Users are discussing the limited visibility of topic filters in the Discourse pulldown menu. tobias notes that only 9 filters are shown by default, with the rest requiring scrolling, and suggests displaying all available filters and adding guidance on advanced features like the - exclude prefix, along with a link to documentation. sam expresses concern about overwhelming users with too many options but agrees that linking to docs could be useful, proposing a modal similar to the keyboard shortcut help. tvavrda supports tobias, emphasizing that users often think the visible filters are all there is and that exploring all options would inspire better filtering strategies. martin agrees with the need for a modal, referencing an internal mockup that could provide help via an info icon next to the filter input.
I just set up some filters in my sidebar to help with triaging SupportContribute > UXContribute > Bug topics here on meta, and it’s an amazing feature! Worthy of much more attention because it is so powerful for drilling down into sites like this one that have so many topics.
I had to refer to the documentation topic Filtering topic lists in Discourse to figure out which filters I wanted to use to get my desired result, because not all filters are shown in the pulldown.
It appears that only 9 filters are shown by default. 8 are shown at first and then scrolling down shows the 9th. I feel like we might as well add all filters that work here, beyond the scroll? And also some guidance about advanced filters like the - exclude prefix, and then a link to the documentation for more?
I worry it can get overwhelming if we show the full 30 or so on click, there is a lot… I guess you can always scroll so there is merit in just going the whole distance.
The - guidance does show up once you type cat etc…
Linking to docs is interesting, though I worry about sending people off site. Maybe we can do something like the keyboard shortcut modal in product to get the full story.
I know that there are many filters. But when I give it to my colleagues they think that’s all. Also I have to randomly type letters in order to explore the options and I never know if I saw it all or not.
It would not be overwhelming at all. Quite the opposite. I would love to scroll through all the options just for inspiration to get ideas on how to manage the forum.
