A developer, NateDhaliwal, seeks help with a Discourse theme component, initially facing issues with settings not appearing and an invalid about.json. Moin suggests checking syntax in settings.yml, while merefield identifies a missing comma in about.json. Nate later struggles with displaying a variable, prompting merefield to advise using proper components and the html-safe helper. Moin provides guidance on plugin outlets and template naming conventions, while merefield recommends reading Ember.js guides. Nate eventually gets it working using a <script> tag with Handlebars, then Lilly shares a pull request with a cleaner, HBS-based structure, which Nate successfully implements 17.
Hi everyone, I’m getting started on developing things for Discourse, and I’m working on a theme component.
Link: GitHub - NateDhaliwal/discourse-persistent-banner: A theme component for Discourse that cannot be closed by the user. · GitHub
When putting it on Theme Creator, the settings don’t appear, even though I have a settings.yml. Any ideas?
Do you see any error messages at theme creator?
I think you have to use the same quotation marks at the beginning and end.
This could also be a problem. I would try default: ""
Maybe you want to add “block” to the choices. Otherwise you have to use the revert button to choose that again.
Whoops, just realised I was clicking on ‘Create new’ instead of importing it…
But now, when I try using the URL, it says that about.json is invalid or doesn’t exist, asking me if it is a theme.
About.json:
Is there something wrong?
Missing comma after license URL.
@merefield Would version be in ""?
Probably that too. Just look at examples.
Thanks! One last one, I can’t seem to get the variable to display.
https://github.com/NateDhaliwal/discourse-persistent-banner/blob/main/common/header.html
Was it because I didn’t initialise it properly? I tried following the guide…
html-safe helper whenever outputting html from settings or variables.Would I have to use
import Component from "@glimmer/component";
export default class PracticeComponent extends Component {
get bannerLinks() {
return JSON.parse(settings.banner_links);
}
}
then?
Look at the billions of examples 
You only need to use a gjs file if you need to process stuff with javascript, otherwise an hbs template file might suffice. Experiment.
I’m not sure if I’m going in the right direction.
I made javascripts/persistent-banner.hbs with this:
https://github.com/NateDhaliwal/discourse-persistent-banner/blob/main/javascripts/persistent-banner.hbs
But nothing shows up. Tried putting it in different places, still won’t work.
Tried looking at example, but many don’t seem to help.
Any advice?
In which plugin outlet do you want to put your banner?
Take a look at Using Plugin Outlet Connectors from a Theme or Plugin
You could use https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-a-featured-topic-list-to-your-discourse-homepage/132949?u=moin as an example
You can use the (deprecated) Plugin outlet locations theme component to find the names and locations of the plugin outlets. “above-main-container” for example is the top one above the topic list, but not above the sidebar.
Looking at the code of a Customization > Theme component which adds something similar is also a great way to learn.
You do not need and should not put script tags in hbs files. They should be limited to the content of the template.
Don’t stab in the dark, read the guides:
So… I managed to get it working without using a hbs file, but instead using the <script> tag with handlebars, and it now works.
I use it like this for now, but I’ll continue to try using a hbs file instead.
created a quick pull request for you so you can see the way to split up the files properly. feel free to merge or just have a look at the branch.
https://github.com/NateDhaliwal/discourse-persistent-banner/pull/3
Thanks so much! It works now!
No worries Nate. Keep up the experimenting, reading and looking at other examples. In no time you’ll be much better than I am at this dev stuff 
Thanks for the encouragement!
