Currently all my settings that come from the customize interface are placed in:

(custom-set-variables

  '(menu-bar-mode nil)
  '(ivy-mode t)
  '(blink-cursor-mode nil)
  '(hl-line-mode nil)
  '(inhibit-startup-buffer-menu t)
  '(inhibit-startup-screen t)
  '(initial-scratch-message nil)
  '(scroll-bar-mode nil)
  '(show-paren-mode t)
  '(tool-bar-mode nil)
)

However, these settings eventually get buried inside the auto generated code that accumulates over time.

I would like to move some of these settings outside of the customize-interface into their own dedicated section so that I can keep track of them easily.

From what I understand I can't create a second custom-set-variables section because that's reserved for the auto generated code.

I don't know elisp well enough to know how to do this effectively.

Some guides suggest placing this anywhere in the init file:

(menu-bar-mode -1)

I've also seen this version:

(menu-bar-mode 0)

But this doesn't seem to work for all settings and some of them just give errors at startup. like this one for example:

(ivy-mode 1)

Results in:

Symbol's function definition is void: ivy-mode

So what is the right way to organize settings outside of the customize-interface?

And how do these formats differ? -1 0 1 t nil etc.

Currently all my settings that come from the customize interface are placed in:

(custom-set-variables

  '(menu-bar-mode nil)
  '(ivy-mode t)
  '(blink-cursor-mode nil)
  '(hl-line-mode nil)
  '(inhibit-startup-buffer-menu t)
  '(inhibit-startup-screen t)
  '(initial-scratch-message nil)
  '(scroll-bar-mode nil)
  '(show-paren-mode t)
  '(tool-bar-mode nil)
)

However, these settings eventually get buried inside the auto generated code that accumulates over time.

I would like to move some of these settings outside of the customize-interface into their own dedicated section so that I can keep track of them easily.

From what I understand I can't create a second custom-set-variables section because that's reserved for the auto generated code.

I don't know elisp well enough to know how to do this effectively.

Some guides suggest placing this anywhere in the init file:

(menu-bar-mode -1)

I've also seen this version:

(menu-bar-mode 0)

But this doesn't seem to work for all settings and some of them just give errors at startup. like this one for example:

(ivy-mode 1)

Results in:

Symbol's function definition is void: ivy-mode

So what is the right way to organize settings outside of the customize-interface?

And how do these formats differ? -1 0 1 t nil etc.

** Answer in comments.