Exact rules text:
A creature with immunities takes no damage from listed sources. Immunities can also apply to afflictions, conditions, spells (based on school, level, or save type), and other effects. A creature that is immune does not suffer from these effects, or any secondary effects that are triggered due to an immune effect.
Format: Immune acid, fire, paralysis; Location: Defensive Abilities.
Let's say we have a hypothetical cold-descriptor spell that explicitly deals no damage but inflicts the staggered condition. It is cast on a creature immune to cold but not immune to staggering, which fails its save. The immunity text specifically says that it only blocks damage, specific conditions, and secondary effects triggered due to an immune effect.
The cold-based staggering is neither damage, a specific condition that the creature is immune to, nor a secondary effect. Based off of the rules, would it be staggered or not?
And, in your own games, if the spell didn't explicitly have the cold descriptor but was based on cold in the fluff and said the target was... say, covered in ice, would you rule cold-immune targets immune to it? Just looking for opinions on the second one, not strictly rules.
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Re-read your quote.
Immunity (Ex or Su) A creature with immunities takes no damage from listed sources. Immunities can also apply to afflictions, conditions, spells (based on school, level, or save type), and other effects. A creature that is immune does not suffer from these effects, or any secondary effects that are triggered due to an immune effect.
Format: Immune acid, fire, paralysis; Location: Defensive Abilities.
It is not "immune to secondary effects", it is immune to "afflictions, conditions, spells (based on school, level, or save type), and other effects" and to " any secondary effects " "from listed sources".
There's a bit more on immunity in the CRB:
Energy Immunity and Vulnerability
A creature with energy immunity never takes damage from that energy type. Vulnerability means the creature takes half again as much (+50%) damage as normal from that energy type, regardless of whether a saving throw is allowed or if the save is a success or failure.
You would be staggered. You may be immune to cold (damage), but that chunk of ice can still knock you off balance (staggered), or that sheet of ice cause you to slip (trip) etc.
The second part hasn't arisen for me yet, but I think for me that's a classic case by case situation. It would depend on how closely the fluff tied into the effect.
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I'm going with Diego on this one. If the creature has immunity to cold in its stat block, it simply cannot be staggered by a Cold Descriptor spell. Pursuant to rule 0, though, if a GM decides that a Cold Descriptor spell has a non-cold component that is causing the staggered condition, then the immunity wouldn't apply. An actual example would be Ice Storm, which explicitly states that its damage is partly cold and partly impact. But I think Ipslore the Red is talking about a cold descriptor spell that uses cold itself to stagger its target.
The rules don't require that it be a cold descriptor, so as to the second question, I would give the immunity to any spell, class ability, alchemical item, etc. that uses cold.
I think dragonhunterq is incorrect in the broad sense, but what he is describing is correct in the narrow sense. As I noted above, if the effect is not from the cold itself, the GM can readily rule that the effect still takes place. So a frozen sphere cast at a PC with cold immunity on a lake would NOT hurt the PC, but it would freeze the lake and unless the PC has a way to deal with ice, may suffer difficult terrain problems moving over the ice. Similarly, if the cold immune PC were swimming on the surface of the lake when the frozen sphere hit, he would be unharmed by the frozen sphere, but would still be trapped in the ice that forms around him when the lake freezes - he wouldn't suffer hypothermia, but he would be trapped.
Basically it blocks rider affects.
If the you need to be damaged before the secondary affect can take place then you are safe because the primary affect can not harm you.
If the ability has two affects, one which you are immune to, and another one then you still are not immune to the 2nd affect.
Example:
"If a creature takes damage from this affect then they are also staggered for one turn."<---In this case the you would need to be damaged by the primary affect so you are safe.
"This ability does 3d6 cold damage and stuns the target if they fail the save. Save for half"<---In this case the ability has two primary affects that work independently of each other. You don't take the cold damage even if you fail because you are immune to it, but that does nothing to protect you from being stunned.