Decision Order content type form fields based on content priority

Decision

When a content type has required fields, those fields appear first in the edit form. When a content type shares fields with content types, those fields appear in the same field order position on the other content types. For example, if multiple content types share a Topics vocabulary field, that field should appear in roughly the same portion of the edit form on each edit form.

Specific recommendations

• Title (or name) field will always come first.
• Required fields come next. If they are shared across content types, use a consistent field order across those content types.
• Then follow the content hierarchy order as it appears in a single column in the design.
• Fields that are controls for showing or hiding fields conditionally in the edit form should be ordered in the form based on what content priority their child fields have.

Consequences

Design decisions may not follow content hierarchy. For example a news category term may appear above the title in the design, even though the term is less important than the title.