use private layers to customise layers?

[xiaoxinghu]

I really like the concept of layer. But sometimes it doesn't feel exactly right. E.g. I have tons of customisation on org-mode. You can't expect a "right" config for everyone in terms of org-mode. And it is too big to be in .spacemacs file. So I created my own layer for it. But it is not exactly a new module. It is a big customisation on an existing one -- the org layer. I assume for now the private layer is the best way of doing this. Am I right? I am expecting a mechanism to customise a layer. Maybe it is redundant design since the purpose of layer is to customise. Thoughts?

[StreakyCobra]

User configuration should be called in user-config, but it doesn't have to be in the .spacemacs file, if it is too big you can move related configurations to another file. For instance you can create a my-org-config.el with all you org-related tweaks, and then add this line to your user-config function:

  (load-file "my-org-config.el")

Using a layer is another, but heavier, solution.

[xiaoxinghu]

@StreakyCobra Excellent! Just what I wanted. One small question though. If I use the load-file method, can I use the existing package management feature for a layer? Like auto install, lazy loading etc. (given that I need to use additional packages). Or should I use dotspacemacs-additional-packages. For example ox-reveal for creating slides from org files.

[sooheon]

You can also create more than one private layer, so you can just split it out into xxh-org layer, for example.

[nixmaniack]

I would just add one more point to @StreakyCobra's suggestion. I do use (load-file "my-org-config.el") but I also add with-eval-after-load so I don't load all configs right at startup.

[StreakyCobra]

@xiaoxinghu Using and loading another file is for structuring your code. For the lazy loading part, you can use the same mechanism as used in the layers, i.e. with-eval-after-load for configuring already existing packages without forcing them to load. (as @nixmaniack suggested), or (use-packages … deferring capabilities for installing and lazy loading packages.

[d12frosted]

Closing this issue for being inactive. Also discussions contain possible solution. Also, there is somewhat outdated answer for exact question.