Preferences always revert to default

Hello! Two quick questions about setting up preferences and making them stick. I like my snap to grid to be on absolute yet it constantly changes itself to smart and I have no idea why but its incredibly irritating. Also, a feature I just discovered that is great for my workflow doesn't seem to stay either. I love the ability to view midi colors by region instead of them all being green, but when I close my piano roll and reopen it everything is green again... Is there any way to make these features stay? Im using a custom template if that has anything to do with it. Thank you!