Sub-sections on the sidebar without sub-categories

Support
1

I already searched but I couldn’t find how I can have nested sections on the sidebar. Something like this (from Discourse Doc Categories - #112 by tknospdr):

image
image292×140 7.07 KB

Although there, clicking on each section/sub-section (to expand) loads the list/sub-list.

I know we can use sub-categories, but that’s overkill in my case. I already tried using subheadings or sub-lists in the index file. No luck.

My confusion comes from this line from https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-doc-categories/322376:

You can divide your index topic into sections and use multiple lists with headings (of any level) above each one.

I thought at least subheadings should work, but it seems that sentence only means no matter what the heading is, you’ll get a section.

So, is there any way I can achieve this using the index file itself?

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2

Just so we’re clear, the picture in your topic is not Discourse, it’s Xwiki.

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3

The instructions in Discourse Doc Categories explain what is possible currently.

You can see an example of this in https://meta.discourse.org/t/using-discourse-index/308031 which contains markdown like the below. Note the ## headings appear in the sidebar as sections that can be opened/closed. Each * line is an item in the menu navigation.


## General Usage

* New user guide: https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-new-user-guide/96331?silent=true
* Activity summary emails: https://meta.discourse.org/t/change-frequency-or-unsubscribe-from-activity-summary-emails/239689?silent=true
* Notification email replies: https://meta.discourse.org/t/configure-whether-previous-replies-are-included-in-your-notification-emails/39834?silent=true
* Invites: https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-and-use-invites/263314?silent=true
* Trust level permissions: https://meta.discourse.org/t/trust-level-permissions-table-inc-moderator-roles/224824?silent=true
* Likes: https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-are-likes/30803?silent=true
* Default badges: https://meta.discourse.org/t/default-badges-reference-guide/310717?silent=true
* Link click counters: https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-are-link-click-counters/254552?silent=true
* Mixed text direction: https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-does-the-support-mixed-text-direction-setting-do/91247?silent=true
* Flagging posts: https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-happens-when-you-flag-a-post/275?silent=true
* Wiki posts: https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-a-wiki-post/30801?silent=true
* Export User Data: https://meta.discourse.org/t/export-user-data/313677?silent=true
* Discourse version: https://meta.discourse.org/t/find-what-version-of-discourse-youre-using/104326?silent=true

## Writing

* Formatting posts: https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-formatting-in-posts-markdown-bbcode-and-html/239348?silent=true
* Copying links: https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-and-paste-topic-titles-and-other-links-into-posts/106987?silent=true
* Markdown tables: https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-a-table-to-your-post-using-markdown/66544?silent=true
* Creating polls: https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-a-poll-that-others-can-vote-on/77548?silent=true
* Featured links: https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-a-featured-link-to-your-topic/317027
* Onebox previews: https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-rich-link-previews-with-onebox/98088?silent=true
* Linking to headings: https://meta.discourse.org/t/link-to-a-heading-within-a-post-or-topic/47552?silent=true
* Code formatting: https://meta.discourse.org/t/post-code-or-preformatted-text/188910?silent=true
* Code block languages: https://meta.discourse.org/t/select-the-programming-language-used-in-code-blocks/19247?silent=true
* Anonymous mode: https://meta.discourse.org/t/use-anonymous-mode-to-reply-or-create-topics/240039?silent=true
* Creating calendars: https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-calendars/283773?silent=true
* Creating events: https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-events/149964?silent=true
* Pre-filled PMs: https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-a-link-to-start-a-new-personal-message-with-pre-filled-information/35984?silent=true
* Pre-filled topics: https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-a-link-to-start-a-new-topic-with-pre-filled-information/28074?silent=true

## Reading

* Suggested topics: https://meta.discourse.org/t/suggested-topic-logic/252936?silent=true
* Topic stats: https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-views-posts-read-and-reading-time/254542?silent=true
* Infinite scrolling: https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-infinite-scrolling/30804?silent=true
* Email unsubscribe: https://meta.discourse.org/t/unsubscribe-from-a-topic-using-email/62748?silent=true
* RSS feeds: https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-rss-feeds-list/264134?silent=true

## Search and Filters

* Search tips: https://meta.discourse.org/t/search-tips-and-tricks/273328?silent=true
* Time-based search: https://meta.discourse.org/t/search-for-posts-created-within-a-certain-timeframe/41011?silent=true
* Query string filters: https://meta.discourse.org/t/use-query-strings-to-filter-topic-views/248224?silent=true

## Interface

* UI elements: https://meta.discourse.org/t/names-of-user-interface-elements-in-discourse/103351?silent=true
* Notifications menu: https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-does-the-notifications-menu-work/3059?silent=true
* Sidebar features: https://meta.discourse.org/t/an-overview-of-sidebar-features/258478?silent=true
* Top topics: https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-are-top-topics-calculated/240928?silent=true
* Flagging posts: https://meta.discourse.org/t/flag-a-post-for-moderator-attention/32783?silent=true
* Print to PDF: https://meta.discourse.org/t/print-a-topic-as-a-pdf/160061?silent=true
* Preference links: https://meta.discourse.org/t/quick-access-to-discourse-preference-pages-with-easy-relative-links/276375?silent=true
* User cards: https://meta.discourse.org/t/quickly-view-a-bit-about-each-other-with-user-cards/44093?silent=true
* Browser tab indicators: https://meta.discourse.org/t/see-how-many-new-topics-and-posts-are-available-to-read-in-the-browser-tab/33508?silent=true

## Chat

* Chat features: https://meta.discourse.org/t/an-overview-of-features-in-discourse-chat/239695?silent=true
2 Likes
4

@tknospdr Yes. I just wanted to show what I mean.

@tobiaseigen So, there’s no way to do it and that sentence from Discourse Doc Categories could be more clear I guess. Might add it as a feature request.

Thanks guys.

2 Likes
5

That’s right. subsections are not supported by this plugin.

There is alot of interest in this and there have been some explorations, like the rejected PR below, but I don’t believe there is an offering currently. Definitely worthy of a feature request if you are able to come up with a UX that fits in with the current interface as it’s designed. It’s tricky because the sidebar is not designed to support nesting/subsections.

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