Why is vim not indenting two spaces for html? - html

Question

So I am trying to set up my vimrc for python and web development. This is what my vimrc looks like.
"--------------vundle------------------------
set nocompatible
filetype off
set rtp+=~/.vim/bundle/Vundle.vim
call vundle#begin()
"add plugins here
Plugin 'VundleVim/Vundle.vim'
Plugin 'tpope/vim-surround'
Plugin 'itchyny/lightline.vim'
call vundle#end()
filetype plugin indent on
"------------------end of vundle-------------------
"--------------python development-----------------
"PEP8 python indentation and formatting
au BufNewFile,BufREad *.py
\ set tabstop=4
\ set softtabstop=4
\ set shiftwidth=4
\ set textwidth=79
\ set expandtab
\ set autoindent
\set fileformat=unix
let python_highlight_all=1
syntax on
"---------------web development------------------
"basic tab spacing for html, css and js
au BufNewFile,BufRead *.js, *.html, *.css
\ set tabstop=2
\set softtabstop=2
\set shiftwidth=2
However when I open or create an html file it indents 8 spaces rather than 2. What am I missing?
Thanks!

Answer 1

You can check where the indent options were set via
:verbose setlocal ts? sts? sw? et?
I believe in your case, the problem is with the list of patterns in your :autocmd:
au BufNewFile,BufRead *.js, *.html, *.css
There must not be a whitespace between the patterns:
au BufNewFile,BufRead *.js,*.html,*.css
See :help autocmd-patterns; it talks about comma-separated list, and the example there also doesn't have whitespace.
alternative approaches
By encoding the file patterns for the various languages, you're duplicating the built-in filetype detection.
I would recommend to put these :setlocal commands into ~/.vim/after/ftplugin/html.vim (and so on. This requires that you have :filetype plugin on; use of the after directory allows you to override any default filetype settings done by $VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin/html.vim.)
Alternatively, you could define an :autocmd FileType {filetype\} ... directly in your ~/.vimrc. This would at least avoid the duplication of file patterns, but tends to become unwieldy once you have many customizations.