When we create a new layer in gimp, what do the new additions do & how are they used?

This link may help you -

https://docs.gimp.org/2.10/en/gimp-layer-new.html

See the doc. But they are mostly settings you can apply on the layer after creating it in 2.8. Putting them there allows you reuse the setup for new layers.

Im confused by the 'Composite Mode'.
Is this something like a clipping mask ?

For example you can create a circle on a transparent background, put another transparent layer on top and fill it with a colour or a pattern.

(instead of setting the composite mode in the layers dialogue, you can also change the mode in the rightclick menu)

Lets say i set the 'Composite Mode' to 'Clip To Backdrop'. Although i filled the whole layer with a pattern, its clipped to the circle.
But this only works as long as the image has transparency. As soon as i add an opaque background the pattern filled layer is completely visible.

So im not entirely sure how to use this feature.... Any ideas ?

I read the doc last night but I still didn't understand what the settings are or what they are for.

I read it but it wasn't giving a good explaination to the new layer additions.

There isnt really much that is new. It seems they tried to cram as many options as possibe into the new layer dialogue.
Perhaps this is useful if you need to create a lot of new layers with very similar options.

Color Tags are new and good for organising your layers.

Offset is a new option, that was formerly an extra step through 'Layers -> Transform -> Offset'.

Lock Pixels is nice to lock a layer to prevent unwanted alteration.

The problem i see with some of these new options is that the layer doesnt give away what was done to it. This might lead to a lot of confusion when your layer misbehaves because you accidentally activated a new option.

gibv

I agree Konstantin. The new options within the create a layer option don't give away what was done to it, which makes it harder to know if the option was actually completed...at least, that's how I see it. I tried the create a new layer and it's not my favorite thing to use when adding a new layer.

That was my first impression as well, but if you ignore the kind of overwhelming availability of options, not much has much really changed.
You now choose your layertype from a dropdown menu instead of a couple of radiobuttons, and ignore the rest.

However, if you really need a special kind of layer and repeat it with a bit of variation, this new dialogue comes in handy.

Beside that, some of the options seem to be designchoices that will make more sense in the future.
The colour tags will be a lot more useful when we get multiple layer selection, and perhaps the composite modes will make more sense in the future too (for non destructable editing perhaps ?).

You're right. The new options do come in handy.