Remove categories and tags buttons

Andrew_Rowe · January 1, 2026, 5:32am

Is there an easy way to remove these two buttons? Reason I’m asking is that I’ve been reading (on this site) of some people’s opinions about Discourse being a little overwhelming to new users. I just feel the categories button is a little redundant since the categories tab is right there and if an experience user wants to search by tag he can use the side menu. I like the feature but it makes things a little ‘cluttered’ IMHO

I realize I could find the CSS tags and hide them but I was wondering if there was a less hacky way of accomplishing this task. I guess a nice feature would be to allow users to turn them on themselves later when they are comfortable with the platform.

jahan_gagan · January 1, 2026, 6:30am

There is no built-in, non-CSS setting in Discourse to remove or toggle the “Categories” or “Tags” buttons globally from the UI.

stephtara · January 1, 2026, 9:09am

Taking note of the idea for my community, thanks!

ToddZ · January 1, 2026, 10:01am

Worth noting that these buttons offer a search function – which could be nice if you have a ton of categories or tags:

(I left the buttons alone, and hid the tag section from the side menu. It either gets long and unwieldy, or you have to specify which default tags to show, and I didn’t want to play favorites )

CSS

// suppress tag list from sidebar to simplify appearance
.sidebar-section[data-section-name="tags"] {
 display: none
}

Andrew_Rowe · January 1, 2026, 2:47pm

I did not know…. thanks

I’ve chosen to completely hide the sidebar by default for anonymous users (non-logged in users or visitors) using a simple component by Don to do the trick. find it here (Thanks Don)

I felt that everybody with a phone knows to look for the hamburger button if you want to see the menu or setting and to me the UI looks way less confusing and scary without the sidebar (at least at first). Eventually once folks get familiar with the interface (or become members), they will discover the sidebar.

So anyhow….

here is the special sauce I figured out to make the two buttons go away:

.category-breadcrumb {
display: none
}

feel free to correct me if this isn’t how this should be done

IMHO it makes the UI a little cleaner with no loss of functionality

Andy

edit to add:

I noticed the two buttons go away on mobile by default so obviously the developers didn’t feel like the world would end if these buttons didn’t show

Lilly · January 1, 2026, 3:24pm

the breadcrumb dropdown selectors do appear at the top of category pages in mobile

and on mobile discovery (/latest, etc) pages in some themes, such as FKB Social.

You mention that you removed them because “the categories tab is right there” - assuming you mean the nav pill button, you have to click it to go the categories page then find the category you want to go to - it is much more intuitive to select from the category dropdown to go straight to where you want to go, especially if one is looking for a subcategory. Also, how does a user do tag navigation on your site now?

eisammy · January 1, 2026, 3:50pm

And this shit script what I did for replace original paths

<script>
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
   
    const updateLinks = () => {
        document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/l/latest"]').forEach(link => {
            link.href = 'https://segredin.com/';
        });
        document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/l/hot"]').forEach(link => {
            link.href = 'https://segredin.com/hot';
        });
        document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/latest"]').forEach(link => {
            link.href = 'https://segredin.com/';
        });
    };
    
    const ocultarElementos = () => {
        // Add code here to hide elements if needed
    };

    const applyStylesToPosts = () => {
        // Add your post styling logic here
        // Example: document.querySelectorAll('.post').forEach(post => { ... });
    };
    
    const replaceTextNodes = (node) => {
        node.childNodes.forEach(child => {
            if (child.nodeType === Node.TEXT_NODE) {
                child.textContent = child.textContent
                    .replace(/-E-/gi, ' & ')
                    .replace(/-/g, ' ');
            } else {
                replaceTextNodes(child);
            }
        });
    };

    const processTags = () => {
        document.querySelectorAll('.discourse-tag.box').forEach(tag => {
            replaceTextNodes(tag);
        });
        document.querySelectorAll('#sidebar-section-content-tags .sidebar-section-link-content-text').forEach(tag => {
            replaceTextNodes(tag);
        });
    };
 
    const TITLES = {
    "home": "Segredin - Desabafo Anônimo e Contos",
    "hot": "Segredin - Tópicos Populares"
};

const HOMEPAGE_URLS = [
    "https://segredin.com/", 
    "https://segredin.com"
];

const HOT_PAGE_URLS = [
    "https://segredin.com/hot",
    "https://segredin.com/hot/"
];

const getCurrentPageType = () => {
    const currentUrl = window.location.href;
    
