This is a step backwards from the original Docs plugin in my opinion.
I strongly disagree here. It gives us way more flexibility in how our docs look. Furthermore this also makes it possible to link to pages in other categories, and even external links.
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But with thousands of documents and with new ones being added frequently, this makes it very much a manual task.
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Agreed, I don’t know if I would manage 1000 page docs with Discourse though. I could see myself do it though even though there are more tailored docs solutions.. 1000 pages without git seems.. also painful 
Why not? It works very well with the original Docs. For example, we have topics in the “Library” category which contain one or more PDFs or other attachments in addition to the post text. Each topic is also tagged as applicable, so finding things is very easy with the search and tag filtering.
Maybe it’s a usecase thing. Maybe you grow into it as result of using Discourse as docs early on, but in my area (technical/user documentation) i’d need manual indexing anyhow.
I’ve found that for the maintainer it’s very easy to search and find posts.
But from a user POV which is unknown with your product or new in the topic, they might not know what to search for, in this case structuring makes a lot of sense (in my experience) or users get lost in the maze of docs. You can test this yourself, think of 5 to 10 random docs within various tags you somewhat expect your users to read. Then try to find them by just clicking on your site, if you have trouble finding them yourself, you can imagine how user experience would be.
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Finding things is easy with filtering. Say you want engine installation instructions for the Glastar aircraft model. You don’t know what to look for exactly, but the concepts are easy to search for and filter:
With the old Docs, anything I put into the Library category is automatically added to the Docs. There is no manual maintaining of a separate index, which is what I object to.
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I agree that the current design is not ideal.
We needed the flexibility and took on design debt to get it. It’s the main reason we consider Discourse Doc Categories to be experimental still.
It’s our intention to design and build something better here some day, but it’s not currently a priority.
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I think the problem is that the original plugin which many sites adopted and implemented extensively is now marked end-of-life despite not offering a practical bridge to the new.
I’ve just implemented some KM on a site using the new plugin, so the experience is fresh in my mind. Having to curate an index topic to see anything in the docs view feels really inelegant. Implementing the old plugin was comparatively seamless, providing a decent tag taxonomy existed.
I can understand that new needs drove for the creation of Discourse Doc Categories but by your own admission we’re stuck between an experimental plugin that doesn’t meet current needs and the old plugin which has a finite lifespan.
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I completely agree with Stephen.
I wonder why this was approached as a completely new plugin rather than an evolution of the original. Revolutions in software can be powerful — but they work best when they’re swift and decisive.
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Actually, I’m not using the Docs plugin for managing documentation — I only need a simple UI to filter topics by multiple categories and multiple tags at once, all on the same page.
The default Discourse interface requires going through Advanced Search, which is too hidden and includes many filters I don’t need (like author or date). I’m looking for a more focused and direct experience.
The old Docs plugin helps me achieve this multi-category, multi-tag filtering, but it still has one limitation:
When I select a parent category, it only shows topics directly inside that parent — it doesn’t include topics from its subcategories.
In contrast, the default category view shows both parent and subcategory topics.
This is why I’m still using the plugin, even though it’s not ideal.
Here’s my previous request related to this: Multi menu select Group tags
Thank you again to everyone who’s taken time to discuss and help refine this — your support and insight are deeply appreciated.
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