I am currently using FME Desktop 2017.1.
My question is: is there a way to set up a workbench so that whenever I add a new reader, it will automatically check off the FME_FEATURE_TYPE within the Feature Type Format Attributes?
Thank you for your time.
There is no setting to automatically add this attribute to readers. The attribute comes available automatically when you use the the 'Single Merged Feature Type'.
For most readers it is also possible to expose the attribute directly in the parameter settings when you add a reader.
I hope this helps you.