Using the Discourse sidebar

[Discourse]

This is a comprehensive guide explaining the various features and functionalities of the Discourse sidebar, including how to customize it for your needs.

Required user level: All users

The sidebar in Discourse provides quick access to various forum features and allows for easy navigation. This guide will walk you through the different sections of the sidebar and how to use them effectively.

Primary menu

The primary menu contains essential navigation links:

• Topics: Shows the latest posts on your forum.
• My Drafts: Displays dynamically when you have a draft topic or reply.
• More: Expands to show additional options.
• Groups: Takes you to your groups page.
• Users: Shows the user leaderboard (if enabled).
• Badges: Displays the badge gallery (if enabled).
• About: Provides information about your forum.
• FAQ: Links to your forum’s FAQ page.

Administrators will also see Review and Admin options for moderation and site management.

There may be additional buttons if you have plugins installed. For example, if you have Cakeday installed on your forum, Anniversaries and Birthdays will appear in your sidebar.

Categories and tags

This section displays categories and tags for easy access. To customize:

1. Click on the pencil icon to access sidebar settings.
2. Use the plus icon to add or remove categories and tags.
3. Click on “All categories” or “All tags” to view the complete list.

Messages

The Messages section allows you to:

• View your inbox
• Compose new messages by clicking the “+” button
• Access multiple inboxes if you’re in different groups

Chat

If your forum has Chat enabled, you will see the Chat section, which includes:

• Channels: View and manage chat channels
• My Threads: Manage threads you’ve created
• DMs: Access personal chats

To start a new DM, click the “+” button next to the personal chat tab.

Customizing your sidebar

You can personalize your sidebar experience:

1. Go to your user preferences.
2. Find the “Sidebar” section.
3. Adjust settings for categories, tags, and how new posts are displayed.
   
   

Creating custom sidebar sections

To add a custom section:

1. Click the “+” button at the bottom of the sidebar.
2. In the modal, customize the icon, name, and links for your new section.
   
   

This feature allows you to create personalized navigation options to improve your productivity.

Mobile access

To open the sidebar on mobile devices, tap the hamburger menu icon in the top right corner, next to your profile picture.

Additional notes

• The sidebar layout and available options may vary depending on your forum’s settings and installed plugins.
• Administrators can create global sidebar sections visible to all forum members.
• Custom sidebar sections are an experimental feature and may be subject to changes.

This document was originally written by @twofoursixeight.

Last edited by @lindsey 2025-01-17T12:57:19Z

Last checked by @hugh 2024-10-29T00:35:45Z

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Perform check on document:

[twofoursixeight]

I’ve just noticed a brand new sidebar, and some changes to the sidebar here on Meta. The guide uses an older version of the sidebar.

[Firepup650 (Firepup Sixfifty)]

@twofoursixeight

That’s the experiment one:

New sidebar experiment (Sidebar Feng Shui)

We are running an experiment on meta that applies some tweaks to the sidebar design to create a more spacious and serene layout. By increasing the spacing between elements, and optimising padding and margins, we’re aiming for a cleaner and more organised appearance, however at the cost of more elements potentially disappearing beneath the fold. Before [image] After [CleanShot 2024-08-07 at 11.53.46@2x] Nothing functional has changed, only visually you might need a minute to adjust.

@twofoursixeight

That’s the documentation sidebar:

Better documentation navigation with a new sidebar

This week, we published a significant improvement to Discourse documentation - a new sidebar! This feature is designed to make navigating and accessing our documentation easier and more intuitive than ever before. What’s new? The new sidebar shows up on all documentation categories and topics, making it easier to navigate their content. Here’s what you can expect: Improved navigation: With a clear, hierarchical structure, moving between different topics is now faster and more straigh…

[twofoursixeight]

Interesting, can’t wait to see more changes to the forum being made and how this forum becomes more and more modern by the day.

[pHneutre]

Things must have changed because there is no sidebar tab in my user Preferences. Instead there’s navigation menu and it doesn’t allow me to customize the side bar, the only options available are:

Navigation

When a topic list in the navigation menu has new or unread items…
Link to the filtered list
Show a count of the new items

• How can a user customize the sidebar now?
• Is there a way to customize the sidebar’s first part (Topics, My posts…)?
• Is there a way to customize the sidebar at an admin level for everyone?

[Lilly]

navigation menu is the sidebar

[Moin]

@pHneutre

How can a user customize the sidebar now?

By using the edit buttons at the sections and the + to add a custom section.

@pHneutre

Is there a way to customize the sidebar’s first part (Topics, My posts…)?

Admins can add and remove links by clicking “more” and “customize this section.”

@pHneutre

Is there a way to customize the sidebar at an admin level for everyone?

Changing the first section changes it for everyone. When you create a new section, you can choose to show it for everyone. The default tags and categories can be configured in the site settings. You can search for default navigation menu to find them.

[markschmucker (Mark S)]

The sidebar on meta seems to be context-sensitive, for example if I’m in an AI topic, other admin or AI links are shown in the sidebar. I don’t see how to configure this. Is it experimental?

[Overgrow]

That’s a sidebar for documentation:

Better documentation navigation with a new sidebar

This week, we published a significant improvement to Discourse documentation - a new sidebar! This feature is designed to make navigating and accessing our documentation easier and more intuitive than ever before. What’s new? The new sidebar shows up on all documentation categories and topics, making it easier to navigate their content. Here’s what you can expect: Improved navigation: With a clear, hierarchical structure, moving between different topics is now faster and more straigh…