    // Verifica se é página /hot
    if (HOT_PAGE_URLS.some(url => 
        currentUrl === url || 
        currentUrl.startsWith(url.replace(/\/$/, '') + '?') ||
        currentUrl === url.replace(/\/$/, '')
    )) {
        return "hot";
    }
    
    // Verifica se é página inicial
    if (HOMEPAGE_URLS.some(url => 
        currentUrl === url || 
        currentUrl.startsWith(url.replace(/\/$/, '') + '?') ||
        currentUrl === url.replace(/\/$/, '')
    )) {
        return "home";
    }
    
    return null;
};

const getDesiredTitle = () => {
    const pageType = getCurrentPageType();
    return pageType ? TITLES[pageType] : null;
};

const enforceTitle = () => {
    const desiredTitle = getDesiredTitle();
    if (!desiredTitle) return;
    
    if (document.title !== desiredTitle) {
        document.title = desiredTitle;
    }
};

const startTitleObserver = () => {
    const titleObserver = new MutationObserver(enforceTitle);
    const titleElement = document.querySelector('title');
    if (titleElement) {
        titleObserver.observe(titleElement, {
            childList: true,
            subtree: true,
            characterData: true
        });
    }
    return titleObserver;
};

const monitorUrlChanges = (titleObserver) => {
    let lastUrl = window.location.href;
    setInterval(() => {
        if (window.location.href !== lastUrl) {
            lastUrl = window.location.href;
            const pageType = getCurrentPageType();
            if (pageType) {
                enforceTitle();
                titleObserver.disconnect();
                startTitleObserver();
            } else {
                titleObserver.disconnect();
            }
        }
    }, 300);
};

const mainObserver = new MutationObserver(() => {
    applyStylesToPosts();
    updateLinks();
    ocultarElementos();
    processTags();
    enforceTitle();
});

    // Initial execution
    applyStylesToPosts();
    updateLinks();
    ocultarElementos();
    processTags();
    
    const titleObserver = startTitleObserver();
    monitorUrlChanges(titleObserver);
    
    mainObserver.observe(document.body, { 
        childList: true, 
        subtree: true 
    });

    document.addEventListener('page:changed', () => {
        processTags();
        enforceTitle();
    });
});
</script>

I’ll increment that code but for now it’s works

eisammy · January 1, 2026, 3:51pm

By the way, this is result:

Andrew_Rowe · January 1, 2026, 3:53pm

if this is a nav pill button then yes

Sorry, didn’t know what to call it

I agree

but…. would a new user know where they want to go? Would they be looking for a subcategory?

sidebar menu?

is a first time user going to know to look for a specific tag?

Maybe my approach is misguided. I’m trying to look at my instance from the point of view of a first time user which is hard for me because I used a Discourse forum for several years before I started my own.

Maybe another unique thing about my particular situation might not be typical of Discourse in general. I do live events (sports event coverage). People often walk up at these events and want to learn more about how to find me on the web. During broadcasts I also encourage people to find the forum. I have signage and stickers with QR codes that link to the forum.

Some of these folks are young and savvy phone users. Others are old folks who own a phone but can barely use it to answer a call when it rings. I’ve stood and watched both groups stare at the forum and not know what to do next. This isn’t a Discourse problem specifically, I’ve seen them do the same thing on my you tube channel

Andrew_Rowe · January 1, 2026, 4:19pm

Thanks Sammy, I’m studying your code.

I’m guessing I could insert something like this in the head section of a theme if I wanted to (once I figure out how it works )

Andrew_Rowe · January 6, 2026, 7:27pm

I ultimately decided to not eliminate the Category and Tags buttons using css as described above because once a user clicked into a category, there was no way to return to the category list view. I recently found this theme component which may provide a solution

Topic		Replies	Views
Disabling categories Feature	18	4768	December 4, 2025
Is there a simple way to remove all the category info / text from top of page? Support	4	513	November 17, 2021
Discourse Popular Tag Sidebar Theme component	26	7320	January 9, 2023
Can We Represent Our Categories Like This on a Discourse Hosted Community Support	8	148	November 11, 2024
Bringing popular features to Discourse: Header search, welcome banner, and category icons / emoji Announcements	18	1491	May 7, 2025

Remove categories and tags buttons

Related topics