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] 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?

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

@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.

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. https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/28330

Sub-sections on the sidebar without sub-categories

Product Support

tknospdr (David Muszynski) June 16, 2025, 3:30pm 2

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

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Sub-sections on the sidebar without sub-categories

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