser';
  $variables['view_mode'] = 'teaser';

  // might need to rework other node variables
  $variables['teaser'] = true;
}
?>