The forum software is renaming the /faq URL to /guidelines to better reflect its purpose as community guidelines. martin explains that opting in redirects the sidebar link and URL to /guidelines, while the faq_url setting remains available for hosting separate FAQ content.
Users have reported several issues with this change. Noble_Fish notes that if the link target is /faq, the system forces the use of the default js.sidebar.sections.community.links.guidelines.content string, ignoring custom name fields. newbit1337 asks for functionality similar to /tos, allowing anonymous users to view the page even when “login required” is enabled; this feature is currently marked as upcoming for version 2026.3.0.
MDNJ highlights a bug where changing faq_url causes the sidebar to revert to “FAQ” due to translation settings, which was fixed by updating site_texts. However, this resulted in duplicate “Guidelines” entries on the about page. MDNJ also suggests updating the admin description for faq_url to mention “Guidelines” for improved clarity.
We are renaming the /faq URL to /guidelines . This better reflects the original intent of the community guidelines bundled with the Discourse forum software.
When you opt in to this change, the following link and /faq URL:
Will point to /guidelines instead:
If you have an actual FAQ hosted somewhere that you want to link to, the faq_url site setting is still usable, and will override the sidebar link.
It seems that as long as the link target is /faq , after enabling the rename feature, it will forcibly use the string defined by js.sidebar.sections.community.links.guidelines.content rather than the custom Name field.
Is there a way to make this work like /tos ?
If I’m not logged in, I can view /tos even with “login required” activated.
Sadly, this does not work with /guidelines yet. (activated as upcoming feature, currently on 2026.3.0.)
After changing the faq_url the Guidelines are called FAQ again in the sidebar. And the about page now mentions both Guidelines and FAQ.
Edit: I see the reversion has to do with translations. I renamed all instances of FAQ in site_texts, and that fixed that. But the now duplicate Guidelines on the about page remains.
(In my case, i moved the guidelines to the category set for the Doc categories plugin. The link works as it should.)
Also, i think the faq_url setting in admin could mention Guidelines in the description for clarity and searchability. (possibly also a translation)
